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Tariro Nicole Zambasa
L6 Mufakose 1 High
THE Zimbabwe National Robotics Team 2019 left for Dubai on Wednesday to compete in one of the world’s biggest challenges in robotics, the For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology (FIRST) Global Challenge Robotics Olympics.
The participating students will return on the 28th of October.
The students made it into the national robotics team after being selected from different high schools by their team mentors.
The young scientists have had a long journey building their robot, which is going to compete against many others that were designed and built by youths from all over the world.
In the FIRST Global Challenge Robotics Olympics, the students are supposed to design, build and code a robot that will function in alignment with a theme set for that year.
Mentors Aretha Mare and Charles Matanga guided the team through the process of building the robot.
They have also helped with the robot’s coding in preparation for the global challenge.
Many sacrifices have been made in preparing for the competition.
Team Zimbabwe includes Takakundiswa Zoe Musarurwa, a Form Two student at St David’s Bonda Mission; Delight Tadiwanashe Chirume, a L6 student at Mufakose 1 High; Nkosana Sibanda, a Form One student at Churchill Boys High; Mufaro Shantel Nyambara, a L6 student at Mufakose 1 High; Tariro Chiyadzwa, a Form Four student at Highfield 1 High; Tariro Nicole Zambasa, a L6 student at Mufakose 1 High; Tinotenda Carl Kuipa, a L6 student at Tynwald High; Gerald Gundani, an U6 student at Mufakose 1 High; Kevin Mugura, a L6 student at Tynwald High and Malvern Chimbwanda, a L6 student at Mufakose 1 High.
Sadly, only five of them will get a chance to represent the country at the global showcase through POTRAZ’s sponsorship.
The global challenge has been hosting an international robotics challenge for high school students for the past three years.
Zimbabwe has participated since the first edition which was held in Washington DC. In 2018, Zimbabwe participated again in Mexico City.
This year, Team Zimbabwe will compete against 150 teams from all over the world.
The competing students say it is a great honour to be part of something this big, adding that this is an interesting experience that they will always remember.
They are looking forward to learning a lot from the other young people at the global showcase.
Kuipa said robotics have given him the chance to learn other programming languages.
Chirume said the challenge is in making people understand the importance of robotics.
“Only a few will appreciate what we are doing, especially for me as a girl. People ask me why I am doing robotics. They believe it is a thing for boys only.
“But, with the changing times, advancement in technology and women’s empowerment programmes, girls should be more involved in the STEM world.
“They need to get out of their comfort zones, rather than letting boys take the initiative every time.”
Musarurwa and Sibanda said they are looking forward to working with the older guys.
They urged other 13 and 14-year-olds to go for robotics.
On behalf of the team, I am extending a big thank you to everyone who has chipped in with any form of assistance.
A big thank you also goes to Mr Musarurwa for sponsoring us with team tracksuits and t-shirts.
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Online Reporter