Cayman Islands robotics team depart for global competition

The Cayman Islands National Robotics Team (CINRT) departed on Monday, 27 October for Panama City, Panama, where they are representing the nation in the international robotics competition, FIRST Global Challenge, along with over 190 other countries.

During a special send-off event held on Saturday, 25 October, the CINRT unveiled their robot to an audience including Rolston Anglin, the minister for education and training, as well as sponsors, mentors, friends and family.

Team member Logan Collins, a student at St. Ignatius Catholic School, explained the inner workings of the robot to the education minister, while fellow teammates Dezira Tatum, Jamie Johnson and Jean-Matthew Downie demonstrated its abilities, which includes collecting balls, returning to its controller and climbing a rope. Minister Anglin was then given a chance to test drive the robot himself and described the experience as “awesome”.

Every country participating in the challenge was sent a kit of identical parts supplied by the FIRST Global Challenge. The individual teams were then tasked with designing, building and programming a fully functional robot, which will be scored at the event based on its overall creative design, technical expertise and problem-solving ability.

Team Cayman consists of six boys and three girls between the ages of 14 and 17 years old who are from Cayman International School, Cayman Prep & High School, Clifton Hunter High School, John Gray High School, St. Ignatius Catholic School and Triple C School. They are led by four team mentors: Glenda McTaggart of Dart, Desmond White of John Gray High School and Namitha Abraham and Kyle Farrington, both from Caribbean Utilities Company. Teejhan Hansraj, a student mentor, has also joined the team in Panama and brings a unique perspective as he previously represented the CINRT at the 2022 FIRST Global Challenge.

The Cayman Islands National Robotics Team is made possible through sponsorship of Aureum RE, Brava Logic, CUC, Dart, Health City Cayman Islands and KPMG.

For live updates on the team’s journey while in Panama, follow @mindsinspired and @FGC_TeamCayman on Instagram and Facebook.