Emirates Foundation’s Think Science Fair 2019 Kicks-off with 1850 finalists nationwide

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, the 7th edition of Think Science Fair kicked off today.Under the theme of “Seven Fairs for Seven Emirates,” Think Science will take place across all emirates this year. The Dubai leg of the Fair was held today, at Zayed University, the host sponsor in Dubai, with an overwhelming participation from 350 youth from across schools and universities from Dubai only. 

Held by Emirates Foundation, an independent national organization set up by the Abu Dhabi Government to facilitate public-private funded initiatives for the empowerment of youth across the UAE, Think Science is the largest Fair of its kind in the region and a valuable contributor to the national Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy goals, committed to encouraging young people to pursue Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) degrees and careers. Through the Think Science Program and especially the Fair, Emirates Foundation aims to excite youth about the application of science in the modern world, encourage them to pursue their studies in this area and connect them to businesses looking for STI talent.

Following Dubai, the Think Science Fairs will take place in Abu Dhabi (Feb 24th), Sharjah (March 3rd), Ras Al Khaimah (March 10th), Fujairah (March 17th), Ajman and Um Al Quwain on (March 21st). 

A total of 700 finalists projects representing the work of more than 1850 youth from schools and universities from across the UAE will be featured within their respective Emirates at the seven Fairs. 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 — will review and evaluate the projects in each Emirate to determine the winners within each Emirate, who will then be recognized at the award ceremony, which is due to take place later in 2019.

His Excellency Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Managing Director of Emirates Foundation expressed his gratitude to the UAE leadership for their visionary outlook which established the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy as the roadmap to building a better future for generations to come. 

Speaking about the Think Science Fair His Excellency Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon, Managing Director of Emirates Foundation 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 announce that the Foundation will organize Think Science Fairs across the nation.” 

“The Fairs will also play a critical role in enabling our youth to turn their innovation into business opportunities through the Foundation’s partnerships with the private sector entities, thereby paving the way for the next generation of scientists who will hold the future of our great nation in their hands.”

The Think Science Fair comprises a large-scale exhibition of youth projects from high schools and universities competing across 11 scientific sectors: 1)Transportation and Road Safety Systems; 2) Safety Systems, 3) Health and Bioinformatics, 4) Applied Sciences, 5) Applied Chemistry, 6) Smart Systems and AI, 7) Industrial and Mechanical Systems, 8) Innovations in Energy and Environment, 9) Food Security and Water Sustainability, 10) Systems for the Determined Ones, 11) Robots.

In addition, The Think Science University competition this year will be in the following categories:  Energy, Environment, and Applied Sciences, Safety Systems and Bioinformatics, Food Security and Water Sustainability and Smart Systems and AI, Robots and Artificial Intelligence and Smart and Safety Systems.

More than 50 exhibitors from private and public sectors, academia and industry will deliver more than 100 science activities and workshops within their stands at the Think Science Fair 2019. These include the Fair’s platinum 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 National Geographic Kids Abu Dhabi. 

Speaking at the fair, H.E. Maytha Al Habsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation said: “Our Think Science Program aims to provide youth with a platform to deploy new technologies and unlock their creativity in Science, technology and innovation (STI).  With the digital revolution, we have a greater responsibility to support youth navigate the complexities of the 21st century and building a core talent pool of youth with expertise in Science, technology and innovation (STI) is a fundamental part of that.”

Al Habsi elaborated by saying: “Our expansion strategy to spread the Fairs across the UAE comes from our strong commitment and belief that science is a fundamental skill that all youth must learn and acquire and it is our shared responsibility to channel their innovations, taking them to the next level, through investments and support for incubation, mentoring and providing youth with more entry career pathways in science and technology. It is a commitment we must make together, the public, private and the philanthropy sectors, for the future of our youth and for sustainable development.”   

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 university with the highest number of participating projects.