MAKKAH: Saudi Arabia, represented by the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba) and the Ministry of Education, is participating in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia, from May 7 to 13.
The Saudi pavilion, which was organized over two days and inaugurated by Mawhiba’s secretary-general, Saud bin Saeed Al-Mathami, attracted more than 300 visitors within the first hour of its launch.
Al-Mathami told Arab News: “We are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the creativity of our students, who have provided a true model of knowledge, wealth, and scientific excellence in all cultural activities, which is reflected in their participation in the ISEF exhibition.”
He wished them success, excellence, and a top ranking.
He also expressed his hopes that the students’ talent, ideas, and creativity would contribute to the extraordinary renaissance that the Kingdom was witnessing during this auspicious era.
He stressed that the Kingdom took pride in the students, saying the country had harnessed its great potential to qualify them to compete effectively in international forums so that Saudi Arabia could take its proper position among the countries of the world.
“When the crown prince said that the Saudis’ strength was like that of the Tuwaiq Mountain, unbreakable, Mawhiba saw in his words a road map for its initiatives.
“Our talented students are the true wealth of Saudi Arabia and the solid building blocks of our society. They are the real future that we are looking forward to, and their familiarity in all disciplines and specializations will push forward the Saudi Vision 2030.
“The talented students excelled in all disciplines related to energy, climate change, medicine, biosciences, space, medical and environmental engineering, organic materials industry, technology, innovation, information engineering, and artificial intelligence. They underwent extensive training for long hours and rigorous testing under the supervision of competent committees to honor Saudi Arabia in international forums.”
Al-Mathami explained that Mawhiba’s students were the kernel of the upcoming Saudi economy and said their talent confirmed the strength of the presence of the Saudi identity in all fields.
He added that their confidence and knowledge were the foundation of their success.
The secretary-general urged the members of the Saudi team to be respectful toward the arbitrators, advising them to refrain from arguing with them and instead engage in a discussion about the results of their studies and research, leveraging their skills through effective communication to express their ideas.
He said that everyone in the Saudi team represented the Kingdom, represented themselves through this project, and represented the world given that ISEF was an international platform where all countries competed.
“Each one of them is now an ambassador to the world through the project he is competing with at ISEF.”
Al-Mathami said he and his foundation deputies were keen to participate in and attend ISEF because of Saudi Arabia’s great accomplishments this year. It ranked third after the US and China for the number of students participating in the current exhibition.
“This would provide Saudi students with the opportunity to receive awards, whether major prizes or special prizes.”
As part of their ISEF 2022 participation, the Saudi students installed project signboards in the exhibition, took part in workshops in preparation for the arbitration tours, and trained the female Saudi student who won the Broadcom Master awards.
They also attended the broches exchange ceremony with the rest of the international students.
