Hamdan Bin Rashid Foundation Concludes the Summer Program for Gifted Students and the "Innovations in Sustainability" Forum
9/19/2024The Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Medical and Educational Sciences concluded the 2023 Summer Camp for Gifted and Innovative Students, which took place at the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Center for Talent and Innovation from July 17 to 27. The event saw significant attendance, with 50 talented and innovative students aged 9 to 18 participating.
His Excellency Suleiman Al Ansari, Executive Director of the Foundation, stated that the continuation of organizing this annual event stems from the Foundation's commitment to supporting the country's ongoing efforts to nurture and encourage gifted students towards further innovation and creativity. He emphasized that these efforts undoubtedly enhance the Foundation's goals of keeping pace with technological and scientific advancements, thereby supporting its training programs and activities and contributing to the development of education to graduate generations armed with knowledge and sciences. He expressed his happiness with the program's success, saying: "The Foundation has concluded the 2023 Summer Program for Gifted Students, which achieved remarkable success. It witnessed notable participation from talented students who participated with great enthusiasm." Al Ansari praised the performance of the participants, their parents, and everyone involved in the program, including the trainers.
Dr. Maryam Al Ghaoui, Director of the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Center for Talent and Innovation, said that this year's summer camp for gifted and innovative students included various activities and workshops. Enrichment programs suitable for the targeted age groups and specialized workshops, such as smart systems programs and "renewable energy experiments," were offered, in addition to practical experiments. The summer program for gifted students included activities from the "Gifted Program" from July 17 to 23 and the "Innovations in Sustainability" forum from July 24 to 27. The enrichment program also included field visits, including a visit to the Dubai Future Foundation, where 20 talented students participated and learned about the services provided by the Foundation through working on several innovations. They attended many workshops, learned about robot manufacturing and operation, and how to develop themselves, prepare for the future, and create a suitable environment for innovation and creativity.
Dr. Al Ghaoui expressed her happiness with the program's success in achieving its goals, saying, "We always strive to promote a culture of innovation and creativity in society, support talented students, discover and nurture them. This is done through a special measure to identify talented students and through enrichment programs organized during school holidays. After discovering and identifying students' talents and levels, the summer program was organized, which included the Mission Robot program, Renewable Energy Experiments program, and Smart Systems program, all specialized in science and engineering offered to talented students based on our approved measures."
The organizers of the summer program for gifted students emphasized its importance in refining the talents of gifted and innovative students, as it reflects on their interaction with the presented programs, their enthusiasm for learning new skills, their eagerness to participate, and leaving their marks on all practical activities. It also provided them the opportunity to communicate, exchange ideas, and work in a team spirit in workshops and projects. Engineer Abdullah Al Safadi commented on the importance of the Renewable Energy program, saying that the program explains various energy sources, where students explore and research different renewable energy sources, attempt to find the most efficient sources available in the region, the easiest to use, and how to generate energy from the sun, wind, and water, and how to store it. The program offers practical experiments that combine many sciences such as physics, chemistry, and energy. The young researchers explore sustainable energy sources. All this helps to reinforce the importance of renewable energy, ensure sustainability, and promote its culture among students from a young age.
Engineer Jumana Ghazi, who oversees the Smart Systems program, said, "The program aims to introduce students to the importance of smart systems in general and how to form a smart system by explaining ways to design and program a smart system using artificial intelligence algorithms. Students then apply a complete project that contributes to solving a sustainability problem using smart systems."
Engineer Nail Al Ashi, a robotics and artificial intelligence trainer, added, "The Mission Robot program is dedicated to preparing gifted students in the field of professional robot design and programming. The program aims to introduce students to smart systems in general, design a smart system, program it using artificial intelligence, and then implement a complete project to enhance the sustainability journey through smart systems."
In the same context, the Innovation Programs Department presented the "Innovations in Sustainability" forum, during which trainees from various age groups were introduced to the basics of digital manufacturing and innovation through two training programs in innovation and sustainability. The forum offered training workshops centered around two sustainability projects.
Engineer Moath Ali, an innovation programs trainer, explained the program, saying: "Participants in the first program were able to manufacture and program a solar-powered robotic arm made from environmentally friendly materials, which helps in planting plants. It is controlled using a mobile application programmed by the students. During the second program, a three-axis machine was designed and manufactured to plant plants autonomously. The forum included workshops in various fields such as robotics, programming, 3D printing, electronics, and other digital manufacturing fields, allowing students to learn many skills that help them understand how robots work, in addition to explaining the concept of sustainability and how to benefit from it in daily life."
It is noteworthy that the 2023 Summer Program for Gifted and Innovative Students included a guidance and counseling program, providing personal and social care for the participating students through dialogue sessions to enlighten them about their potential and talents and find solutions to the problems and obstacles they face. A group dialogue session was held, in addition to individual sessions for the students' parents. The program featured a distinguished group of qualified trainers and experts.
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