Submitted Abstract
The FIRST Global Challenge invites each country to send a national team to compete in a robotics competition, which takes place in a different country each year. Themed around the 14 Grand Challenges of Engineering identified by the National Academy of Engineering (US), each year a different Grand Challenge takes center stage in an effort to foster understanding and cooperation among the youth of the world as they use their abilities to solve the world’s problems. The team eligible for participation has to be composed of young talents aged between 14 and 18 years.The association “Make it” will set up a “team Luxembourg” for the 2019 edition of the FIRST Global Robotics challenge. The members of this team will be hand-picked among the young contestants observed at the robot challenge, organized in the frame of the “Mini MakerFaire Luxembourg” in Mai 2019. The team will prepare itself by acquiring the necessary scientific methods and knowledge enabling them not just to achieve a decent result at the challenge, but most of all to be able to exchange and collaborate also with the other teams participating at this challenge. It is foreseen to perform an evaluation of the experiences gained. The lessons learned by the Luxembourg team will be spread in Luxembourg through a close collaboration with the major national media as well as by using the appropriate social media channels. The aim is to trigger interest in scientific research at a wide range of age groups by highlighting the life experience of a group of young researchers assisted by qualified coaches. Make it asbl has the support of the Ministry of Education for this project and already successfully led a delegation to the FIRST Global Robotics challenge 2018 (organized in China).