A group of Israel FIRST high school students from Megiddo Regional High School received a special security clearance to represent Israel and participate in the Robotics Olympiad held in Dubai. The team won first place in the highest ranking category among 191 countries, as the only delegation with a perfect winning record
Israel FIRST's robotics expedition* operating under the auspices of the Technion, won a silver medal at the Global Challenge FIRST Olympics held last weekend in Dubai. 119 delegations representing 119 countries participated in the competition. The Israeli delegation, consisting of five Megiddo regional high school students, took part in the global competition and qualified for the final stage as the head of the alliance, which includes delegations from Italy, Uganda and Australia. The Israeli team won a total of 4 medals: a silver medal in the finals, a silver medal in the overall score in the competition and this after finishing the qualifying stage with the highest victory rating, the only one with a perfect victory record (9-0-0), therefore ranked in first place. In addition, the team received a special medal for exceptional help to other teams.
On Wednesday, October 23 at night, after receiving appropriate security clearances for travel, a delegation representing the Israel FIRST organization left for the Robotics Olympiad competition - FIRST Global Challenge in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The five youths, who represented the organization and the State of Israel - Naa Doman, Yuval Perry and Ron Perry from Ramot Menashe, Itay Ziv from Merhavia and Omer Baram from Mikneam-Illit, were accompanied by two mentors - Asnat Doman and Nissim Levi and with close personal security to ensure their safety in Dubai.
The delegations from all over the world competed using robots they developed to face the challenge of collecting waste from oceans and protecting the environment, and gained points based on their ability to collect as many items as possible from the competition arena. The delegation went to Dubai under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Megiddo Regional Council and the Tama company and with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Major General (Res.) Avihu Ben-Nun, chairman of Israel FIRST: "I am proud and appreciate the team and the competitive spirit they demonstrated, perseverance and professionalism. The achievements of the delegation are a source of pride and respect for Israel FIRST and for every state of Israel. We thank our partners at the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Education and the Magidu Regional Council for their support. The expression of their confidence in the team reflects the positive impact of the Israel FIRST organization on the technological success of the State of Israel."
Minister of Science and Technology, Ofir Akunis: "The team achieved an unprecedented achievement in its location and qualities. In fact, I had no doubt that they would achieve huge achievements, and so I also told them at our meeting, on the eve of their departure for the competition. This is simply true national pride and a decisive proof of the importance of the government's decision that I led when I took office: to finance these delegations, from the ministry's budget.'
The Minister of Education, Rabbi Rafi Peretz: "The impressive achievement of our team in robotics is a great pride for the education system and the State of Israel. The competition was an important opportunity for Israel in both the technological and political aspects. In light of the importance of the competition, I acted decisively to obtain the security clearances required for our students' participation in the competition. We will continue to strive for the development of our children's future and the development of excellence so that Israel will continue to be a leading locomotive in the global market. I congratulate the winning students. Kudos to them and the teams that accompanied them."
* The organization FIRST was founded in the USA in 1989 by the entrepreneur Dean Kayman, with the aim of bringing children and youth closer to the fields of science and technology. The organization uses a model of sports competitions where there are teams that compete against each other in facing a challenge, and holds competitions between robots built by children and teenagers. More than 570,000 children and teenagers participate in FIRST programs worldwide.
FIRST Israel has been operating since 2005 as a non-profit under the auspices of the Technion and is headed by Major General (res.) Avihu Ben Nun. In Israel, over 14,000 children and teenagers from compulsory kindergarten to the age of 18 participate from all over the country and from all sectors.
