Team Solomons arrive safely in Mexico ahead of comp

BY LYNTON AARON FILIA

WIS STEM students arrive safely in Mexico as they were welcome at the airport.

FOUR Science Technology Engineering Mathematic (STEM) students of the Woodford International School have landed safely in Mexico yesterday for the 2018 FIRST Global Challenge.

The WIS students arrived have arrived in advance purposely to explore and adapt to the Mexican environment before competition kicks off on August 15-18 at Mexico City’s Arena Ciudad de México.

This year, more than 160 countries are participating in the annual event of FIRST Global Challenge – it convenes STEM students to solve energy-efficiency problems with robots created by student participants.

Here is a profile of the WIS four students representing Solomon Islands

Renney Sufiona— I want to make mistakes and learn from them.

My name is Renney Sufiona, from Solomon Islands. I am a risk-taker; always very eager to try out new things and learn from mistakes I make.

I am very interested in robotics because it is something that makes me curious and I am keen to learn how it is like and how it is going to help us in our daily lives.

My hope for the future is to use my talents, which is drawing to become an architect.

My artwork has been on the cover of my school diary for one whole year. I have always loved playing video games, drawing and listening to music in my spare time.

Edward Patternot—you can be my personal hero.

I am a year 9 student at Woodford International School from the Solomon Islands. When I was younger, I always loved playing with Legos, creating my own machines that worked and operated only in my imagination.

Robotics can give me the opportunity to bring my creations to life and allows me to share them to the world.

Art became a hobby of mine, constant drawing became a habit, and it is just something I do in my spare time. I loved it so much because it gave me the ability of putting my imagination on the canvas like a picture from within my mind.

Maths is my favourite subject of all time and it is something that always makes me want to improve on my skills and understanding; my favourite part is when I try to solve a problem racking my brain just to get to the satisfyingly correct answer.

I do not have a personal hero but I do look up to anyone that inspires others to follow their dreams and to be themselves in their own unique way.

If you are someone like that, then you are my personal hero.

In the future, I aspire to have an occupation that involves my strengths and passions, which are art, creativity and design.

This got me interested in being an architect in the future.

Something unique about me is that I actually love to think about random things and I always try to open my imagination to a wider range of things.

However, I always think about what the world would be if something changes, “What would happen”? This always leaves me with curiosity and I enjoy it.

I would like FIRST Global to know that if I put all my efforts into something I would give my best.

William Poznanski—Being a Politian gives you the power to bring about a change.

I am William from the team Solomon Islands. I am a year 9 student. I aspire to be a politician.

I take inspiration from my grandmother Ms Lily Ogatina who happens to be the first woman parliamentarian in Solomon Islands and who has dedicated her life to improvement of people in my country.

Not only that, I also wish to change the negative ways in which politicians are seen in my country.

I want to work for my fellow citizens and bring my country to the forefront of global innovation.

I am interested in robotics because it is not a usual subject in our country and therefore I challenge myself to be involved in robotics this year.

My hopes for the future are to lead my country and not to follow around, nor to work for a corporation. In my spare time, I like to wander and keep myself fit.

My favourite subjects are math and ICT as they both are related to logic and both are needed in innovation.

The unique thing about me is that I am willing to take challenges, learn new things, fail and learn from my mistakes.

FIRST Global is the platform that allows me to do exactly this and more. I look forward to my participation along with my team from Solomon Islands.

Tania Douglas Uale—I’m a 9th grade student attending Woodford International School.

I’m interested in robotics because of the concept of the potential it offers for creating a solution that would help shape our future and otherwise I’ve always been curious about what it would be like living with robots! I hope the future would become a better place and a brighter home for the next generation, I hope it becomes liveable and suitable for our growing population.

Drawing and sections around art (such as designing) have become a keen hobby and passion of mine. I like to bring out my imagination and put it on paper so it can remain forever.

My favorite subjects are Art, Literature and science because of my passion for creating, learning and logic.

I don’t have a personal hero because I’m inspired by many people that have achieved many great things around this world.

What is unique about me is that I’m a keen learner who is curious about the world and how it works.

I would like FIRST Global know that I am determined to achieve and to put my all into this year’s challenge.

The FIRST Global Challenge is an annual robotics game that addresses one of the 14 Grand Challenges identified by the national engineering academies of the US, United Kingdom, and China.

Each year, a different issue of global importance will take centre stage as the theme of that year’s challenge, which will be held in a different nation across the world.

The challenge reflects how science and engineering, in an environment of cooperation, communication, and teamwork, can achieve transcendent actions and solve many of the great challenges humanity faces.

In July 2017, the first edition of the FIRST Global Challenge was held in Washington, where young people competed in a challenge about providing access to clean water.

In that event, Team Mexico obtained third place.

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