UAE wins big at global robotics ‘Olympics’, triumphing over 193 nations

Dubai: Team UAE has clinched the Gold Medal at the 2025 FIRST Global Challenge in Panama City, earning top honours among competitors from 193 nations.

The team was celebrated in Dubai on Saturday in a glittering ceremony marking one of the UAE’s most significant achievements in youth innovation and STEM excellence.

Widely described as the Olympics of Robotics, the FIRST Global Challenge brings together young innovators from across the world to tackle pressing global problems through STEM disciplines.

Organised by the International First Committee Association, the competition promotes STEM learning and careers by challenging student teams to engineer robotic systems that address global issues.

The UAE’s eight-member team excelled throughout the five-day event, demonstrating technical mastery, problem-solving skills and resilience as they competed against some of the brightest student engineers globally.

The team included:

Together, they spent more than 300 hours preparing for the challenge, supported by Unique World Robotics, the official training partner guiding them through design, engineering and strategy.

Coach Muhammed Mukhtar praised the team’s achievement, calling it “a testament to the extraordinary dedication and ingenuity of our young innovators.”

The team’s winning entry, STASH, is a breakthrough biopreservation system designed to protect endangered species—such as the UAE’s native Ghaf tree—without the need for freezing or electricity.

Using sodium alginate hydrogels, STASH preserves living cells in portable, low-cost beads that remain viable for three to five days, enabling safe transport even to remote regions. The system is supported by AI-driven cell analysis and a 3D-printed field kit, offering a sustainable, low-resource solution with global potential.

A distinguished jury of experts, including professors from MIT and scientists from Lam Research, commended STASH for its innovation and real-world impact.

Team Captain Aarush Pancholi said the win reflected “countless hours of collaboration, experimentation and teamwork,” adding that the project aims to make a meaningful contribution to biodiversity preservation worldwide.

Bansan Thomas George, National Organiser of FIRST Global Challenge UAE, said the victory reflects the UAE’s deep commitment to youth innovation and STEM education. “Their work demonstrates technical brilliance and a vision for sustainable solutions that can benefit the world,” he said.

The achievement underscores the UAE’s strong investment in developing its next generation of scientists, engineers and environmental leaders.