The 6th Sony creative science awards were announced at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) on Wednesday with the aim of encouraging the innovation and creativity of Saudi youth. The awards ceremony was held under the patronage of Prince Muhammad Bin Khaled Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, president and CEO of Al-Faisaliah Group. More than 930 students from different schools in Jeddah took part in the competition, which is the only contest in the Kingdom that requires participants to invent a game that reflects at least one scientific principle, such as gravity or magnetism. “The purpose of the contest is to encourage young people to be more innovative and creative and to make scientific education more fun,” said Taro Kimura, general manager of sales and marketing, Modern Electronics and Sony representative in Saudi Arabia. Prince Muhammad, who had earlier announced that the winner would be awarded a trip to Japan with his/her parents, emphasized that the purpose of the competition was not just a prize but to increase the scientific curiosity and creativity of students. “Young people represent more than 75 percent of the population of our beloved Kingdom, which means that utmost care must be given to develop an interest in science in order to have a generation of young scientists who have the ability and willingness to turn our country into a knowledge-based society,” Prince Muhammad said. The winners of the creative science competition were: 1st place Sarah Mohammed Al-Omari from Al-Jazirah School, who was awarded SR10,000 for her “Robot coffee waiter”, 2nd place Mohannad Ayman Al-Sherif from Al-Shoura School who won SR7,000 for his “electric tissue dispenser”, and 3rd place Faris Fouad Mohammed Ali from Al-Shuhada School, awarded SR5,000 for his “electrical saw”.
