First Global Team Brunei Darussalam 2022 completed their best-ever performance at the 2022 FIRST Global Robotics Competition by being placed 88th, an improvement of 24 places from 112 in 2019. The team also won the social media challenge ‘Lead the Way’.

Representing the Sultanate this year were six students, two Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) mentors and a schoolteacher. The team left Brunei on October 11 to participate in the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge from October 13-16.

The students representing the country were Md Arief Firdaus bin Abdullah Arman, Md Shazriman binti Amtani, Zulhaiqal Raziq bin Zainal from Awang Semaun Secondary School; and Muhammad Darwisy Hakimie bin Mardeny @ Yakub, Iman Alhumaira binti Haji Ahmad Abdussalam @ Erman and Mumtazah Noha Umaimah binti Muhammad Nudin from Institut Tahfiz Al-Quran Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.

This is the third time Bruneian youth are participating in this international robotic competition since its inception in 2017. More than 180 nations competed in the robotic competition, held in a different country each year. This year’s competition took place in Geneva, Switzerland.

The team was mentored by UTB lecturers Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of Enterprise Office Dr Sharina binti Yunus and Electrical and Electronics Engineering Lecturer Md Khairuddin Ghafar. Also with them was postgraduate student Nur Syadza Elyanna Kok. On the social media front, Awang Semaun Secondary School’s Arief Ebil was instrumental in recording their journey.

Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP), Brunei LNG Sdn Bhd, IT Protective Security Services Sdn Bhd (ITPSS), Baiduri Bank, imagine Sdn Bhd, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), Progresif Sdn Bhd and Petrokon Utama Sdn Bhd (PUSB) were the team’s sponsors.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin