National Robotics Team prepares to represent Cayman Islands in Korea

Cayman will once again be represented on the global robotics stage as the Cayman Islands National Robotics Team (CINRT), a division of Dart’s Minds Inspired programme, prepares to compete in the 2026 FIRST Global Challenge, 7-10 October in Icheon, South Korea. 

The team is comprised of nine students from local public and private schools: Daniel Branis (Cayman International School), Luke Comley-White (Grace Christian Academy), Dimari Dewar (Clifton Hunter High School), Nicolas Havlin (St. Ignatius Catholic School), Kyla Machingambie (Cayman Prep & High School), Christopher McTaggart (Triple C School), Raam Palakkal (Layman Scott High School), Allyandro Shand (John Gray High School) and Stefan Szczurko (Cayman International School).

The FIRST Global Challenge is often described as an Olympics-style competition for robotics, bringing together students from nearly every nation to compete, collaborate and represent their countries on a global stage. Much like traditional athletic events, it celebrates robotics as a sport – one that demands strategy, teamwork, creativity, technical skill and perseverance. 

“Selection to the national team is a significant achievement,” said Glenda McTaggart, senior manager of education programmes at Dart and team manager. “These students distinguished themselves through their performance, dedication and commitment during the interschool FIRST Tech Challenge tournament earlier this year.

“Last year, the CINRT placed 34th out of 191 national teams – the best-ever finish for Cayman – and we’re expecting another strong performance this year.”

The 2026 FIRST Global Challenge will operate under the theme of ‘Igniting Innovation’ and will task participating national teams to design and build robots that can help reduce the impact of wildfires, protect communities and support environmental resilience in a changing climate. 

In addition to the robotics competition, Daniel Branis of Cayman International School will lead the Cayman team in the Igniting Innovation New Technology Experience (NTE), a programme that challenges each national team to develop solutions to real-world fire-related problems affecting their home countries. As part of this initiative, the Cayman team will focus on addressing recurring fires at the George Town Landfill by improving fire detection and response capabilities, thereby, reducing the release of toxic fumes into the air. The team hopes to be selected as one of only 10 teams invited to present its prototype solution in South Korea. 
“Daniel was chosen for his strong skills in research, coding and programming, which are essential as our solution is expected to be highly technology- and software-driven,” said Namitha Abraham, team mentor and manager of project delivery at Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC). “This year, we’ve taken a new approach by dedicating specific resources to this project, something we haven’t done in the past. We believe Daniel brings strong leadership and technical capability, and this allows us to fully leverage that strength to position ourselves more competitively on the global stage."

In addition to Abraham, the Cayman team will be supported by mentors Desmond White (John Gray High School), Kyle Farrington (CUC) and Cedric Worthmann (CUC); team manager Glenda McTaggart (Dart); and past team members Kieran Finch (2018), Craig Maitlin (2018) and Teejhan Hansraj (2022).

This will be the eighth year Cayman has competed in the FIRST Global Challenge. 

Sponsors of this year’s participation in the FIRST Global Challenge include Aureum Re, BRAVA by Logic, CUC, Dart, Health City Cayman Islands and KPMG.

To learn more about the CINRT and to follow their journey to Icheon, follow @mindsinspired on Instagram and Facebook.