Despite the crises and difficult circumstances the world is going through, the intensity of the challenge enhances the opportunities for innovation, generates creative ideas, strengthens creativity, and thinking outside the box becomes inevitable. This is what prompted Qatar University Young Scientists Center to continue the march of progress and success, and to continue to face all challenges and changes. This was shown by the winning of two gold medals in the iCan 2020 Preliminaries organized by the Toronto International Society of Innovation & Advanced Skills (TISIAS), Canada.
Thus, the center will be qualified with two innovative projects in the final competition of the fifth International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada, which will be held on August 29, 2020, through online communication platforms.
The annual iCan competition is the global gateway in Toronto to inventors and innovators around the world. One of the most important goals of the competition is to envision the minds of people that “Anyone Can Invent” is becoming a reality through this international event. Realizing the growth of their passion and commitment towards innovation is ultimately evolving the culture of iCAN alongside the universal innovation community. The competition is also a great opportunity for inventors of all ages from all over the world to communicate and network with creativity.
The announcement of this winning in the preliminaries out of 40 participating countries came after submitting a detailed participation form gave details on several aspects of the two participating projects, such as the innovative features and characteristics, the impact and contribution of the project, the potential and the future benefit. Emphasis was placed on the creative aspect and new additions that make any project innovative and valuable. The first project in the category of building and constructions is concerned with a research that was carried out with students from I am a researcher track under the supervision of the center. It is entitled Ductile Fiber Reinforced Ultra-high Performance Concretes. The project aims to strengthen the properties of concrete, make it more effective and sustainable, and reduce the rate of corrosion by adding fibers to it, which contributes positively to improving the infrastructure and reducing the economic cost of raw materials and maintenance.
As for the second project in the category of Science and Engineering, it is concerned with the innovative educational methods followed by the Qatar University Young Scientists Center in all its programs and initiatives. The methodology that the center follows in attracting young people to science, encouraging them to research and innovation, and providing an ideal environment was explained, which allowed students of all school levels to think creatively. It is worth noting that the center is an extension and development of the Al-Bairaq program, which has won several international awards, the most important of which is the WISE Innovation Award in Education 2015. The number of affiliates to the center's various programs reached 7040 participants who were able through the integrated STEAM workshops, scientific experiments and research experiences gained by creating 947 scientific projects in areas of benefit from an industrial, health, economic or environmental point of view.
On this occasion, Dr. Noora Al-Thani, Director of the Qatar University’s Young Scientists Center, expressed her happiness and pride in this great achievement in light of the conditions in which the world is living, and said, “Difficulties push people to employ their maximum creative potential, and that us winning two gold awards indicates that we are on the right path. We bear the responsibility of developing and upgrading our young generation and enabling them to compete with their counterparts globally. Therefore, the center proposes specialized educational initiatives and programs for the various educational stages, aiming to stimulate students' curiosity by providing an interactive educational environment that brings out their scientific creativity and innovation. She also praised the Ras Laffan Community Outreach Program, the sponsor for the center, and the partners are UNESCO - Doha Office and the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science.