Saudi Arabia, represented by the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba) and the Ministry of Education, has, for the 15th consecutive year, won five major and three special awards at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2021, which took place in the United States from May 3-21, 2021.
Among the big winners were Mansour Al Marzooqi for his Advanced Synthesis of Potent Photocapacitor Based on Novel 3D-Hierarchical BiVO4 and Self-Synthesized Carbon project, and Lama Abdulrahman AlQahtani, for her Anti-VOCs and Antimicrobial Activity of Natural Palm Waste Cellulose Fibers/ZnO Nanoparticles Biocomposite for Use in Face Masks: The GBV99 project.
The special prize winners from Saudi Arabia also included Ruby Rajab with her project entitled “Enhancing Communication and Music Sensory Perception for the Hearing Impaired Through Haptic Feedback in an Improved Tactile Glove,” which won her a university scholarship in the US.
With this achievement, the Kingdom boasts 83 awards in ISEF, including 53 major and 30 special ones, since it began participating in the competition in 2007. All Saudi National Science and Engineering Team members received a special award presented by the computer research company WOLFRAM.
The Kingdom’s team, composed of 30 male and female students, competed for significant prizes in the ISEF 2021 and participated in 30 scientific projects in various fields, ten more than the previous year.
Mawhiba has been sponsoring for eleven years special awards at the ISEF, amounting to 103 awards, which were won by 121 male and female students from 20 countries. The ISEF 2021 was held virtually this year with the participation of more than 1,800 students from 70 countries.
