A groundbreaking milestone for women in STEM education has emerged in Antigua and Barbuda, as the nation’s first-ever all-female robotics team has secured critical financial backing to compete on the global stage. The local Board of Education has allocated EC$30,000 to cover the team’s participation costs for the 2026 FIRST Global Challenge, scheduled to take place from October 7 to 10 in Incheon, South Korea, with additional institutional support coming from the country’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
Chet Jacobs, Executive Financial Administrator at the Board of Education, emphasized that this sponsorship is more than just travel funding—it is an investment in the next generation of STEM leaders. By removing financial barriers, the initiative creates space for these young women to refine their technical capabilities and gain hands-on experience across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, fields that have long been disproportionately male-dominated.
The 2026 FIRST Global Challenge, centered on the theme “Igniting Innovation”, is one of the world’s largest international youth robotics competitions, expected to welcome over 190 national teams from across every inhabited continent. This year’s simulated competition task focuses on a pressing global issue: wildfire prevention, mitigation, and recovery. Participating students will be required to design, build, and program fully functional robots capable of completing targeted challenge tasks, while also collaborating cross-culturally with international teammates to align strategies, share innovative solutions, and optimize collective robot performance.
Earlier this week, Minister of Education, Science and Technology The Hon. Daryll Matthew welcomed the five team members to the ministry’s headquarters, where the students presented a live demonstration of their in-progress robot prototype. During the meeting, Matthew praised the team as a showcase of the untapped talent thriving in Antigua and Barbuda’s education system. “This team proves how much exceptional potential we have growing in our schools, and it reinforces why we must keep prioritizing and investing in STEM education,” he stated. “We are incredibly proud to stand behind this team, and we hope their journey inspires more young people across the country to pursue careers in science and technology.”
The trailblazing team is made up of five young women from across the country, each with distinct STEM-focused career aspirations: 16-year-old Hannah Masson serves as team leader and hopes to one day work as a forensic pathologist; 15-year-old Audella-Mae James fills the role of lead engineer and aims to become an astrophysicist; 16-year-old Gyanna Ryan leads the team’s coding work and plans to practice architecture; 14-year-old Sidea Ambrose is the team’s primary robot driver with dreams of working in interior design; and 14-year-old Neola Noronha manages team inventory and aspires to a career in biomedical engineering. All five students were selected for the team through the competitive TechByte summer STEM camp, and they receive ongoing mentorship from tech educator Asanti Bacchus.
The team is currently in the active testing and modification phase of robot development, meticulously documenting every iteration of their design, testing results, and problem-solving process in a formal engineering notebook, a requirement for all competing teams. Masson, speaking on behalf of the group, extended gratitude to both the Board of Education and the Ministry for their financial and institutional support. “This opportunity means the world to us—it gives us the chance to stand on a global stage and represent Antigua and Barbuda,” she said. “Most of all, we hope other young girls will see what we’re doing and feel encouraged to get involved in robotics and STEM too.”