Tribune News Network
Doha
Ibtechar, Qatar’s leading practical innovation solutions provider, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE), marked the opening of the 6th Sanea Competition in a ceremony that brought together education and technology leaders, ministry officials, as well as high school students and teachers.
This edition of the Sanea Competition will see the participation of more than 150 students from 42 preparatory and middle schools in Qatar who will receive mentorship from 45 teachers, specifically trained to use various 4th generation technologies by Ibtechar.
Qatar’s leading Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) competitions, Sanea encourages high school students to utilize these essential skills to transform innovative ideas into tangible prototypes and play a role in conquering real-world challenges.
Over a six-month journey, contesting teams will undergo four design rounds to visualize, develop and refine their technological products with guidance and feedback from an expert panel of judges. The projects will be ranked against a range of criteria, involving the design process, functionality of the prototype, teamwork and presentation skills.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Nayef Al-Ibrahim, CEO and Co-founder of Ibtechar, said, “When we launched the Sanea Competition five years ago our ambition was to motivate more and more young people to harness the power of practical innovation to make a mark in the community to ultimately cultivate a culture of making. As we enter the sixth year of the competition with our partners, we are proud to highlight a marked increase in the number of participants that affirms our collective contribution towards building a knowledge-based society as envisioned by Qatar National Vision 2030.”
Sponsors of the 6th Sanea Competition comprise: Ibtechar as the founding partner; MoEHE as the strategic partner; Injaz Qatar as the Community Partner; Store974 as the Gifting Partner; BLJ Worldwide as the Media Agency Partner; and Leisure Qatar as the Venue Partner.
Emad Al Khaja, CEO of INJAZ Qatar, said: “Entrepreneurship is one of INJAZ Qatar’s main pillars, and as “Sanea” focuses on promoting the culture and enriching the discovery in which we get to live the essence of an ecosystem and work together for a common goal to achieve. We’re excited to see what the students will accomplish and we are proud to be a community partner to support such an amazing initiative for our young entrepreneurs.”
Managing Director Leisure Qatar, Sherif Elbassiouny, said, “We are delighted that Virtuocity - one of Lesiure’s entertainment parks-the Region’s egaming capital is the venue partner for this year’s competition. We’re continuously supporting and encouraging the development of students’ technological understanding in craft and technology education.”
Since its launch in 2016, the Sanea Competition has worked to empower more than 3000 Qatari youth with the tools required to enable a mindset of discovery, research and creative thinking. As part of this, Ibtechar trained over 120 teachers to ensure students benefit from technical and mentoring advice needed to deliver the projects that include over 200 submissions to date.
