Schools in the Pretoria region are home to four of the five South African winners. Students from almost 190 countries participated in the event, which was held in Athens. The purpose of the event is to encourage young innovators to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The South African Springbots won the Dr. Mae Jemison Award for International Unity at the 2024 First Global Challenge. This team showed remarkable teamwork in bridging cultural and national divides to promote harmony and cooperation among the competitors.
Every year, a different nation hosts the First Global Challenge, an international robotics tournament modelled after the Olympics. Every country is invited by First Global to send a team to construct and program a robot for competition.
Teams collaborate to finish tasks in a game centred around one of the most important issues facing the world today, such as the 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering, in an attempt to promote empathy and teamwork among young people worldwide as they apply their skills to address global issues.
Jared Reddy, a mentor, Mukondi Sinugo, 17, Keletso Nkuna, 16, Katiso Mallane, 17, Amahle-Amambo Mkhize, 17, Chaydon Weldschidt, 17, and Roxanne Reddy, 17, are the winners of the South African team.
