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For the first time in the history of ‘Stars of Science’ (SoS), Qatar Foundation’s edutainment reality TV show, the jury dismissed two innovators in last night’s engineering prototyping episode, displaying the show’s first-ever double-elimination. Imadeddine Azzouz and Mohamed Kharrat both failed to prove the functionality of their prototypes, consequently leading to their exit from Season 11.
“When you create technological innovations that can impact lives, you have no margin for error,” said Prof Fouad Mrad, SoS jury member. “Although there’s no guarantee in the outcomes of the experimental innovation, an inventor must be ready to tackle any challenge at any stage of their product’s creation, and that is why we uphold the highest standards in scientific expertise and integrity.”
Contestants were given four weeks prior to the episode to produce an engineering prototype that would demonstrate the viability of their project’s computer-aided design plans and algorithm flowcharts, proving the product functionality and the prototype performance.
Imadeddine’s ‘Health Breath Scanner’ was designed to identify cancer through a person’s breath. However, it still requires long scientific research to be conducted to identify the biological markers of a person’s breath that would indicate the presence of the disease, a project Imadeddine has to undertake outside of the show. Comparatively, Mohamed’s ‘Smart Swimming Shorts’ were created to detect and prevent imminent drowning incidents, but did not pass simple tests and failed to inflate in a mock emergency situation as intended. In the end, the jury felt they had no choice but to eliminate them both from the competition.
Other contestants in the show kept their SoS dream alive. Nuha Abu Yousef’s ‘Active Lazy Eyelid Sticker’, which stimulates muscles in the eyelid to help mitigate the effects of Bell’s palsy on patients, caught the eye of the jury after passing its tests with flying colours. Meanwhile, Youssef El Azouzi proudly defended his ‘Flow Modulator Stent’, declaring that seeing his device in operation for the first time was the happiest day of his SoS journey.
Anwar al Mujarkesh, who competed during Season 5 in 2013, returned to co-host the episode alongside the show’s longtime presenter Khaled al Jumaily.
Mujarkesh was just as surprised as everyone when the jury decided on a double elimination. “The show challenges innovators for good reason, as putting a new product in the market requires serious dedication and expertise,” he said.
The remaining contestants, Nuha Abu Yousef, Abdulrahman Saleh Khamis, Husam Sameer, Anfal al Hamdani and Youssef El Azouzi, will proceed to the production prototyping phase in the last prototyping episode of the season which will air on Friday on Qatar TV and Saturday on eight channels across the region.
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20/10/2019
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