My name is Zakiya Neamuth. I am 18 years old and currently in grade 11 at Hamilton College situated at Mahebourg. I have been selected to be part of YUVA’s Robotics Team Mauritius for the FIRST Global Challenge 2022.

My love and interest for robotics began in November 2018 when Sophia, the humanoid, was brought to Mauritius. I must admit that this wonder of engineering, science and psychology was captivating and made me read and research more about robots since then.

Many times, during a peer group conversation, I bring up the topic of robots. And being a young girl studying science, I get asked the same questions many times; What is a robot? And its impact on our future lives?

My simplest form of answer would always be like the Robotics Revolution.

Zakiya Neamuth

The nineteenth-century marked the acceleration and wide adoption of industrial processes. At the start of the century, the Industrial Revolution was in mid-swing, and by the end, we had developed the car and were just about to demonstrate powered flight. The impact on the lives of humans was massive; social and economic rules that governed travel, health care, manufacturing, working environments, and home life were rewritten. In the twentieth century, this process was repeated with the Technology Revolution, but at a much faster rate. Technology moved from the laboratory and research institute to the home. The new realms of electronics, telecommunications, automation, and computation were the driving forces rather than the mechanical systems of the previous century.

In the early 1900s, there were almost no telephones, but at the dawn of the millennium, mobile phones were an everyday sight; computers were practically unheard of one hundred years ago but have become universal. We are now at the cusp of a new technological shift of equal significance: The Robotics Revolution. This revolution will place the twenty-first century at a pivotal position in history. More importantly, it will irrevocably impact all our lives and the lives of future generations.

Instead of thinking of robots as giant, rigid, and resilient machines, we can view future robots as artificial robotic organisms with properties mimicking and greatly extending the capabilities of natural organisms. The unique properties of softness and compliance make these machines highly suited to interactions with delicate things, including the human body, in medical, military, telecommunication, deep space, etc.

I am very thankful to have gotten the opportunity to be part of FIRST Global’s official Robotics Team Mauritius. And grateful to the beautiful team at YUVA for this excellent and fruitful exposure. I am very motivated, and I shall leave no stone unturned to make this a success.

Zakiya Neamuth