Amri, a 12-year-old Saudi girl, has won the first prize in the sixth edition of the Sony Contest for Scientific Creativity for inventing a robot that serves coffee. Sarah received her prize from Prince Muhammad Khaled Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, President and CEO of Al-Faisalia Group. The prize comprises a check for SR10,000 and a one-week trip to Japan. Before the awards ceremony at the headquarters of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sarah told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that since she was a little girl, she was always curious to know how household electrical appliances, especially TVs and blenders, worked. She often thought of making a robot that serves coffee. Upon learning at school that there would be a scientific creativity contest, she immediately started working on her idea. Muhammad Al-Amri, Sarah's father, said, “From the time when she was very young, she always asked a lot of questions about how things worked. I used to try to explain to her in a simple way hoping that it would satisfy her.” He added that he watched his daughter collecting small carefully cut pieces of cardboard and aluminum foil along with the parts of a small car that operates by remote control and wondered what she was working on so seriously. Sarah said, “I was always encouraged by my parents and schoolmates. They provided me with all the tools and equipment to start my small project.” Sarah described her invention that took at least a week to complete as a robot woman that serves coffee or any other drink. The robot can be directed by remote control to any place. Abdullah, 14, Sarah's elder brother, said he used to encourage his sister to complete what she had started, and he sacrificed one of his toys – a remote controlled car – so that she could use it in her invention. Sarah would like to become a businesswoman running a company for marketing the inventions of talented persons and protecting their intellectual property rights. She said her trip to Japan would widen her knowledge by allowing her to learn from the experiences of her peers there. Sarah said she has always admired the Japanese people, particularly for their success in creating scientific inventions. Sarah revealed that she has a new project that will contribute to limiting the number of traffic accidents resulting from motorists running through red lights at intersections.
