The winners will participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles, which will take place in May. THE Deputy Secretary General of the King Abdul Aziz and His Companions Foundation for the Gifted (Mawhiba) has lauded the collaboration with the Ministry of Education in staging the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity Exhibition. Mahmoud Naqadi said that the exhibition “embodies the partnership between the two”. “The National Olympiad is the fruit of that partnership which tries as a whole to formulate thinking minds, minds of academic research, and develop the spirit of joint creativity,” Naqadi said. “Its idea is based on competitiveness in the course of academic research or innovations by presenting individually or as a group a project in one of the fields of the Olympiad using a display board. It is then judged by specialists to determine the best work according to the standards set for qualification for successive rounds.” Naqadi said the Olympiad reflected the “academic leaning of an extensive section of outstanding youngsters in the country”. “The Olympiad offers a comprehensive panorama to embrace talented and creative people, and the Ministry of Education and Mawhiba offer them the finest academic and scientific experience as well as monetary and technological facilities which enable them to compete at global academic standards with the most up-to-date methods,” he said. “This all contributes in the quest to build a Saudi youth of excellence and creativity.” The National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity Exhibition saw this year some 11,000 entrants whittled down for the final rounds to around 700 who presented 500 works of academic and scientific research. Some 210 judges ran the rule of their work, specialists from Saudi universities, research organizations, and the Ministry of Education. Other judges were brought in from abroad, while 120 male and female teachers were tasked with supervising the whole process. The winners, who were announced after the finals in Dhahran, were 44 boys and girls who will now go on to represent Saudi Arabia at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles in May. The competitions followed two paths, the first being the academic and scientific research side focusing on the phases of research and the logical conclusions deducted from studies and statistics following on from clear and convincing scientific and academic steps. The second path concerned innovations and focused on scientific production required to match the features of the creative work. The professional standards required by judges for entrants to qualify for successive rounds ensure fairness, and on the research side concern creativity and originality, scientific thought, depth, skill, the importance of the project, clarity, and teamwork. On the production side the standards covered creativity and originality, practical benefit, implementation and construction, understanding and depth, clarity and production, and teamwork. The four stages of the National Olympiad began with educational districts followed by provincial educational region rounds. The third round was effectively a semi-final, with entrants advancing on the final round. Head of the supervisory committee Ahmad Al-Baloushi said that Mawhiba and the Ministry of Education designed the National Olympiad to be of “multiple benefit” to participants. “It helps them understand scientific research procedures, how to write up their work, develop personal skills, polish their results analysis abilities and seek out sources of creativity,” he said. “It gives them a greater chance of admittance to the best universities in the world and opens doors to study grants, while giving them the opportunity to meet Nobel Prize winners, specialists and academics in all manner of fields and learn from their experience.” The whole process from beginning to end, he added, introduces entrants to “advanced theories and a diverse range of work and experience”. “They also get the chance to go on to represent Saudi Arabia in international events and competitions, and obtain patent rights should their work prove a success,” he said. “Every single young Saudi man and woman with outstanding abilities should grasp the opportunity and sign up to take part in the next National Olympiad.”
