Eight alumni of the KAUST SRSI program will attend the annual Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF 2016)—the world’s largest international pre-college science competition.
After capturing top positions at the IBDA’A’ national competition in early March, eight SRSI 2015 alumni participated in an intense workshop ahead of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF)—the world’s largest international pre-college science competition. This year ISEF will be held on May 8-13 in Phoenix, Arizona.
36 students from the Kingdom qualified to attend the selection workshop. A total of 19 students presenting 18 projects were selected. All eight SRSI alumni did an outstanding job over the course of the three-day workshop and qualified for the team.
Below are this year’s SRSI Intel-ISEF qualifiers:
- Danah Hussein AlAwami working with Samir Hamdan
- Fatimah Abdulmonem Alshaikh working with Salim Al-Babili
- Zahraa Hussain Alsaggaf working with Klaus-Viktor Peinemann
- Munyrah Fahad working with Alamro Aamir Farooq
- Sara Adnan Alghamdi working with Peiying Hong
- Mohammed Bader Alhammadi working with Aram Amassian
- Mansour Ali AlDabbagh working with Husam Alshareef
- Omar Abdulrahman Alhazzaa working with William Roberts
Students participating in SRSI do not actively work or focus on science fair competitions. Instead, the students work on projects developed by KAUST faculty members that contribute to their ongoing research. During the six-week program, mentors, assistant mentors, tutors, and faculty lecturers help students develop and enhance their scientific reading, writing, research and presentation skills for the greater goals of pursuing education and careers related to science and technology. The students are particularly interested in making contributions that will advance not only Saudi Arabia, but the region and the world.
Participating in competitions such as IBDA’A and Intel-ISEF, exposes students to new ideas and supports networking with peers and career scientists worldwide while helping them to enhance their skills. So while not a goal of SRSI, participating in competitions is a valuable, unintended benefit in addition to giving recognition to these young scholars.
Under the auspices of Saudi Initiatives, SRSI is one of the University’s young talent development programs. It was first launched in 2011 with 25 students and has grown to a program of 40 to 45 students annually, attracting the best and brightest students from across the Kingdom. SRSI is a holistic experience that combines academics with social events giving students a solid grounding in science and technology with research experience.
KAUST is proud of the all the students’ accomplishments and the dedication of all our faculty mentors and their teams.
