Welcome back to the Byte of... newsletter! Since the last edition, FIRST Global teams have designed devices to protect people, shared things they're proud of, and reflected on an amazing season.
It's been an exciting journey these past few months as we've overcome immense barriers to continue to connect, learn, and make change together. The official season has come to an end, but we're not saying goodbye yet... you're all invited to join us for the 2020 FIRST Global Challenge Celebration on 31 October! We'll be highlighting content, reflecting on what you've accomplished, and announcing the winners for this season. Leading up to the event, we have activities planned to keep the Connecting Communities spirit alive, including additional talks and interviews and post-season social media prompts. You can find more details in the 2020 FIRST Global Challenge Manual.
Join Us for the next STEM Talk and Interview — Today!
Join us for our seventh STEM Talk and Interview with the first female private space explorer who's now the CEO of XPRIZE, Anousheh Ansari! We'll learn more from her experiences in space and innovation, and how youth can harness their own skills to achieve their dreams. A recording will be available for viewing after the talk.
⌚️ Saturday, 3 October at 1:00 PM UTC
➡️ Premiering on YouTube and Facebook
Glorious Global Motion Machine 🌍
With STEM and international collaboration, one idea can travel and shape the world. For the technical challenge titled Glorious Global Motion Machine, sponsored by FedEx, we asked teams to each design and build an overly-engineered device to perform the simple task of transporting a ball, but in an indirect and complex way. Here is a video of submissions combined to create a global machine that transports a ball across the world!
Protecting Our Future 💪
For the fifth and final technical challenge, Protecting Our Future, sponsored by XPRIZE, we asked teams to put their skills to use inventing a device to protect people, prevent injury, or improve safety.
Team Slovenia 🇸🇮 Team Slovenia designed "Bluetooth Beware" or "BoB" for short, a transponder system to improve safety on roads.
Team Colombia 🇨🇴 Team Colombia designed a system that can disinfect groceries in order to help curb the spread of viruses.
Team Russian Federation 🇷🇺
Team Russian Federation designed a drone that can detect and put out fires.
Team Latvia 🇱🇻
Team Latvia designed a system that prevents equipment from working until the operator is wearing safety glasses.
Team Guinea-Bissau 🇬🇼
Team Guinea-Bissau designed an improved water supply infrastructure with a system that cleans and treats water and detects leaking pipes.
Show & Tell Time 🏆
For the twenty-fourth social media challenge, we asked teams to show and tell us about something they're proud of.
Team Greece 🇬🇷 Team Greece is proud that, as a result of their efforts, STEM will be taught in Greek schools this year.
Team Serbia 🇷🇸 Team Serbia is proud of the work they did to inspire youth in STEM.
Team United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪
Team United Arab Emirates is proud to represent their country on the international stage.
Team India 🇮🇳
Team India is proud of their projects that mitigated the effects of COVID-19 in their community.
Team Libya 🇱🇾 Team Libya is proud of the outreach and community service work they did.
Reflections 🤔
And that's a wrap! For the twenty-fifth social media challenge, we asked teams to share some reflections on their experience during this season of community — lessons learned, skills gained, things they enjoyed, thoughts on FIRST Global, advice to others, and more.
Team Tunisia 🇹🇳 "For me it was an honor to participate in a competition such as the FIRST Global Challenge. During this pandemic, the world needs to be connected more than ever. This competition allowed me to communicate with people from all around the world and to exchange cultures and knowledge. Such an experience can only be another step toward ensuring a better world for ourselves and the future generations."
Team Venezuela 🇻🇪 "FIRST Global Challenge 2020 has taught us that when we work together, we can make a change, regardless of distance, because a great purpose will always unite people. Also, working hard is about having fun while making an impact. And the most important thing — STEM can connect communities in a wonderful way."
Team Nepal 🇳🇵 "I see myself as a completely new person to watch the end of this FIRST Global journey, as I learned about time management skills and teamwork. To the entire organization of FIRST Global, my teammates, and my fellow friends that I made, thank you so much for being a part of my journey, and helping me learn, reflect, and grow."
Team Nigeria 🇳🇬 "To me, FIRST Global means more than just a STEM challenge, it means an opportunity. Not only an opportunity to learn more about STEM and robotics, but an opportunity to develop and prepare myself for the future. FIRST Global gave me the opportunity to be able to think, to be able to create, to be able to discover and expose skills I never knew I had. And also to be able to work with people to solve difficult problems, and I'll forever be grateful to FIRST Global for this opportunity."
Team Guatemala 🇬🇹 "Thank you for believing in us, thank you for making us part of the unforgettable experience, thank you FIRST Global."
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