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Tribune News Network
Doha
About 20 students of grades nine to 12 from high schools across Qatar brought their ideas to life through a week-long Qatar Invents STEM enrichment programme designed to encourage innovative solutions to real-world challenges in Qatar.
Organised and hosted by Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq) STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) experts, Qatar Invents enabled participants to experience the fundamentals of the engineering design process by tackling a real-world problem over the course of one week.
The intensive engineering invention and design experience engaged students in hands-on projects that pushed their innovation, creativity and communication skills. Students developed their own novel solutions to engineering challenges in agriculture and then built prototypes to demonstrate their inventions.
The week concluded with the students presenting their inventions to a set of judges.
This year’s project theme was selected from Qatar’s grand challenges — food and water security.
The programme used engineering to improve agriculture in Qatar by asking students to design and build a hydroponics system to reuse water, thereby reducing the amount of water consumption in agriculture.
The students were challenged to create solutions that were cost effective, easy to install and use and must minimise both the amount of water used by reusing waste water as well as the amount of external power required.
Student inventor Arya Kanade joined the programme after a friend recommended it to her.
“A friend told me that she had attended the programme and had one of the best weeks of her life. I was sceptical but I can say that Qatar Invents gave me the experience of a lifetime. I made new friends and I learned a lot about the engineering world. My experience was incredible and I learned complex concepts in a fun way.
Initially, I didn’t know if I should pursue engineering as a career or not. But thanks to Qatar invents, I know what engineering is and I definitely want to pursue it,” she said.
Fellow attendee Rohit Lal agreed.
“My time in Qatar Invents has been an unforgettable experience. I walked into that room without any knowledge of engineering and walked out with so much more than just facts and notes. I walked out of that room with real experience and amazing people who I would never have met without this workshop. I left with a feeling of pride and excitement to learn more. Even though we weren’t building for all five days, every second in that room was amazing. I loved this workshop and I would attend this workshop again,” Lal said.
Qatar Invents was designed to motivate students in science and engineering while teaching skills essential to becoming leaders in engineering and innovation, said Dr César Octavio Malavé, dean of Texas A&M at Qatar.
Another participant, Haneul Choi, encouraged other students to enrol in the programme.
“I am interested in computer coding and engineering as a future career path for me. The things I learned during the programme were fun and the most interesting part was making a prototype out of our ideas. I hope others get the chance to participate in this programme. The whole course is fun and it will definitely help you be a little more prepared when you enter college or get a job later,” Choi said.
Doha
About 20 students of grades nine to 12 from high schools across Qatar brought their ideas to life through a week-long Qatar Invents STEM enrichment programme designed to encourage innovative solutions to real-world challenges in Qatar.
Organised and hosted by Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq) STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) experts, Qatar Invents enabled participants to experience the fundamentals of the engineering design process by tackling a real-world problem over the course of one week.
The intensive engineering invention and design experience engaged students in hands-on projects that pushed their innovation, creativity and communication skills. Students developed their own novel solutions to engineering challenges in agriculture and then built prototypes to demonstrate their inventions.
The week concluded with the students presenting their inventions to a set of judges.
This year’s project theme was selected from Qatar’s grand challenges — food and water security.
The programme used engineering to improve agriculture in Qatar by asking students to design and build a hydroponics system to reuse water, thereby reducing the amount of water consumption in agriculture.
The students were challenged to create solutions that were cost effective, easy to install and use and must minimise both the amount of water used by reusing waste water as well as the amount of external power required.
Student inventor Arya Kanade joined the programme after a friend recommended it to her.
“A friend told me that she had attended the programme and had one of the best weeks of her life. I was sceptical but I can say that Qatar Invents gave me the experience of a lifetime. I made new friends and I learned a lot about the engineering world. My experience was incredible and I learned complex concepts in a fun way.
Initially, I didn’t know if I should pursue engineering as a career or not. But thanks to Qatar invents, I know what engineering is and I definitely want to pursue it,” she said.
Fellow attendee Rohit Lal agreed.
“My time in Qatar Invents has been an unforgettable experience. I walked into that room without any knowledge of engineering and walked out with so much more than just facts and notes. I walked out of that room with real experience and amazing people who I would never have met without this workshop. I left with a feeling of pride and excitement to learn more. Even though we weren’t building for all five days, every second in that room was amazing. I loved this workshop and I would attend this workshop again,” Lal said.
Qatar Invents was designed to motivate students in science and engineering while teaching skills essential to becoming leaders in engineering and innovation, said Dr César Octavio Malavé, dean of Texas A&M at Qatar.
Another participant, Haneul Choi, encouraged other students to enrol in the programme.
“I am interested in computer coding and engineering as a future career path for me. The things I learned during the programme were fun and the most interesting part was making a prototype out of our ideas. I hope others get the chance to participate in this programme. The whole course is fun and it will definitely help you be a little more prepared when you enter college or get a job later,” Choi said.
