A beacon of light in the tunnel of darkness

Winners will go to the US showcasing their projects and talents.

ISLAMABAD:

Winners of the National Science Fair held under the Intel Education Initiative could not contain their happiness when they receiving their prizes at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) on Thursday.

The 2012 winners will compete at the Intel Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania between May 13 and May 18 this year. They narrated their excitement and jubilation to The Express Tribune over their wins which includes a cash prize of Rs 25,000 for individuals and Rs15,000 for the winning group. They stated that the experience of working with their teachers and peers had been an invaluable one.

Ministry of Science and Technology Federal Secretary Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar who served as the event’s chief guest appreciated the participation from areas such as Quetta, Chitral, Bahawalpur. “In areas where education resources are meagre, students have still managed to serve as a beacon of light for the rest of the nation”, he said.

Winners included group prize winners Shiza Ghulab, Mahnoor Hassan and Bushra Shahed for their project ‘Energy Square’. Individual grand prize winners include Musa Rahim Khan from Aga Khan Higher Secondary School, Chitral for his project ‘Water and Heat Detector’ and Syed Shazed Hussain from Army Public School and College, Quetta for ‘Production of Artificial Domains’.

Intel organises the fair every year in collaboration with the Ministry of Education that is part of the company’s efforts to contribute to science education reform in Pakistan. The fair showcased over 85 projects in Mathematics, Physics and other fields submitted by young students across the country. Qualification for the fair involves a competition at the provincial level which this year included Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for the first time .

Intel Country Manager Naveed Siraj stated that though he appreciated the public and private funding, “We have barely scratched the surface. Such continued patronage will lead to further development”. He advised students to be articulate and fluent in English to help communicate the true essence of their research and projects. “Language learning is also another function of information technology, and students should look to the internet to make their communicative skills stronger,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2012.