News & Event

The third edition of the activities of the Oman Science Festival 2022, concludes this evening (Today Saturday) which continued for three days at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Center in Muscat. The concluding will include the ministry’s speech delivered by the HE the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Education, Chairman of the Main Committee of the Oman Science Festival, in addition to honoring the participating institutions in the festival, showing two panoramic films about the festival, and closing the ceremony with the closing film that reviews the course of the past six days of the festival.

The Ahmed bin Majid theatre witnessed the concluding ceremony of Hello Code international competition for young programmers. More that 80 students represented the Sultanate of Oman, of which 12 made it to the finale on the international level. The competition came in collaboration with the Technology Space Institute which is specialized in developing innovation and programming for the young and building confidence in children to innovate, as well as creating innovative and creative generation that can serve the community and the world at their best.

The innovators corner also witnessed the implementation of four training workshops, of which the Sultan Qaboos University, represented by the Innovation and Technology Transfer Center, implemented two. The first one was titled “Business Model” in which participants learned designing business model for their project. The second workshop came on “Intellectual Property” and covered the basics of the concept of intellectual property, its history, and its types.

The Artificial Innovation Academy implemented a workshop titled “Turning Innovative Ideas into Startups” which aimed at training participants on the innovation feasibility study by going through a number of stages starting from the prototype stage and ending with the financial feasibility study of the product.

The fourth day of the Oman Science Festival also included a number of training workshops at the Innovators corner. The University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Muscat organized a training workshop titled “Innovation Culture Building Stages” that aim to introduce innovation stages by using the concept of Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) and the concept of Research for Development as well as connecting innovators with the innovation index approved

in Oman Vision 2040, the Global Innovation Index, with the focus on the most important skills the innovators need for the market.

On the Skills corner, Habeeb Al Zawawi, from the Oman Automobile Association, said: “Our participation in Oman Science Festival 2022 comes to educate the visitors of the festival with our services, tournament in the sport season 2022/2023, karting rinks, drifting rinks, programs in driving cars skills, entering the world of motor racing in general and the types of racing in the world of motorsports. In addition to that is the Oman’s hosting of international tournaments such as the upcoming drifting tournament, Middle East and North of Africa tournament for karting and in which our affiliated motorsports national medical team is present. We are also introducing the electronic car racings of which we are displaying automation models here in the festival for visitors to try.

A number of national institutions are also participating in the Oman Science Festival which targets the children in particular with the aim of instilling some values by implementing a number of scientific competitions in a fun and attractive way. In this frame, the College of Commerce and Political Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University participated with a number of competitions among which is the Mayonnaise Jar that aim to train children on prioritizing tasks and implementing them in accordance with time plan, and to enhance teamwork skills.

Bee’ah also participated with environmental heroes’ lab which is designed and implemented using recycled wood and plastic. The lab includes a number of competitions targeting children with the aim of instilling values of sustainable environment and the importance of waist-recycling through three parts. The first part was a visual presentation on the importance of sustaining environment and the other parts include scientific competitions on environment sustainability.

Al Dhahir team of paragliders and ropeless flying enthusiasts carried out a workshop targeting the youth category on the mechanism of flight, with the aim of developing youth capabilities in the field of air sports and adventures. The workshop also aimed to teach participants how to manufacture wireless aircraft using simple and local tools (miniature motor, batteries for this type of industry, speed regulator, and programming).

In the Military Techniques Corner, the Sultan of Oman’s Parachute Battalion of the Royal Army of Oman introduces the festival’s visitors to the types of tools and equipment used by the battalion’s members in climbing and descending mountains, such as helmets, gloves, climbing ropes of all kinds, and metal ladders for climbing. The battalion personnel use mountaineering skills to transport the

injured on the mountain slopes, and various military equipment, and to facilitate the crossing of personnel between one point and another on the mountain slopes.

The Ahmed bin Majid Theater witnessed the implementation of a number of scientific, cultural and awareness competitions, targeting school students and their parents, and were presented in an interesting and thought-provoking manner. Malak Al Hatimi, an environmental ambassador from the “Environmental Resources Sustainability” competition company presented by Bee’ah, said: “The competition between two teams who are asked questions related to the environment in general and Bee’ah in particular. It aims to enhance the community's awareness of the importance of maintaining environment and people's awareness of the company, and the company provided valuable gifts to the winners of the competition”. Subsequently, a scientific competition organized by the festival administration was presented on the stage, consisting of general scientific and cultural questions, in which the participants are divided into two teams and the contestants are asked intelligent questions that measure the audience's awareness of information about the environment and Bank Sohar, after which the winning team is given valuable gifts provided by Bee'ah and Bank Sohar. After that, an interactive workshop on HIV was presented by Jalila Al-Nomania, a senior nurse at the Royal Hospital, on which she said: "The workshop was divided into three themes. The first was a scientific and cultural competition on the disease; with the aim of educating the audience. The second theme was an introduction to the disease and its effects on the individual and society as a whole. The third theme was an interactive discussion held in public.

The Robot corner included a series of competitions that targeted students and sought to push them to keep pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution in innovation by working on installing electronic parts to make a robot that simulates a human being. Khadija Al-Hanai, teacher of Information Technology at Marya Al Qubtiya School in Al-Dakhiliyah Governorate said: “The competition is targeting students who are good at science and have a talent for scientific innovation to keep pace with the scientific development in the field of making robots and push them to continue research and participate in the field of innovation and acquire advanced scientific skills. The competition consists of three levels. In the first level, the wrestling challenge between robots is implemented, and in the second level, the competition is in the field of running, as a race between robots, and whoever travels the specified distance in the shortest period of time qualifies for the third level of the competition. In the third level the challenge is in the form of a chase, and the winning robot wins the competition.”