Lebanese student awarded for nuclear breakthrough

18 August 2010

SIDON: A Lebanese student was awarded by a reputable United States university over the results of pioneering scientific research.

Samih Mohammad Qabalan, 17, hailing from the town of Sheheem in Iqlim al-Kharoub, has conducted research into how to extend the lifetime of nuclear reactors.

Qabalan is a Grade 11 student at Rafik Hariri High School in the southern coastal city of Sidon.

Under the patronage of Sidon MP Bahia Hariri – the head of the Education Parliamentary Committee – he was selected by the Hariri foundation in Lebanon and the US to participate in a six-week scientific visit to The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US to carry out a scientific research study in his field of speciality

During his scientific trip, Qabalan sketched a system by which the components of a nuclear reactor could be studied and developed, contributing to prolonging the lifetime of nuclear reactors.

The research was voted by a scientific committee that supervised Qabalan’s work along with those of 72 other students from across the world.

Qabalan was awarded the person of the year medal by the Research Science Institute that operates with MIT.

He also received an appreciation certificate and his scientific research was registered in the university.

“It is a very nice feeling when you know that it is the first Arab individual to make such an achievement in 27 years,” Qabalan told The Daily Star.

“The [nuclear] world is a nice world … and we do not learn about it because we do not deal with nuclear power in Lebanon,” he added.

Qabalan noted that two other Lebanese were among the 73 competitors.

Asked about his next steps, Qabalan said he would join the general sciences section in his final school year. “I haven’t decided what I am going to major in [at university].”

He highlighted the presence of more than 50,000 Lebanese nationals in Boston.

“This indicates that the Lebanese individual excels everywhere,” he said.

Arabs are capable of succeeding in different fields if they are provided with a suitable atmosphere and stability. he added.

Upon his return to Lebanon, Qabalan was received along with his mother by Hariri at her residence in Majdalyoun.

The Sidon MP congratulated Qabalan for his achievement.