UAE team clinches gold at ‘Olympics of Robotics’ as tech giants scout for talent

KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)

It was a scene of unbridled national pride in Panama City early this month as the UAE flag was hoisted above 192 other nations. In a contest widely regarded as the “Olympics of Robotics,” a squad of eight UAE-based students clinched the gold medal at the 2025 FIRST Global Challenge.

The team secured the top spot for the prestigious Fred Smith Global Innovator Award – named after the late FedEx founder and industry titan – beating out stiff competition from silver-medallists Iran and bronze-winners Colombia. But the victory in Panama was about far more than the hardware; it was also about the heavyweights watching from the sidelines.

The event has become a magnet for the world’s most powerful technology dynasties. The FIRST Global Challenge is heavily backed by the Bezos family, with the Bezos Earth Fund serving as a Diamond-level partner to empower youth innovation.

The presence of such high-profile backing – alongside the legacy of Fred Smith and the event’s founder, Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway) – meant the UAE students were not just competing in a school contest; they were auditioning for the titans of the tech world.

Already, two students have been approached by Yale University as a shoo-in for future admission to education in the United States. The added significance for this feather in UAE’s cap is that the country hosted the event last year and came second, a great validation for the investment in the next generation of scientific minds.

At the heart of this victory was “STASH,” an ingenious biopreservation system developed by the team. Deeply rooted in local heritage, the project was designed to protect the Ghaf tree - the national tree of the UAE - and other endangered species.

The students engineered a method using sodium alginate hydrogels to encapsulate living cells in portable, low-cost beads. Crucially, the system maintains cell viability for three to five days without the need for freezing or electricity, making it a revolutionary tool for biodiversity conservation in remote areas.

The students’ winning project was scrutinised by a distinguished panel including professors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and scientists from Lam Research, a global supplier of wafer fabrication equipment. According to observers on the ground, these global leaders were not merely tallying scores; they were scouting the floor for the future of engineering.

The technical brilliance displayed by Team UAE has firmly placed these young innovators on the radar of such famous institutions. It has not been a fluke achievement either, with a lot of hours dedicated to post-school time despite most of them being in Grades 11 to 13 in the key final stage of secondary schooling.

“Winning the gold was the result of countless hours of collaboration, experimentation, and teamwork,” recalled Aarush Pancholi, the team captain, speaking at a celebratory event in Dubai on Saturday. “We are proud not just of the medal, but of creating a solution that can truly make a difference for biodiversity and communities worldwide.”

The team roster features a talented group of expatriate students, including the young Pancholi, and they come from across schools and different personal backgrounds – Riya Mehra, Aarya Parekh, Aditya Anand, Krithin Satya, Simran Mehra, Sreya Binoy Nair, and Aryan Goyal. The squad was moulded into champions under the watchful eyes of Arab STEM educators.

Their mentorship bridged the gap between raw teenage enthusiasm and the disciplined technical excellence required to win. Muhammed Mukhtar, one of the coaches, said, “This victory is a testament to the extraordinary dedication and ingenuity of our young innovators. They have made the nation proud and shown that UAE students can compete at the highest level on the global stage.”

Bansan George, the chief organiser of the local module of the FIRST Global Challenge, praised the students’ achievement and said, “Team UAE’s victory reflects the nation’s long-standing commitment to STEM education and youth innovation. Their work on STASH demonstrates not only technical brilliance but also a vision for sustainable solutions that can benefit the world.”

As the confetti settles in Panama, the significance of the win is clear. With the big tech world watching in this era of artificial intelligence, Team UAE has proven that the nurturing of human brains in the Emirates is a breeding ground for the problem-solvers the future economy desperately needs.