STEM – more than a game, it is life
DPI, Guyana, Sunday, December 15, 2019
The Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC) on Sunday was abuzz with activity as the third annual STEMGuyana-Tullow Oil Robotics Exhibition got underway.
The event is part of the Guyana National Robotics League activities, including a five-week competition, where more than forty teams from every region of Guyana compete to build a robotic solution to any problem in the security sector.
Hundreds of eager STEM teams from as far as the Rupununi assembled at the conference centre where they displayed their creations and interacted with each other.
Co-founder of STEMGuyana, Karen Abrams said the organisation aims to foster the growth of Guyana’s future innovators and creators. She remarked that “geniuses” are being discovered in all corners of the country and it is their goal to identify them and nurture their talents.
“We are looking for those young people who are interested, excited, thoughtful, creative… we want to make a difference in the lives of those young people,” she declared.
Delivering the feature address, First Lady Mrs.Sandra Granger, reiterated Abrams sentiments on cultivating future developers, noting that her interactions with youths involved in robotics have been remarkable.
“The drive that our young people have shown at all their competitions, they face challenges, they were able to overcome, they were able to work with teams from other countries and they were able to succeed.”
Tullow Country Manager, Joachim Vogt noted that many of today’s global problems need to be addressed using technology. “It is more than a game, it is life….it is addressing not only Guyana’s issues, it is essentially a global matter.”
He said supporting STEM education is an obvious target for Tullow Oil since the company’s operations are built on STEM.
Many of the participants told DPI they were excited to have been able to participate in the robotics exhibition.
The 3rd annual STEMGuyana Tullow Oil Robotics Exhibition was a collaboration the Department of Youth, the Ministry of Education, the Office of the First Lady, the National Library, the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company, Tullow Oil and ExxonMobil.