DUBAI: Saudi Arabia is joining the 2019 FIRST Global DXB Challenge robotics event that Dubai will be hosting on October 24 to 27, the first time it will be held outside the Americas. The global event brings together more than 1,500 youth – who share a passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) – from over 191 countries as they compete using robotics and artificial intelligence to address this year’s challenge involving the world’s most critical environmental issues such as wastage of water and energy, sustainability and pollution. Team Saudi Arabia will be represented by five students: Sulafa Al-Shehri, Fadil Younes, Ghala Al-Shamekh, Abdulaziz Al-Nutaifi and Jana Al-Zayer; and will be mentored by Dr. Kamal Chenaoua, a faculty member in the Department of Computer Engineering at King Fahd University with ‏Maysoon Homidan, a Computer Engineer graduate from Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University managing the team, information from the First Global website shows. Organized by the Dubai Future Foundation under the theme ‘Ocean Opportunities’, the FIRST Global Challenge focuses on developing robots to clean up the millions of tons of pollutants in the oceans produced mainly by factories, mismanaged sewage systems and marine activities, which adversely affect marine life and the environment. Watch the First Global video that profiles the team from Saudi Arabia: