The Qatar University’s (QU) Al-Bairaq programme recently held two judging ceremonies for male and female student projects of the fourth cycle of primary stage and third cycle of preparatory stage in the “I am Discovering Materials” track.
The ceremonies engaged a total of 414 students from 19 schools.
They were attended by a large number of judges from governmental institutions and from oil and gas companies.
In all, 107 projects were proposed.
The students used the information and techniques gained during their journey with Al-Bairaq team to propose creative and effective solutions to solve various problems faced by society.
Al-Bairaq team worked with male and female students for about three months to create a positive environment, and to motivate and train them to search for and ask the right questions to gain the needed information.
The team organised workshops at schools’ laboratories about topics on material sciences and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) such as composite materials and food packaging.
Those subjects were carefully chosen to encourage students to think, search and find useful solutions and inventions for problems.
Al-Bairaq manager Dr Noora al-Thani praised the work accomplished by Al-Bairaq students and team members.
She said: “Al-Bairaq will continue to encourage students to participate in research so they will be able to use their knowledge to assure a promising future for Qatar.”
“There is a future plan to develop Al-Bairaq to commensurate with the country’s development, and we will include grade three and four in the coming cycles,” the official said.
“I hope that the Ministry of Education and Higher Education will adopt Al-Bairaq’s curriculum and use it in schools across Qatar,” she added.