JEDDAH, 28 April 2006 — Children chanted “once more, once more” as Japanese scientist Soichi Nishimura performed science acts one after another at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry auditorium on Wednesday night. Nishimura presented different acts related to innovation and creativity in science.
The occasion was the distribution of prizes to students who had produced the best toys using their scientific imagination in a contest jointly organized by the Jeddah Science & Technology Center (JSTC), Modern Electronics Co. Ltd. a subsidiary of Al Faisaliah Group, and Sony Gulf. The chief guest was Prince Mohammed ibn Khaled Al Abdullah Al Faisal, president of Al Faisaliah Group, who presented the Sony Creative Science Awards 2006 amid cheers. Sony Gulf Managing Director Masaru Tamagawa and representatives of the Ministry of Education (MOE) and JSTC were among those present.
More than 600 students assisted by 72 teachers from 48 schools had entered the contest with over 260 creative toys.
Khereas Ashraf Khereas of Prince Sultan School, Mosab Wadee Mohammed Hussein of Al-Thaghr School and Ammar Mohammed Albarakati of Qurdoba private school were awarded the first three prizes. Among girls, Fotoun Halabi of School 145 and Ghadeer Ahmad Al-Hamdan of School 150 were respectively the seventh and eighth prizewinners.
Prince Mohammed, who saw the prize-winning exhibits, said the talent shown by students in producing their scientific toys impressed him a lot. “I’m delighted and greatly impressed by the talent of our young, budding scientists,” he said congratulating the winners.
“I’m very much pleased with my participation in this event,” said Nishimura. “Some of the most creative and innovative works that changed people’s lives around the world were a product of simple ideas,” said Nishimura who presented science shows for the first time in the Kingdom, in Riyadh, last year.
The competition, that saw a threefold increase in the number of participants compared to 2005, aims to boost the talents of a new and prosperous generation of innovators, the organizers said. The contestants included students from primary and secondary schools. Workshops were conducted to motivate the children to be innovative and creative, Sony Gulf Managing Director Masaru Tamagawa said. “The contest aimed at giving students the opportunity to practice the scientific principles they learn at schools,” he said, adding that the judging panel saw to it that each entry was based on at least one of the scientific principles including gravity and movement.
The award was instituted last year to nurture a spirit of curiosity and scientific thinking among children and provide an environment of fun that makes the learning process more enjoyable, Tamagawa said.
“The huge success of the first competition held last year encouraged us to repeat the experience and expand it in cooperation with the Gifted and Creative Student Center (GCSC) in Jeddah as part of the MOE,” Anwar Sadeq Balto of the GCSC said.
