The Qatari inventors participating in the 11th International Invention Fair of the Middle East (IIFME) won 14 medals, - 8 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze - in addition to the fair's grand prix of HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah.
The results of the IIFME, held under the theme "Where Inventors Meet Inventors", reflected the progress made in the field of innovation in Qatar.
The Qatar Scientific Club inventors won these medals in a competition in which more than 150 inventions from about 43 Arab and foreign countries took part, and Gulf inventors constituted 30% of inventors participating in the exhibition from all over the world.
The Qatari innovators received eight gold medals, three of which were awarded to Engineer Ali Hassan al-Rashid who participated with four inventions in the exhibition.
Two inventions by al-Rashid won a shared prize of HH the Amir of Kuwait grand prix, while five gold medals went to inventors: Mohamed Ahmed Lari, Saleh Saeed Safran, Jaber al-Mutlaq, Salem Abdullah al-Shahwani, and Hanan Khamis al-Shammari.
The Qatari innovators also received four silver medals won by Afra Sareea al-Kaabi, Ali Hassan al-Rashid, Jaber Mohamed al-Sulaiti and Salem Abdullah al-Shahwani, while the two bronze medals were won by Sheikh Ali bin Salman al-Thani and Mahmoud Sawalha.
Head of the jury of the IIFME, David Farouki, said that the selection of the inventions and their nomination for the fair awards was according to the evaluation of all inventions participating and in line with the international standards, after they were classified under 22 categories.
In a statement, Executive Director of Qatar Scientific Club, Dr Hareb Mohamed al-Jabri, thanked and appreciated the Kuwaiti Scientific Club and praised the role of sponsors of the exhibition.
He also thanked HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali for his support for the Club and his continued support for Qatari innovators.
On the preparations of Qatar Scientific Club for the fair, the Executive Director of Qatar Scientific Club Dr Hareb Mohamed al-Jabri said in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the club was well prepared for this important exhibition, setting a selection criteria for the entries.
"We have also chosen the best young people and the best projects, and this year we opened the door to inventors from other than the scientific club to participate in the name of Qatar. And the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) participated in the event and joined efforts to achieve this good result, which came amid strong competition from different countries of the world", he added.
Al-Jabri said that he aspires to establish a national competition which aims to stimulate innovators to choose the most viable research projects and to develop it through the club and help inventors in the development of their research and innovation.
HE the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Development Affairs of the GCC Khalifa bin said al-Abri visited the Qatari innovators' pavilion at the exhibition and expressed his admiration over the excellence of the Qatari youth's creativity.
