Fest to showcase young scientists’ innovations
The NSTI Festival allows students to stay up to date on latest developments in STEM and AI.
Several UAE ministers, astronauts, budding scientists, students and families are all going to be at one place starting today – the National Science, Technology and Innovation (NSTI) Festival at the Festival Arena.
This year’s festival will also host its first Young Scientist Award, which will recognise and reward a young student for their science project. The Industrial Revolution X programme, which trains Emiratis in fourth industrial technologies, has also been launched as part of the festival, in which 78 students have already been selected to take part in.
Former Nasa astronaut Mike Massimino, Minister of Artificial Intelligence Omar bin Sultan Al Olama and president of Udacity Sebastian Thrun are some of the many top attendees of the event.
“The National Science, Technology and Innovation (NSTI) Festival, organised by the Ministry of Education, has significant importance as it reiterates the nation’s visions that make innovation the core of its journey towards science and advanced knowledge. The festival demonstrates the aspirations of our government and the vision of our wise leadership that recognises the importance of innovation and shed light on its invaluable contribution in various spheres of life,” Jameela bint Salem Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Public Education, said.
She added: “The NSTI Festival allows students and community members to stay up to date on the latest developments in science, technology, modern techniques, artificial intelligence and the latest trends in advanced educational solutions. It offers a comprehensive agenda with its various events, programmes, competitions, initiatives, sessions and workshops by experts and educational leaders from around the world.”
The Ministry of Education will be awarding winners of projects that fall under four core fields – technology, social and behavioural sciences, biological and ecological sciences, and chemical, physical and mathematical sciences.
Also, other award categories that align with the UAE National Innovation Strategy will be open for students to compete in and submit their projects. One outstanding project that shows a “remarkable innovative idea” and impresses the panel of experts at the festival will receive the UAE Young Scientist Award.
A total of 100 projects will be displayed at the science fair by 233 students while 77 of the ideas submitted on behalf of 89 elementary students (from Kindergarten to Grade 5) will be pitched at Fikrati (translates to Idea).
There will also be a family festival, where visitors can enjoy live performances from the Swiss Science Centre Technorama, Nutty Scientist, LED Robot and Kharsha and the Emirati-Japanese drums troupe.
On February 18, the Family Festival will hold a 3D printing competition for 150 students from private and government schools. The students will be required to design and make their own artificial intelligence and sustainability components and create a poster that explains their project. However, each group is supposed to have at least one Emirati student in order to qualify for participation.
The NSTI Festival starts today and ends on February 19. There is an onsite registration and entry is free of cost for the public.
Source: Khaleej Times