Five high school students are seeking to raise $26,500 to fly the Puerto Rican flag at the international Olympic robotics competition “First Global Challenge 2024″ (FGC), which will take place from 26 to 29 September in Athens, Greecein which teams from 195 countries will compete.
This international event aims to inspire and interest young people in education. STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), while promoting leadership and innovation among competitors of all nations.
The Puerto Rican student team is made up of Lorena Pachiardi and Daniel Medina, from Cupeyville School; Diego Gonzalez and Angeli Rivera, from the Saint Vincent de Paul School; and Adrian Irizarry, from the Lorenzo Coballes Gandía School.
His most immediate dream is to equal or exceed the record obtained by “Team Puerto Rico” in 2022, which made history by obtaining the first bronze medal for the island in the “Robotics Challenge” category in the Olympic competition.
The money raised will be used to cover preparation, registration, travel and lodging expenses.
Every year, this international competition robotics sets a challenge that each of the 196 participating teams will have to respond to. This challenge is related to the major challenges facing the global community.
For the competitions FGC 2024FIRST Global has chosen the theme “Feeding the Future” (Feeding the Future), challenging teams to think innovatively about sustainable agricultural food production and how to provide the world’s population with equitable, safe, nutritious and environmentally responsible food.
The Puerto Rico team, managed by Eureka Enrichment Services under the leadership of their coaches Jesus Centeno, Karen Peña and Victor Robleswill tackle this topic in two parts: first, they will compete in the “Robotics Challenge,” in which they will work on building and programming a 20 x 20 x 20-inch robot, which will battle on a competition field representative of the challenge of sustainable agriculture.
The competition field requires teams to create robots that can navigate a limited space, pick up balls, balance on moving platforms and lift mechanical arms, all while navigating international relations against a 2:30-minute countdown.
On the other hand, “Team Puerto Rico” will compete, for the first time, in a second category: “New Technology Experience.” This category aims to guide teams in learning about technologies that support sustainable food systems.
FIRST Global teams will research and develop their own solutions to improve the type of food produced, production methods and waste reduction, while highlighting how the application of these technologies benefits economic, social and environmental sustainability.
If you would like to support the students, you can donate through ATH Móvil by phone (787) 613-9015 or ATH Business/Eureka Enrichment. You can also access the website Eureka Enrichment Services, by adding FGC Team Puerto Rico 2024 to the memo line (donations are tax deductible). For more information, you can contact Mariam Gorbea, Program Director at Eureka Enrichment Services, via mariam@eurekaenrichment.org.