Move announced during National Science, Technology and Innovation Festival
The participants in the main panel session and the first in the Science Fair, which is part of the third day of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Festival, highlighted their practical and living experiences and presented a summary of their expertise together with insights on the development witnessed in the UAE, the aspirations of the wise leadership and the future ambitions. The session formed a vital catalyst for diligence and perseverance for students and other attendees.
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and organized by the Ministry of Education, the third edition of the festival will continue through February 4 at Dubai Festival Arena with the participation of 1,665 male and female students. The festival hosts a group of world-reputed innovation pioneers and is attended by education leaders, officials, students, parents and those concerned with education.
The festival is substantially supported by UAE government and private entities and institutions based on the fact that it keeps pace with the wise leadership's aspirations and orientations aimed at empowering the generations in the domains of science, technology and innovation, these being an essential engine for the progress of societies and a gateway to the era of sustainable knowledge-based economy. As part of the festival, which include panel sessions and student discussions, several initiatives and will be launched and some 200 outstanding research and innovative projects carried out by students will be showcased.
The first panel session saw the participation of HE Jameela Al Muhairi, Minister of State for General Education, HE Sultan Al Ulama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, HE Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, HE Dr. Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary for Care and Activities Sector, Dr. Amer Ahmad Al Sharif, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Healthcare City Authority, and HE Humaid Abdullah Al Shammari, Executive Vice President of Mubadala Group. It was attended by outstanding educationists, students and parents.
The participants reviewed significant aspects of their careers, how their ambitions were born and the mechanism of fulfilling them.
Al Muhairi talked about the beginning of her career in the private education before she assumed the position of Minister of State for General Education to be the first Emirati to assume such position in the field of education, adding that this prompted her to shoulder the responsibility and take pride in giving the best she could.
"Each professional experience gives us many lessons that qualify us to go through other experiences, armed by the outcome of those experiences and the positive changes that they have brought us", she said.
Talking to the students, Al Muhairi said: "Tolerance and acceptance of others is a way to gain knowledge. We have to adopt these values in all areas of our lives and while dealing with others if we truly want to be children of Zayed", she adding, noting that it is not enough to merely dream and aspire but to strive to fulfill these ambitions and dreams and exert more efforts for the glory and advancement of the UAE.
"The Ministry of Education is working on keeping up with the orientations of the UAE and its future vision. Therefore, we are currently in the process of providing artificial intelligence (AI) curricula in co-operation with HE Omar Sultan Al Ulama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence", she explained.
"Our founding father, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may Allah rest his soul, was our first inspiration and we are now witnessing the fruits of his brilliant and enlightened thinking in all sectors and fields", she said.
Al Ulama stressed that "Every student constitutes an ambition for our country. We invest in you and for you we strive and develop future programs and plans. The developed countries became so through the passion and excellence of their people, who supported its orientations and future plans. We learnt from our leaders that we should serve our country with all science and knowledge that we have got and to expand our prospects and aspirations to keep up with the UAE's unique process of development in all fields. Artificial intelligence is not a luxury but an urgent need to diversify the sources of our strength and leadership. We have to inspire one another and achieve one accomplishment after another to show the world how proud we are of our country."
For her part, Al Amiri said: "The founding father, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may Allah rest his soul, looked after us and was a caring father who urged us always to serve our country. Advanced sciences are the true wealth of the future and it is our duty to ensure the sustainability of these sciences and firmly establish them in the minds of our students, enabling them to be the wealth of our country and its renewed capital.
She reviewed significant stations of her academic life and the beginnings of her practical inclinations, particularly computer science and programming.
In her interposition, addressing the student, Dr. Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi said: "You are the source of our inspiration and we see in you a bright future and a high ambition that prompts us to exert more efforts to develop your skills." She then talked about the most important developments of her academic career and the role of her parents in sharpening her interest and prompting her to complete her higher studies.
Dr. Amer Ahmad Al Sharif said students must believe in their dreams and never give them up no matter how formidable the challenges and difficulties they are encountering. "Number one is our ambition and the goal of our leadership, he added, noting that a family incubates the innovations of its children and fortunately we have a leadership that nurtures our ambitions, plans for us and sharpens our passion for excellence and creativity", he added.
Meanwhile, HE Humaid Al Shammari touched upon the prospects of aviation-related university majors in the UAE and highlighted the stages of his academic career. "The UAE's investments in Mubadala amount to $225 billion and we have 70,000 employees in various sectors and look forward to students and young generations to lead this giant enterprise in the near future", he said.
Panel Discussion 2
The Science Fair included a second panel discussion, which saw the participation of HE Mariam Al Mehairi, Minister of State for Food Security, Dr. Nidal Qassum, Professor of Physics at the American University of Sharjah, and Tuqa Al Hanai, a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts, United States.
