01 April 2010

SIDON: Lebanon’s young scientists will have the chance to compete with young inventors from around the world in May as part of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

The Lebanese participants who will fly to California in the United States to compete in the international competition are the winners of the Fourth Lebanese Science Fair, and their names were announced on Wednesday.

Over the weekend, head of the Education and Culture parliamentary committee MP Bahia Hariri announced the names of the winners and expressed her delight that Lebanon could reach great achievements with little resources.

“Lebanon is rich in its young and creative human resources. Our young always raise Lebanon’s name high at international competitions,” the minister said.

The Lebanese science fair was held in the southern coastal city of Sidon earlier this month and more than 140 students from 27 schools from various Lebanese regions participated.

It was organized by the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development and the company Intel Corporation and it aimed at promoting alternative power sources.

The students were asked to come up with new scientific inventions, especially ones that helped provide alternative power sources.

The projects were judged by a panel of 12 Lebanese University professors and the fair’s winners were given a chance to participate in the Intel international fair on May 9.

Lebanon participated in the Intel fair in 2007 and its candidates won second prize for their invention. “When you go to California you will not only represent science fair participants or your schools or villages, you will represent Lebanon,” Hariri added addressing the winners.

The MP then wished that next year’s fair would draw more candidates and she encouraged school principals and teachers to apply because every child should be allowed the chance to live participate in such an interesting experience.

The projects at this year’s fair in Sidon stressed the need to find alternative sources of power. The winning project, called “Electric Waves,” was presented by Hadi Hatit from the Antonine Sisters School in Nabatieh and it aimed at using the movement of sea waves to produce electric power.

Another winning project, “Highways Go Green,” was presented by Mohammad Issa from the Rafik Hariri High School in Sidon and it suggested producing electric power from the movement of vehicles.

Two other winning projects sought to serve the community but stepped away from environmental issues.

The project “Anti-Theft Bag” was the invention of Walid Shama from Rawda School in Tripoli and it consisted of a bag auto-protected against theft; while the project “Smart TV” was presented by Hamza al-Mallah from Al-Iman School in Sidon and it used a sensor which prevents children from getting too close to a television set.

Copyright The Daily Star 2010.