Jamaica mines gold at Singapore Robotics Olympics
Published:Wednesday | October 11, 2023 | 12:09 AMLester Hinds/Gleaner Writer
An upbeat and joyful Jamaica robotics team will return to the island tomorrow afternoon after winning gold at the Singapore Robotics Olympics.
Topping last year’s second-place performance, the team beat out the competition to win the Katherine Johnson Award for engineering documentation.
The award won by the 10-member robotics team, sponsored by the United States-based non-profit organisation Union of Jamaica Alumni Association (UJAA), is named after African-American Katherine Johnson. Johnson, dubbed the human computer, helped to calculate aeronautics that assisted in guiding the return of astronauts John Glen and Alan Shepard to Earth from space.
The award is given to the team that best demonstrates the journey they took in building their robot.
Speaking with The Gleaner, UJAA President Donavan Wilson said the team members were very pleased with their performance and upbeat after winning gold.
“I would describe the trip as a success, given the efforts that went into getting the team to Singapore,” he said.
Making up the team are captain Johnathan Smith, from Campion College; Shawn-Michael Ferguson, also from Campion College; Duncan Stanley, from Wolmers’ Boys’ School; Glenmuir High School’s Terrance Grant; Hillel Academy’s Kimmi Chgan and Taeija-Lee Hall-Watts from The American International School in Kingston.
They are accompanied by two coaches and two chaperones, one male and one female.
The theme for this year’s Olympics was Hydrogen-based Energy Technologies.
The Olympics are held annually with participation from some 160 countries.
Last year, the Jamaica team won the silver medal in the Albert Einstein Award category for FIRST Global International Excellence, while UJAA won the Al-Khwarizmi Award for Outstanding Supporter.