Culture & Education | Thursday 5 February, 2015 2:46 pm |

SABIC is a strategic sponsor of the Saudi Science and Creativity Festival and is playing an active role in organizing the event jointly with the Ministry of Education, King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), and Saudi Aramco.
The Festival was opened by Dr. Hamad M. Al-Alshaikh, acting Minister of Education, at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center on February 3, in the presence of Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO.

The opening ceremony of the Festival, which will be held till February 8, was also attended by Dr. Riyadh K. Najm, President, General Commission for Audiovisual Media, and Dr. Nourah A. Al-Fayez, Deputy Minister of Education, along with a number of female members of the Shoura Council, university faculty members, officials of participating bodies, parents of talented students, and school and university personnel interested in science.

SABIC is also using the festival platform to showcase its Innovation Award, which carries cash prizes up to SR 10 million. The award supports innovative ideas in the field of smart plastics, and identifies promising future technologies for downstream development in Saudi Arabia. The award program is open to both individuals and businesses in Saudi Arabia who may send in their entries through the SABIC website by May 31, 2015.

Applicants need to submit their ideas relevant to the field of plastics and participate in either the SABIC Ideas Award or SABIC Growth Fund. The SABIC Ideas Award is a cash prize for those ideas with most potential that are still at an early stage of development. The SABIC Growth Fund, represents an opportunity for the applying individual or establishment to form a long lasting business collaboration with SABIC. The Fund offers successful applicants access to SABIC’s extensive resources, including some of the world’s brightest scientists and engineers and state-of-the-art technology and innovation facilities

SABIC is also hosting an interactive pavilion at the Festival where visitors have an opportunity to explore the innovations and technologies on display. It highlights the innovation successes of the company and showcase the latest technological advances from its 19 global technology centers, which have contributed to registering over 10, 000 patents.

SABIC also launched a Science Caravan at the Festival. The Caravan, the company’s newest innovative program for boys and girls, 7 to 14 years, will later tour various cities in the Kingdom this year. It features interactive workshops and entertaining science experiments in chemistry, mathematics, and space studies.

The Festival has three major components: “Creativity Olympics,” “Awesome Science,” and “Wamadat Forum.”

Creativity Olympics comprises two sections – a Science Competition and an Innovation Competition. A total of 605 projects in 17 scientific areas have been presented by 762 students who have qualified for the Olympics finals out of 116,000 applicants.

Awesome Science comprises 30 science activities presented by 17 local and international organizations. The activities include workshops, science presentations, interactive scientific and technical experiments, educational stage performances, science films, and exciting family-oriented events – all organized to deepen youth understanding of science concepts and their applications, inspiring their creative thinking, and instilling in them a passion for research and discovery.

“Wamadat Forum,” is an open science forum aimed at helping gifted and creative people, as well as researchers, to explore new horizons in knowledge creation. The Forum seeks to develop a culture of creativity through lectures delivered by local and international speakers and experts.

Commenting on SABIC’s participation in the event, Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, said, “The Festival is among the most important science promotion events in Saudi Arabia. SABIC’s participation in it stems from our strong belief that our role is not limited to manufacturing goods, but also extends to community service. We have found the Festival an ideal opportunity to stimulate creativity among students in line with our social responsibility strategy.”

Being held for the first time in Saudi Arabia, the Festival seeks to raise awareness on the various applications of science in daily life, and improve the understanding of science among the public, particularly students and young people. It adopts a fun approach to creating a positive attitude towards science, innovation and research, and promoting dialogue among specialists in the field.