Jamaica College wins Inspire Award at Int’l Robotics Competition

JAMAICA College (JC) is poised to produce some of Jamaica's future scientists, engineers and computer programmers.

The 10-member senior team of the Jamaica College Robotics Club has won the Inspire Award at the New York City Regionals of the First Tech Challenge Robotics Competition. The team earned a place to be one of 160 teams to compete in the World Championships in St Louis, Missouri in April.


JC’s Robot delivers a ring to Denise Williams, director of corporate and government affairs for Columbus Communications Jamaica Limited. Looking on are Gavin Samuels, head boy and Robotics team captain and Ruel Reid, principal of Jamaica College.
Jamaica College Robotics team designed, built and programmed robots as their entry for the FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Competition where they won the Inspire Award and a place to compete in the World Championships in St Louis, Missouri later this year.

JC’s Robot delivers a ring to Denise Williams, director of corporate and government affairs for Columbus Communications Jamaica Limited. Looking on are Gavin Samuels, head boy and Robotics team captain and Ruel Reid, principal of Jamaica College. #slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important} 1/2

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international organisation with the ambitious mission of transforming modern culture by celebrating science and technology and encouraging more students to be interested in pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education. The competition challenged student-designed built and operated robots to fetch plastic rings and hang them on a rack.
JC's participation at the New York Competition was facilitated by the school's alumni and a number of corporate and individual sponsors including Flow.
"We are delighted and proud of the achievements of the JC team," said Denise Williams, director of corporate communications for Columbus Communications Jamaica Limited, operators of Flow. "The students are truly an inspiration for other talented young Jamaicans who are interested in pursuing careers in science and technology, areas that will be critical to the3future growth and development of the country."
The Inspire Award is one of FIRST's top honours, recognising a team that not only is a strong competitor on the field, but also sets an outstanding example through the conduct of its members in showing team spirit and "gracious professionalism" toward other teams.