"We in the UAE are seeking to be one of the top 10 countries in the field of food security by 2021. This is a challenge for us, but we are close to achieving this goal, thanks to our strong will and determination", said Al Mehairi
"We are working on producing our food in unconventional ways and have devoted a great deal of attention to leverage artificial intelligence techniques to achieve our objectives and implement our plans at best", she added.
During her participation in the Science Fair, Al Mehairi urged students to expand their dreams and to unleash their ambitions to contribute to the prosperity and glory of the country, stressing that artificial intelligence techniques are our way to reach number one in all walks of life.
For his part, Dr. Nidal Qassum gave a presentation in which he talked about exploring the universe in light of the accelerating scientific and technological developments. He pointed out that man relied on the naked eye to discover the mysteries of the universe and then began to develop primitive machines for more discoveries such as the telescope and others.
"Later, creative Muslim minds developed advanced astronomical observatories that helped determine the celestial bodies and galaxies. Man then began to identify the patterns of star movements and scientists like Galileo and others emerged and gave us a clear picture of astronomy until we have now the advanced satellite industry", he said.
Qassum also spoke about the integration of gravity, which is associated with the fusion of black holes in space, before moving to the role of laser in bringing about a revolution in astronomy and discovering visible and invisible lights and gravitational waves.
Meanwhile, Tuqa Al Hanai, a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts in the field of electrical and computer engineering, reviewed aspects of her academic journey that led her to join the world's most prestigious institutes. Excellence was the title of her scientific career, she said, adding that she received great attention from her family, which supported and encouraged her to complete her higher studies.
Al Hanai said that thanks to the artificial intelligence technology, she had developed a system for analyzing human emotions and identifying the psychological and physical state of people, which would help identify individuals and communities.
Student retreat in the presence of ministers
A student retreat was also held and attended by HE Jameela Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Public Education; HE Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences; HE Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment; and HE Dr. Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary for Care and Activities Sector. The attendants and students discussed several ideas that focused on establishing specialized student clubs with the participation and support of several government entities.
The ministers listened to the students' ideas during their participation in the retreat in order to adopt them and develop plans to apply them in all institutions under the supervision of students.
A number of ministries and institutions took part in the student retreat including the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Ministry of Culture and Community Development, Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development, Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Ministry of Health and Prevention, Ministry of Tolerance, International Humanitarian City and Ministry of State for Advanced Sciences.
Our Ambassadors Forum
In a related context, 'Our Ambassadors' Forum was organized yesterday with the participation of HE Dr. Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Care and Activities Sector, HE Tariq Al Gurg, CEO of Dubai Cares, and student Ruwaya Al Mehrazi, a member of 'Our Ambassadors Program 2016'. The forum was attended by HE Saud Al Mat'hami, Secretary General of Mawhiba. The attendants discussed monumental educational issues.
During her participation in the forum, Dr. Al Shamsi reviewed the stages of 'Our Ambassadors Program' since its launch in 2016 and the remarkable development it witnessed over the past years.
"Impossible is a word that has no meaning in the UAE. Through our programs, we seek to keep pace with the aspirations of our prudent leadership. For this purpose, we added 23 specialized programs to 'Our Ambassadors Program' this year, she said.
'Our Ambassadors Program' brings us a modern and innovative educational vision that emerged from the plans and policies of the Ministry of Education and its belief in the need to empower students with modern cognitive experiences and skills.to provide them with modern knowledge and skills.
For his part, Al Gurg spoke about his professional and life experience that he gained during his work in the charity, relief and humanitarian field. His personal experience motivated and inspired the students.
He stated that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, ordered this organization to be set up to carry out relief and humanitarian missions in developing countries.
"Dubai Cares was the fruit of HH Sheikh Mohammed's directives and we worked hard to adapt our programs to global goals in order to achieve these goals and be part of the efforts exerted worldwide for human relief. As many as 18 million children round the world benefited from our programs", he said.
Meanwhile, student Ruwaya Al Mehrazi, reviewed its participation in the program and the skills that she gained from it which enabled her to join Manchester University in the UK.
"The UAE believes in our abilities and is the biggest motivation for us to go through the various cognitive experiences that sharpen our skills and provide us with unique experiences', she said.
'Our Ambassadors' student retreat
A student retreat was also held the day before yesterday and was attended by the students participating in 'Our Ambassadors Program'. The attendees discussed several themes including the future of education, eradication of poverty, sustainable cities, renewable energy and prospects of partnerships to achieve the objectives of sustainable development.
The student retreat is a brainstorming session during which the students are involved in the development of plans. It is supported by national institutions that provided the themes of discussion such as Masdar, Emirates Diplomatic Academy, Emirates Red Crescent, Ministry of Health and Prevention and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
The retreat is aimed at developing the students' creative and critical thinking skills and preparing students to work in teams to discuss vital issues of great concern at the global level, thereby contributing to opening wide prospects of innovative intellectual solutions.
02/02/2019