The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) yesterday announced that the trailblazing science and technology docu-reality TV show Stars of Science will return to MBC4 from September 13 for a fourth season.The one-of-a-kind show’s original format was initiated by QF in 2009, with the aim of discovering and nurturing innovation in science and technology amongst Arab youth. The nine-week series will begin its search for this year’s round of young, Arab innovators, choosing 16 finalists from a casting tour that takes the programme to Egypt, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunis and Saudi Arabia. The live finale will see a total of $600,000 in prize money being awarded to the finalists: one winner and three runners-up.Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali al-Thani, vice-president, education, QF, and president of the newly-formed Hamad Bin Khalifa University observed that over the last four years, the show has grown in profile and popularity to become ‘the’ showcase for the region’s young talent within the fields of science and technology.“The accomplishments of our previous winners have been a delight to observe and each year the success of these young Arab innovators further communicates Qatar Foundation’s vision of a knowledge-based society,” he said.Season one winner Bassam Jalgha, show host Khaled al-Jumaily, Khayal Productions CEO Rony Jazzar, permanent jury Prof Fouad Mrad, media relations manager Fahad al-Kuwari, and Season three winner Haytham Desoki were also present.Stars of Science is the first Pan-Arab TV show to shine a spotlight on the region’s young inventors. The show has previously aired on over 17 channels across the Arab world, providing a platform for young Arabs to realise their vision of turning a project idea into a potential product project and raising their profile in the field of innovation. Season three winner, Egyptian Desoki was awarded a prize money of $300,000 in 2012, helping him to develop his touch screen invention ‘VIVIFI,’ a sticker that can be placed under any surface to convert it into a touch feature surface. Haytham has now established his own company ‘VIVIFI’ in Cairo, which produces his product locally for the region. He aims to have his product available in international markets including Europe and the US by 2013. Haytham, who also works at Nile University in Egypt, is an ambassador for young Arab inventors throughout the region, regularly speaking and participating at industry and educational events including Qitcom in Qatar, ICT in Egypt and the 2012 Science, Technology & Innovation Forum in Nairobi, Kenya. Bassam Jalgha was the winner of Stars of Science Season one in 2009 with his innovation originally named Dozan, an auto-tuning product for Arabic string musical instruments.Today, Bassam continues to upgrade his invention, which has now been filed for a PCT patent under the name ‘TORK.’ The third prototype will be launched by 2013. The device has undergone many improvements and is now wireless and operates by connecting to a mobile application. Along with his fellow colleagues, Bassam established a company called Depot Beirut
www.depotbeirut.com, which specialises in electronic prototyping and high tech solutions. Depot Beirut is undertaking research and development work to further enhance the TORK product. Bassam is also an assistant instructor in Mechanical Engineering at the American University of Beirut where he practices research studies and in recent years has published two conference journals and one article on his specialist subject. Stars of Science Season two winner Sadek Qassim (Kuwait) had come up with ‘The Alchemist,’ a multi-functioning device that tests crude oil and other substances. The unique feature of the ‘Alchemist’ is its ability to do more functions such as cooling, heating, shaking, mixing and extracting at the same time and in the same place.Since his victory, Sadek secured $1,838,000 in investment to establish his own company in Kuwait and he is currently working on manufacturing the product.Sadek has filed for patent protection in the Gulf, North America and Europe. Sadek has been supported and adopted by the Kuwaiti royal family and hailed as a role model.He has won many awards for his innovation, most recently from the US at the Impex Science Fair in California and four medals in Geneva where he participated in the International Inventors Show with the ‘Alchemist’ and a number of other innovations he has developed. Stars of Science Season four will consist of eight prime-time episodes plus the live finale, where the public will be invited to vote alongside the jury. The programme will begin on September 13 (8pm Qatar time), with daily updates starting from October 6 at 5pm on MBC4.