The students—Gerard Magaleta, Tamanda Champiti, and Patience Muhunya—arrived in Mexico City on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, accompanied by their team mentor, Stanley Mbewe, a member of faculty in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Although he has not travelled along, the dean of engineering, Dr. Gregory Gamula, is responsible for managing the team of two female and one male student. He said the theme for this year's competition, which will run for a week, is Energy Impact. Besides competing, the students will have the opportunity to interact with mentors and other students from literally all over the world.   

According to the principal of the Polytechnic, Professor Grant Kululanga, participation in such competitions gives Polytechnic students the much-needed exposure to cutting-edge techniques in the world of engineering. This is particularly relevant as the Polytechnic continues to bridge the gap between the academic and the practical. He emphasized that it is a “new Polytechnic,” one that will continue to strive to meet the technical and infrastructural needs of the country by training students, who are the future work force, academically and practically.  

This is the second time the Polytechnic has sent a team to the First Global robotics competition, having also sent a team to last year’s competition, which was held in Washington D.C. in the United States of America. The team is being sponsored by First Global, which, according to the organisation’s Web site, “organizes a yearly international robotics challenge to ignite a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) among the more than two billion youths across the world.” Some sponsorship has also been provided by the Polytechnic.