10 Years of Team Guyana Robotics Should Be Celebrate

(Kaieteur News) – Ten years ago, we put robot parts in front of some Guyanese teenagers and essentially said: figure it out. They did. Then, perhaps somewhat audaciously, we put them on a plane and sent them to Washington, DC, to compete against young people from countries with sophisticated laboratories, established robotics programmes and far more resources than we had. Guyana finished 10th out of 165 teams. I remember thinking then, that perhaps we had stumbled upon something important. Maybe we spend too much time measuring Guyanese children by what they have not been exposed to, instead of asking what they might do if somebody simply gave them the opportunity.

Ten years later, I don’t have to wonder anymore. Some of our graduates have gone on to companies such as Oceaneering and E-Networks, and some work as Aeronautical Engineers. Others are pursuing university degrees, entrepreneurship and careers that will help build a developing Guyana. The robots were important, but the young people we were building were always more important.

Robotics is wonderfully unforgiving. You can spend days building something that works beautifully on Tuesday and inexplicably refuses to move on Wednesday. There is no pleading with a robot. It does not care that you are tired. It is unimpressed by your examination results. It doesn’t care who your parents are. If the code is wrong, the robot won’t move. And that is part of its magic.