The Caribbean Science Foundation (CSF) held the third annual Caribbean STEM Olympiads (CSO) on 13 – 19 January 2025 in a virtual format. In these Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Olympiads, individuals and teams representing educational institutions or themselves competed in Math, Computer Coding, and Robotics & Electronics Systems Olympiads at three different age levels (12 – 15, 16 – 18 and 19 – 21).
In the competitions, the focus was on rewarding inventiveness, as well as critical, logical and analytical thinking. In particular, the Math Olympiad was held in a Jeopardy-style format and covered the fundamentals in topics ranging from consumer arithmetic to vector calculus. The Computer Coding Olympiad tasked applicants with creating apps, games, and websites aimed at solving a challenge faced by Caribbean communities. The challenges tackled by teams in the 2025 Olympiads included geohazards and climate change, cultural preservation, conservation science and ecology, inter and intra country transportation, food safety and security, safe after-hours transport for women and youth, and financial education. The Robotics & Electronics Systems Olympiad tasked the Level I applicants with building innovative systems from kits, whereas the Level III robotics and electronics systems teams were required to design and assemble their robots starting from the basic-components level.
A total of 264 students from 9 Caribbean countries registered for the 2025 Olympiads, making it the highest registration to date. After the preliminary rounds, 41 teams (98 students) made it to the finals.
There were 34 finalists in the MathOlympiad, 39 in the Computer Coding Olympiad, and 25 in the Robotics & Electronics Systems Olympiad. Medal certificates and cash prizes of US$ 500, 400, 300 and 200 were awarded to teams winning platinum, gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively. The Medals and Awards Ceremony, held on Sunday 19 January 2025, revealed that Jamaica led the medal count with 10 medals, followed by Belize and Guyana with 4 each, and Barbados, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago with 2 each.
In 2025 platinum medals were awarded to teams who received a final score between 95% and 100%, as the CSF continued to raise the standard of the Olympiads. “Pi Enthusiasts”, a team consisting of Chad Wright and Jaheim Smart who attend Campion College in Jamaica, but represented themselves, gave an outstanding performance and clinched the Level 1 Math Olympiad platinum medal (the only platinum medal awarded in 2025).
Regarding some of the other prestigious medals earned, “PCC Pi-rates”, a team consisting of Kovid Capildeo, Avinda Dhoray, and Saiesh Rampersad from Presentation College, Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago, earned a gold medal in Level II of the Math Olympiad. Anaiah Bousquet, Shanice Searles, and Payten Xavier representing St. Joseph's Convent Secondary School in Saint Lucia earned a gold medal in Level I of the Math Olympiad. In Level III of the Math Olympiad, Nishanae Williams, a Jamaican student currently attending Howard University, won a gold medal. Also, earning a gold medal from Jamaica was Kristian Coke, Ruwan Amarakoon, Demaria Walker and Joseph Udoudo who impressed the Level III Computer Coding Olympiad judges with their food safety and security project “Nothing Nuh Grow Suh”.
Belize clinched two gold medals in Robotics & Electronics Systems Olympiad. In Level I, Mia Yam, Carlos Blanco, Jair Urbina and Kian Carrillo from Muffles College High School presented their robotics project “Making Intelligent Life Possible through Agriculture (MILPA)” designed to assist farmers with planting, watering and ploughing, while in Level III, Bridget Pineda from Nazarene High School awed the judges with her electronics project “Cricket”, designed to detect flames, smoke, sparks and gas leaks.
Also earning a gold medal was 13-year-old Temidara Oyedotun, who attends School of the Nations, Guyana. His data processing project, “State of the Soil: State of the Crop”, examined the effects of factors, such as bacteria, on food safety and security, and earned him the top prize in Level I of the Computer Coding Olympiad. For Level II of the Computer Coding Olympiad, Khamala Mars and Nya Scott of team “KarifKoders” from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, tackled the challenge of cultural preservation with their project “GariGuru” which was an interactive game designed to teach primary school children in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines the basics of the Garifuna language.
Professor Cardinal Warde, the Interim Executive Director of the CSF said, “I am impressed by the level of achievement of the participants. However, it is clear that the CSF needs to do more to enhance the quantity and quality of robotics and embedded systems in the Region. To aid those Robotics & Electronics Systems teams that start early in preparation for the 2026 Olympiads, the CSF will issue a call for proposals to assist such teams in covering the upfront costs of components.”
The competing students also had a lot to say. Chad Wright of platinum medalist team “Pi Enthusiasts” from Jamaica stated, “I would like to thank the CSF, sponsors and anyone else who contributed for this amazing opportunity. It really helped us to challenge ourselves and meet other people from the Caribbean. It was very fun, and we will be coming back next year.”
Kovid Capildeo of gold-medallist team “PCC Pi-rates” from Trinidad and Tobago said, “It’s the first Math Olympiad that I participated in where it has such a unique format with the quick-fire thinking and such a broad range of topics from algebra, sequences, geometry, trigonometry, vectors; practically everything that you would learn in pure math was covered here and a lot of applied math too, so it is a really nice thing because if you study for the CSO, it almost has a side effect that you are going to be well prepared for CAPE. So, I think it is a really nice format and structure. It was very dynamic and very fun.”
Temidara Oyedotun, a 13-year-old student from Guyana, who won a gold medal in Level I of the Computer Coding Olympiad and a bronze medal in Level I of the Math Olympiad stated, “The Olympiads were very suspenseful and exciting, and I enjoyed every moment of the competitions. Also, I thank you for recognizing all the months of hard work I put into preparing for the two challenges I took part in.”
Gold medalist Nya Scott of “KarifKoders” from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines said, “We both wanted to thank the CSF and sponsors for organizing these Olympiads and creating this opportunity for young people in the Caribbean to explore STEM. Participating has improved our coding skills and critical thinking skills, but it has also allowed us to tackle real world issues affecting our country and Region.”
Simeon Green of “Phi-re Phi-ghters” from Barbados who won a silver medal in Level III of the Math Olympiad said, “We really enjoyed preparing by doing a lot of practice, and even during the competition, just the rigor of the math we had to do was really interesting. You should have seen our faces when got the question done. We really enjoyed participating.”
Silver medalist Caesar Melendez of “<Rambots>” from Belize High School who competed in Level II of the Robotics & Electronics Systems Olympiad stated, “Thanks to the judges who gave very constructive feedback on how we could improve our project. It made us realise all of our flaws since this is the first time that we’ve done the CSO, and it inspired us to try to see if we can come back next year. Thank you very much for this honour and we are thrilled to have earned a silver medal in this competitive filed.”
Faith Robinson from Saint Lucia, who earned a bronze medal in Level III of the Robotics & Electronics Systems Olympiad and was a finalist in Level III of the Computer Coding Olympiad said, “It was genuinely a really fun experience. It was fun to develop. It fun to hear the judges feedback, and it was especially inspiring to see the work of the other Olympiad participants.”
The Institutional sponsors included CIBC Caribbean, Emera Caribbean, Peloton International, Sandals Foundation, and
the U.S. Embassy in Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the OECS. The CSF is a regional, non-profit NGO with the mission of assisting with the development and diversification of the economies of the Caribbean Region by promoting
STEM education reform and stimulating technology-based entrepreneurship. For more information on the CSF, the Caribbean STEM Olympiads and other programs run by the CSF, please visit https://caribbeanscience.org.
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