Siemens closed submissions for the Student Award 2013 competition with 78 ideas from around 170 students across the Middle East region. The submissions seek to tackle critical real world challenges with innovative but applicable solutions. Since the competition started, website visits reached over 109,000 and attracted around 12,000 Facebook fans. Participating teams were from countries including Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Libya, Bahrain, Af-ghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. Students from over 120 universities took part.
“We are very pleased with the level of participation in the Siemens Student Award 2013. Through the contest, we have successfully engaged young regional talent in tackling various issues across the Middle East with innovative scientific solutions,” said Erich Kaeser, CEO, Siemens Middle East. “Fostering creativity and providing opportunities for the youth to transform their ideas into reality are the key goals of this challenge.”
The deadline for submissions closed on June 30. Twenty semi-finalists have been announced on August 20 on the competition’s website (https://www.studentaward-middleeast.com/). In September, four finalists will be selected out of this group. An expert panel including members who have contributed to sustainable initiatives around the Middle East will evaluate their ideas. The competition is in its second year, following the inaugural contest in 2011.
The public can vote for one of the 78 ideas in the competition to win the People’s Choice Award. After registering as community members on the Siemens Student Award website, people can browse submissions, discuss them and show their sup-port for a group by clicking the “Like” button. The idea with the most “Likes” will win the People’s Choice Award.
All winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on December 9. Out of four finalists, the frontrunner will be rewarded with a cash prize of USD25,000, followed by USD10,000 for each of the three runners-up and USD1,500 for the winner of the People’s Choice Award.
