Culture & Education | Sunday 24 March, 2019 11:49 am |

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation and Chairman of Emirates Foundation, and in partnership with the Ministry of Education and attendance of His Highness Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Ajman Municipality, 2019’s final Think Science Fair took place in Ajman University, the host sponsor in Ajman, with the participation of 160 contestants from across schools and universities in Ajman and Umm Al Quwain.

 

Over 1500 visitors attended the concluding Think Science Fair in Ajman, following the Fairs conducted in each Emirate, raising the total number of Fair visitors from across the UAE to 28,000. Under the theme of “Seven Fairs for Seven Emirates,” Think Science Fair expanded this year to get closer to youth across the nation and provide everyone with access to the competition. The 2019 Think Science editions, starting with Dubai and Abu Dhabi in February followed by Sharjah Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, and concluded in Ajman and Um Al Quwain. 

 

This year’ Think Science competition recorded an exceptionally high number of 4,000 applicants and 2,040 projects, out of which 700 qualified as finalists’ projects representing the work of more than 1850 youth from schools and universities from across the UAE.

 

The participating projects have entered the competition under the guidance of 450 mentors and supervisors from educational institutions across the UAE.

 

The judging committee for the competition, made up of more than 81 scientific experts and PhD holders from universities, as well as government, and private corporate entities — who reviewed and evaluated the projects in each Emirate to determine the winners within each Emirate. Winners will then be recognized at the award ceremony, which is due to take place in April 2019.

 

Maytha Al Habsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation expressed her gratitude for the Think Science Strategic partners for their visionary support to the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy and Empowerment of Youth in STEM across the nation.

 

Speaking about the Think Science Fairs Al Habsi Said: “At Emirates Foundation, we strive to engage an ever-growing number of schools and universities from across the nation in the Think Science Competition and Fairs to build awareness about the importance of STEM and encourage youth to explore science education and careers. To this end, we are very proud to have engaged these large numbers of contestants and visitors from across the UAE.”

 

More than 50 partners from private and public sectors, academia and industry delivered hundreds of science activities and workshops within their stands at the Think Science Fair 2019. The Fair is supported by Emirates Foundation’s strategic partners; Occidental Petroleum, Total and ADNOC. The Energy partner the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, and other Fair sponsors and partners including Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, British Petroleum, Dolphin Energy Limited, Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance, PepsiCo, UAE Space Agency, Honeywell, and Etisalat the digital partner. 

 

Think Science 2019 winners will be announced at a special award ceremony, where one winner per category will be announced as follows: First Place for each school category at each Emirate; First Place for each university category; Think Science People’s Choice Award 2019, which is chosen by visitors voting live in each Emirate; Think Science Outstanding Display Award 2019 in each Emirate. In addition, and for the first time, this year’s competition will introduce the “National Geographic Kids Abu Dhabi Special Award focused on the Smart Systems and AI category with a trip to Nasa in the United States.  Lastly, an award will also be introduced this year for

schools and universities with the highest number of participating projects.