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Dubai-based robotics team earns global recognition at prestigious FTC Events
Team UFORCE secures third place in the FTC Inspire Award category and represents the UAE at an invitation-only global robotics tournament featuring the world's top teams
- PUBLISHED: Fri 24 Jul 2026, 10:39 PM
Team UFORCE, representing Dubai-based Unique World Robotics (UWR), has achieved global recognition after securing third place in the Inspire Award category at the prestigious FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Michiana Premier Event in the United States.
Held from June 18–21, 2026, at the Century Center in South Bend, Indiana, the FTC Michiana Premier Event brought together 96 leading robotics teams from around the world. Team UFORCE earned third place in the Inspire Award category, FTC's highest judged honour, recognising excellence in engineering, robot design, programming, innovation, teamwork and community impact.
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The team comprises Aarnav Bhargava (GEMS Modern Academy), Dhruv Suresh (Emirates International School Jumeirah), Zayan Abdullah Zamir (Sharjah English School), Aarnav Mehta (GEMS Modern Academy), Aarush Pancholi (GEMS Modern Academy), Daivik Anand Datwani (Dubai College), Nikhilesh Kakkar (Dubai International Academy Al Barsha), Sri Gupta (North London Collegiate School Dubai), Kritin Sathya (Dubai College), Shaurya Choudhary (Jumeirah College), Shaurya Sinha (GEMS Wellington International School), Sreya Binoy Nair (GEMS Modern Academy), Mohnish Sai (GEMS Modern Academy), Moonkang Cho (GEMS International School Al Khail), Aryan Mahadev Chamoli (Ambassador School Mankhool) and Leisha Daswani (Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills).
"This achievement reflects the dedication, innovation and perseverance of our students, mentors and the UWR community," said Bansan Thomas George, founder of Unique World Robotics and the firstrobotics.ae community.
Team UFORCE also represented the UAE at the Multinational Tech Invitational (MTI), held from June 26–28, 2026, at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory's Kossiakoff Center in Laurel, Maryland. The invitation-only event featured 44 of the world's top FTC teams selected from more than 11,000 active teams globally.
"Our mission is to empower students to solve real-world challenges through robotics and innovation," said Mohammed Mukhtar, founder and head coach of Team UFORCE.
The achievement marks another milestone for the UAE's growing robotics ecosystem and highlights the global potential of the country's young innovators.