Hundreds of UAE students celebrate STEM learning programme
Young Emirati inventor Fatima Al Kaabi congratulates, inspires pupils in iMatter project
Dubai: Inventive pupils from seven UAE schools received a note of recognition recently at a virtual celebration ceremony to mark their participation in iMatter, a STEM learning programme by Taqeef, an air conditioning solutions provider.
Fatima Al Kaabi, the country’s “youngest Emirati inventor” and ‘Pioneers of the UAE’ awardee, joined the event to congratulate the pupils and shared her advice on how they can be better inventors.
Now in its third year, the 2020 programme saw 900 students use VR technology to experience immersive STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) learning and participate in a ‘Keep Your Cool’ challenge.
Designed to help students to put theory into practice and experience the role STEM plays in the jobs of the future, students were also tasked with finding solutions to real-world climate issues. Fifteen teams were chosen to represent their schools in the final competition, with many students collaborating and completing their project remotely during the lock-down period.
Students presented sustainable innovations which tackle real-world problems while feeding into the region’s sustainability targets, and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to increase environmental awareness and education in schools, with a specific focus on Energy Efficiency (SDG 7) and Climate Action (SDG 13).
Guest speaker Fatima encouraged the young inventors to always be open to learning new things and using this knowledge to improve their inventions.
“Year on year we continue to be inspired by the pupils who take part in iMatter and this year has been truly exceptional. It has shown us that it’s often in times of great difficulty that people come together and ideas flourish. It’s also shown us the vital importance of technology on keeping business, education and life moving even in times of crisis. The world needs more innovators, and these students are proof positive of how important the STEM sector is in fueling the technology of tomorrow,” said Tariq Al Ghussein, CEO of Taqeef.
As an ongoing CSR initiative, Taqeef has already catered to almost 3,000 students since its launch in 2017. The activity targets “charity and less well-resourced schools” across the country.