Author: AFSHAN AZIZSun, 2017-03-26ID: 1490475378854069800JEDDAH: The Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB) recently organized a two-day STEAM Innovation Challenge workshop in collaboration with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) at IDB headquarters in Jeddah.The STEAM workshop, which stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics, was designed to support students creating solutions to solve local, regional and global problems.A total of 120 students from seven universities from the western region of the Kingdom participated in the competition. Students worked for two days to address issues related to food waste around the world, transportation barriers to schools/colleges and universities in the developing countries, the impact of climate change on farming, tackling non-communicable diseases and many other related topics.“The event provided students with a great opportunity to learn about global challenges, build networks with students from other universities, and use their creative minds for generating new innovative concepts in order to quickly come up with feasible solutions,” said Dr. Abdulhakim Elwaer, IDB’s official spokesperson and director of the cooperation and integration department.The top three winning teams were announced during the workshop and will receive cash prizes that will be shared equally among team members. The winning three teams will be offered the chance to present their solutions and ideas at the IDB annual meeting, which will be held in Jeddah in May.“There is also an opportunity for members of the winning teams to receive an internship with IDB this year and continue to work on their ideas with mentoring support from IDB,” said Elwaer, adding, “IDB believes young people have the capability to solve many of the world’s pressing challenges; therefore, it is important to engage with them and empower them to think outside the box and make them part of the implementation team.”The STEAM Innovation Challenge concept was first beta tested in April 2016 with the first STEAM sponsor IDB, and involved KAUST students working in mixed interdisciplinary teams alongside students from collaborating Saudi universities. The original STEAM Innovation Challenge was a key part of the KAUST Spring Enrichment Program.
Main category: Saudi Arabia
