Saturday 14 / December / 2024
Doha: Sumaya bint Said Al Siyabi became a much-acclaimed figure in the Sultanate of Oman on Friday after news broke out that this Omani innovator had won the top honours at the prestigious Stars of Science programme.
This is the first time that an Arab woman has won the first prize in the Stars of Science programme, organised by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. Sumaya, who works at the Sultan Qaboos University, won the prize at the 14th edition of the Stars of Science programme for her innovation in the environmental field, ‘Bio-analysis of microplastics in a new way of biology and nanotechnology’
In the various stages of the prize programme, the Omani innovator was able to overcome several challenges and won the votes of the programme jury several times, to be able to progress through the stages and reach the final stage. Sumaya’s entry into the final was also the first time that a woman scientist from GCC had reached that level.
Sumaya bagged the first place with a total of 82.3 points, while the Jordanian Noureddin Al-Diri came in second with 38.9 points and the Libyan Shatha bin Nabih came in third with 33.8 points, according to the Oman News Agency (ONA). The top prize for Sumaya was US$300,000 to implement her project.
Speaking to the ONA, Sumaya said: “This coronation came as a result of the great support of various government and private institutions and members of the Omani society and from the Gulf and Arab countries through voting. I thank them all and I am happy that I was able to prove the importance of scientific innovation and its role in preserving the environment and the health of the human being.”
Sumaya hoped that her project would be implemented at the local and global levels to benefit from it and will open new horizons for environmental protection. She called for support for her project by all concerned authorities in the Sultanate of Oman. Sumaya had worked for the past two years on this project at the Sultan Qaboos University. The scientific innovation of Sumaya offers a promising solution to eliminate and dispose of microplastics in a safe and environmentally friendly manner using microbial confinement and a nano-ZnO catalyst.
Stars of Science is one of the leading programmes in the Arab world and focuses on innovation to support and encourage aspiring entrepreneurs in the field of science and technology in the region. The idea is to allow the evaluation and development of innovations by progressing through several competitive rounds to qualify for the final qualification stage of the programme.
