Sony awards creative innovators

RIYADH: Fifteen students from schools in Riyadh were awarded prizes during the Sony Creative Science Awards 2012 on Monday. On behalf of the Modern Electronics Company Ltd. (MECL), a subsidiary of the Al-Faisaliah Group and Sony, Prince Mohammed Khaled Al-Faisal, president and chief executive officer of the Al-Faisaliah Group, distributed the awards to the winners at a ceremony at the King Faisal Foundation in Riyadh.
Afnan Abdullah Al-Amr from Al-Tharbiyah Al-Islamiyah School grabbed the first prize of SR10,000 coupled with a free trip to Japan. The second and third winners were Zackariah Al-Sagghayar, a Swedish national and Saudi Fahad Naif Al-Mutairy who received SR7,500 and SR5,000 respectively.
Among the international schools in Riyadh, the winners were Mohammed Roshan and Mohamed Nirjas from Al-Huda International School and Syed Moaz from Riyadh International Indian School.
The Sony Creative Science Awards aims to discover creative innovators of young people under the age of 15, the prince said, adding that this group forms 40 percent of the Saudi population. He pointed out that the competition helps young students to come out with their hidden talents in the field of science.
“With the help of these talented students, our aim is make the Kingdom a center of excellence for the learning of science and knowledge,” he noted.
A speech read out on behalf of Sony said the electronics giant places high emphasis on innovations and scientific research.
“Its our joint aim to engage children's imagination with science, knowing that scientific curiosity in children can make learning more exciting,” the statement said.
“We all know that education is a fundamental building block for creating better opportunities for the next generation and that's why the Sony creative award is so important to us.”
The competition was open to all students between the ages of nine and 15. The objective of the contest is to foster creative thinking, inventive spirit and entrepreneurial enterprise skills among school children through a student-trainer-parent partnership.