Omar bin Abdulaziz Independent Secondary School for Boys won Qatar University’s (QU) seventh Life is Engineering Project (LIEP) contest, besting 11 other schools in Doha during the final race of the six-month project.
Tarek bin Zeyad Secondary School for Boys bagged the second place followed by Khalifa Secondary School for Boys. Musab bin Omair School won the Best Audience Award.
“I learned a lot from the programme through workshops, training sessions, and car design meetings. I really love engineering now,” Salem al-Obaidly, a member of the winning team, said.
Hamad Khaled al-Dafa, a member of the second-place team, shared the same view saying that LIEP taught him to work in a team and get involved with different members to do a certain job in a specific time.
“QU engineers guided me to the best ways of car designing and manufacturing. I can say that my image of engineering has changed and I would like to join university and study
engineering,” he added.
The contest and award ceremony were held at Lusail International Circuit which was attended by officials of QU and sponsors. These included College of Engineering (CENG) dean Dr Khalifa al-Khalifa, Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) Communication and Media head Maryam Ahmed al-Mohannadi, ExxonMobil Research Qatar (EMRQ) director Dr Mohamed al-Sulaiti, Dolphin Energy Ltd senior manager field maintenance (designate) engineer Khaled al-Bader, Losail Circuit Sports Club chairman Saud al-Attiyah, and Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department head professor Elsadig El Mahdi, as well as faculty, high school teachers, students and parents.
In partnership with Losail Sports Club, the competition was sponsored by Qapco, Qatar Shell, Dolphin Energy Limited, and ExxonMobil.
“College of Engineering’s aim in this project is to reach Qatari secondary school students and motivate them to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects, and to discover the wide field of opportunities for further study and future careers,”
al-Khalifa said.
“In co-operation with our industrial partners, we have impacted many students and attracted them to the concepts of vehicle design and production,” he noted. “We are pleased to see how much they have benefited from this learning project and look forward to mentoring the next batch of enthusiastic students.”
In a press statement, Qapco CEO Dr Mohammed Yousef al-Mulla echoed the statement of al-Khalifa saying that they are committed to encouraging young students to develop an interest in engineering and a passion for science.
He believes that supporting STEM-related activities that promote learning and development, such as the LIEP project, are valuable for Qapco, for their industry, and for the nation.
Dolphin Energy Qatar general manager Hassan al-Emadi said they saw how the competition helped inspire young leaders to explore and engage in science and engineering since they started sponsoring the programme.
For EMRQ president and general manager Alistair Routledge, Qatar University’s LIEP is an initiative they take great pride due to its ability to inspire and prepare students in Qatar to succeed in STEM subjects.
Qatar Shell has vowed to continue supporting all QU activities related to STEM subjects citing its importance in developing Qatari researchers’ scientific capacities that will contribute in achieving the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Losail Circuit also vowed to continue supporting LIEP “as it prepares engineers who can contribute to the development and progress of Qatar.”
QU’s LIEP winners with their trophy.
