The deadline for the submission of entries in the Siemens Student Award regional student essay contest in the Middle East is extended to Aug. 15, 2011, the company said in a statement Sunday. The Award seeks answers to the world's major current issues – demographic change, climate change, urbanization, and globalization. Launched in May 2011, the Siemens Student Award has recorded an outstanding number of registrations and submissions, comments and votes from students across the Middle East. The winner will receive $25,000 and an internship opportunity with Siemens while the runners-up will receive $15,000 and $5,000 respectively and an internship opportunity at Siemens Middle East. With its Student Award, Siemens encourages bachelor and master students enrolled at accredited universities in the Middle East and Pakistan to submit essays of up to 500 words that deal with one central question 'How to build sustainable cities in the desert?' In addition to their essays, students are also encouraged to submit creative visuals that illustrate their ideas. Registrants for the competition include students from universities across the Middle East and Pakistan. With three weeks to go, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan are leading the field, recording the highest numbers of registered students and submissions. To date students from over 219 universities have registered on the award's website and engaged online, submitting their ideas and rating others. "Male students are currently leading the way with 72 percent overall participation. We certainly like to encourage female students to take up the challenge too, thinking of effective and efficient ways to building a sustainable city in the desert," said Arja Talakar, CEO Siemens, Saudi Arabia. "The buzz words and tags that rank most highly on the site at the moment are 'Energy', 'Water', 'Natural Resources', 'Renewable Energy' and 'Solar', highlighting the students interest in thinking about practical solutions that deal with the most pressing challenges the world faces today. Seeing these topics discussed at a feverish pace gives us hope that future generations in the region are committed to finding solutions, addressing water shortage, better access to healthcare and clean energy," Arja Talakar added. In line with its belief in team play Siemens is not only inviting entries from individuals but also from groups of up to three students. Submissions will be vetted by Siemens experts and the online community, following the submission deadline in mid August, for their accordance with five criteria: fit to topic; pioneering; easy to implement; creativity of presentation; and easy to understand. The online community will be selecting three finalists while Siemens experts are selecting seven finalists. Siemens will invite the 10 finalists to present their ideas at the Awards ceremony in Doha, Qatar at the beginning of November this year where the winner will be announced. Submissions must be made online via the website: www.siemens.com/studentaward, where applicants can learn more about the award, find out about the terms and conditions, and grasp the opportunity Siemens offers excellent students in the Middle East.
