4 Pakistani students score big at Intel science fair

Three students among 6 who represented Pakistan at global contest were from schools run by Turkish foundation

ISLAMABAD: Four young Pakistani students secured places at the world's largest pre-college science fair, Intel ISEF, held in the US last week.

Pakistan was represented by six students at the world's largest fair of its kind, including three from Pak-Turk Maarif International Schools, run in Pakistan by a Turkish foundation.

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is the world's largest international pre-college science competition and is held in Phoenix, Arizona featuring over 1,800 students from more than 80 countries, regions, and territories.

Sadaf Naushad, from the Pak-Turk Maarif school, was one of six Pakistani students who presented their science projects at the fair and won a special prize in the field of energy and also got a scholarship at Arizona state University with a cash prize for the grand prize.

Ahmed Zafar and Usaid Ahmed from Karachi and Mian Affan Anwar from Rawalpindi also won prizes and scholarships in the global competition.

"I’m very happy, my family, friends, and colleagues are very happy for my success being recognised there on such a big platform," Sadaf Naushad from Karachi’s Pak-Turk Maarif School said.

It’s really a big achievement for my project," she added.

Sadaf’s award-winning project was a dual-purpose highway turbine.

The turbine is a vertical axis wind turbine project that serves two purposes by utilising the wind produced by a vehicle’s movement along the highway as well as the natural wind.

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Speeding vehicles on highways can provide enough wind to power the turbines 24 hours without stopping.

The energy generated can be used for lighting along highways attached to the turbine and also extract water from underground for irrigation.

"The aim of the project is to reduce electricity consumption and generate electricity as a renewable resource to promote greenery near Pakistan's highways," Sadaf explained.

Highway turbines have already been installed in Turkey, but Sadaf's innovation is to pump underground water for irrigation.

Sadaf thanked Turkey’s Maarif Foundation, her teachers, and school administration for their support, saying that Maarif always promote STEM education and encourages teachers and students to participate in competitions, unlike many other schools.

Maarif announcement for students and teachers

Selahattin Batur, the Maarif Foundation's director in Pakistan, announced a special visit to Turkey for the students and teachers who took part in Intel ISEF.

"It’s a great honour that three students among all six participants from Pakistan in the global competition were from Maarif schools," Batur said.

All three students and their teachers will be awarded a one-week trip to Turkey, he announced.

Batur said his administration would encourage and support Maarif students entering competitions on the national and international level in the future as well.

Currently the Maarif Foundation is running 28 schools in Pakistan.

Turkey established the Maarif Foundation in 2016 after a coup attempt in the country.

Since then, it has taken over dozens of schools and reformed their administration and curriculum.