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Both serve as reminders to current team members of what is possible if they continue to pursue STEM fields. Ismail is in his third year studying computer engineering at Queen’s, and Shanti is a freshman studying business intelligence (combining business and technology applications) at Al-Najah National University in the West Bank.
Dalia Nasr, 2025 Team Palestine student: Alumni, I can learn from them. There are not many robotics courses in Palestine. It is not really common for us to have such things. So it’s a really, really big opportunity for me.
Ismail: At some point, I looked up to those who had participated in previous years. In the same way I inspire people, other people inspire me.
Saleh: We have no words to express our feelings when the first student graduates from high school, and they start thinking, “We want to be like Khalil and study computer science, or we actually want to study robotics.”
It was truly rewarding to see them turn this passion into a career. The most rewarding thing for us is when they come back for summer vacation, they volunteer with our team to share their knowledge.
The 2025 tour iteration of Team Palestine, five members strong (plus mentors), is just days away from leaving for Panama City. Their robot, which Nasr says is largely finished, will collect “biodiversity units” from a tank in the playground and shoot them into a makeshift ecosystem, simulating real-life efforts at ecological balance, which is this year’s theme.
Nasr, 16, will serve as the team’s “human player,” responsible for assisting the robot in shooting the Biodiversity Unit; He jokes that he will rely on his limited basketball experience.
Nasr: Being able to participate in a competition where I can inspire other Palestinian youth or other Palestinian students who are interested in pursuing a career in STEM is something that has truly been one of the most life-changing experiences of my life. I know it’s a lot of pressure on me as a person, but it’s a really big honor.
