JEDDAH – Science and technology docu-reality TV show “Stars of Science” will see its second round of eliminations today (Thursday) when 10 candidates will become six. Broadcast on MBC4 at 8:00 p.m. Saudi time, with daily updates from Saturday to Wednesday 5:00 p.m., episode six will see the young Arab innovators face one of the toughest challenges of the competition yet, the Engineering phase. Dr. Farouk Al Baz, research professor and director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University in the United States, said: “While the 10 candidates selected during the ‘Proof of Concept' stage were most deserving, deciding upon the 10 was not easy. Each of the inventions showed outstanding innovation, technological and scientific knowledge, while demonstrating the entrepreneurial skill and ambition that exists amongst today's Arab youth. From this stage the judging will only get tougher, with the other jury members and myself having to choose just six from the ten candidates to continue through to the Design stage.” Amina Al Hawaj, inventor of the Lower Limb Rehabilitation Device and one of the 10 successful candidates who made it through to the Engineering stage, said: “It is a great honor to have made it through to this stage in the competition. Each stage has pushed us to perform and challenged us psychologically but has strengthened our determination and belief in our inventions. My dream is to help others both in the Middle East region and globally with my invention and I hope that Stars of Science will enable me to do just that.” Due to unforeseen circumstances, Amine Gaabab from Tunisia, has had to cancel his participation in the Stars of Science 4 Show. His invention, ‘Automatic Irrigation System', had been selected to participate in the competition. Stars of Science is an original TV format, initiated by Qatar Foundation, which has been broadcast on over 17 TV channels throughout the Arab world and is now on MBC4. The program is hosted by Khaled Jumaily for a fourth season. – SG
