Students present environment-friendly products at contest

Almaha Almulla briefing ExxonMobil Qatar president Cahir, Enterprise Qatar CEO al-Khulaifi and INJAZ Qatar executive director al-Mudahka about their organic pesticide.

PICTURE: Najeer Ferokee

By Joey Aguilar

Staff Reporter

Environment-friendly and unique products inspired by Arabic calligraphy were showcased by some schools at the “Annual Young Enterprise of the Year’ competition on Thursday at City Center Doha.

Students from Al Shaimaa Independent Secondary School presented organic pesticides developed by it for various kinds of plants including vegetables and fruits.

“We have a natural product that serves Qatar Vision for 2030,” Almaha Almulla, school’s student speaker, told Gulf Times, referring to “organic” which was derived from onion and lemon.

Almulla and her teacher Wafaa Ibrahim Ali said their product is made of vegetables and oil without any harmful chemicals.

“Organic” has two varieties: onion and lemon-based pesticides which protect plants from different kinds of pests.

Saying it has no side-effects both to humans and animals, and “it is very effective”.

Almulla said they were inspired to come up with “Organic” after one of their classmates told them that she wanted to protect her plants from pests without using harmful chemicals which may also harm the environment.

“That was the time we started thinking of a product that can serve Qatar and the community. We went to the girls club and they helped us,” she recounted.

The team said they conducted numerous experiments and trials to test its effectiveness. One bottle costs QR50.

Students from Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar also wowed attendees at the Young Entrepreneurs Trade Fair with their products called “Scintilla,” a Spanish word which means spark.

Two of the female students said that they design and make lighting fixture made of acrylic, glossy and semi-glossy materials.

“Our idea is to spark a space, and you can put these fixtures in different spaces and in different backgrounds,” one of the girls said.

While they consider “Scintilla” products as aesthetic than functional, they intend to include a feature that would make them both more functional and aesthetic.

Their lighting fixtures were inspired by Arabic calligraphy, Latin alphabets and various organic designs.

In using medium density fiberboard for their products, the team said they have a different idea of what sustainability means.

“It is not about what it is right now because these would last for years,” they noted. “But we intend to use more environmental-friendly materials in the future”.

Smaller items are pegged at QR40 while the bigger ones can be taken at QR300 in complete package with the bulb, screws and switches.