UAE BARQ برق الإمارات – نبضك
Emirates Foundation, an independent national organisation set up by the Abu Dhabi Government to facilitate public-private funded initiatives for the empowerment of youth across the UAE, will officially inaugurate the 2018 Think Science Fair on 16th April, 2018 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Chairman of Emirates Foundation, and in line with the UAE Innovation strategy, the three-day fair will take place for the 6th year in a row, in partnership with Ministry of Education and the Department of Education and Knowledge with the aim of Empowering youth between the ages of 15-35 to actively engage with the digital revolution and provides them with the right platform to innovate and deploy technology to pursue STI education and careers.
Maytha Al Habsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation, said, “As we continue to evolve our Think Science programme, we are building a true ecosystem for youth innovation, in line with the Foundation’s commitment to the UAE National Innovation Strategy and STI Policy in making the UAE one of the most innovative nations in the world.”
Al Habsi continued, “We have worked with our partners to make the Think Science Fair 2018 a destination for all youth, stimulating their curiosity and interest in all things science, while helping young science talent gain the right exposure and support to help them successfully launch their projects. Through our partnerships with specialized entities and innovation incubators, we are working to fuel and support the adoption of the amazing youth inventions across all sectors.”
She added,”‘Social Innovation’ projects across different sectors are also a centre of focus this year, as part of the Foundation’s encouraging youth to walk in the footsteps of the UAE’s founding father, as part of ‘The Year of Zayed'”.
A key differentiator at this year’s Think Science Fair is the criteria set for project success to move from idea to market and the 2018 Fair will place major emphasis on the concept of adoption and incubation of student innovations and prototypes with the focus on contributing to promote the UAE as a global innovation centre.
The annual Think Science Fair is a multi-faceted event. It features the Competition, a cornerstone that is designed to encourage youth to develop breakthrough science-based innovations in areas which are key to the country’s sustainable development, such as biomedical and health Sciences, environmental sciences and food security, energy, artificial intelligence, smart and safety systems, transportation and road safety systems, vehicle designs and aviation, and systems for the benefit of the determined ones.
The Think Science Competition has engaged over 12,000 youth since its inception and reached a record number of 1,880 projects’ submissions for its 2018 edition with an increase of 36% com-pared to 2017 submissions.
This years’ competition is expected to attract over 17,000 visitors from across the UAE covering schools, universities and larger community.
