… Scoop position 31 out of 165 countries
BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– Young superstars!
These are the eight emaSwati pupils who bagged two recognition awards at a Robotics Fair in Geneva, Switzerland.
The youngsters bagged ‘Safety Award’ and ‘Best Presentation’, both of which are non-technical but secondary awards, however fundamental in the competition.
The eight emaSwati pupils were representing the country.
The name of the initiative the young innovators were partaking in was the ‘2022 Carbon Capture Challenge’ for the robotics challenge in the European country.
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation and application of robots.
The pupils who were participating in the fair were Sinowethu Fakudze (17), Sinowethu Fakudze (15), Destiny Moodley (15), Mnotfo Madolo (15), Tinashe Sifundza (16), Ayandziswa Gama (15), Tengetile Sibeko (16) and Siviwe Dlamini (15).
The pupils are from St Marks High School, Ngomane High School, U-Tech High School and Salesian High School.
Facilitating their trip was Eswatini STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), a science education programme by Peace Corps, which is still in its infancy stage.
When reached for comment, Mandla Sithole, the Eswatini STEM Coordinator, said they were very proud of the youngsters for representing the country and shinning while at it.
“The categories that they were recognised in were non-technical, meaning they were secondary. However, this is a big stride for Eswatini, given we were never recognised for anything.
“‘Safety Award’ means they adhered to safety protocols during their presentation and ‘Best Presentation’ means they were sterling at explaining their project,” explained Sithole.
He revealed that the youngsters were, overall, position 35 out of 165 countries, saying it was a hug improvement as Eswatini was always listed in the bottom.
Explaining their project, Sithole said they created and programmed a robot that was picking carbon molecules, stating that the carbon molecules were assimilation.
