Jordan Young Scientists competition winners honoured

AMMAN — Three projects by secondary school students won the Jordan Young Scientists (JoYS) initiative competition on Wednesday. 

JoYS is a newly introduced national initiative by the Embassy of Ireland, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Crown Prince Foundation, and Queen Rania Foundation, to encourage secondary school students to innovate. 

Forty projects were showcased during the competition, which saw the participation of 154 students from 21 schools from five governorates at Al Hussein Technical University in King Hussein Business Park, according to an Irish embassy statement. 

The competition consisted of four categories: Science, engineering, mathematics and technology.

The project titled “Xchange” by Basel Abu Salameh and Seif Nekhaleh from the Jubilee Institute in Amman won the first prize.

“The project aims at helping people with hearing impairments communicate more efficiently,” Basel Abu Salameh told The Jordan Times. 

He added that he and Seif developed a device that can convert spoken words into vibrations. The vibrations are then translated into international sign language. 

The second prize went to Wadah Bani Younes, Taqi Al Deen Al Omari, Mutaz Zu’bi and Mohammad Bani Younes from Deer Abi Saeed Secondary School in Irbid for their project “Recycling Cigarette Butts”.

Meanwhile, Juwanna Tablieyeh from the Ahliyyah School for Girls in Amman bagged the third prize for the “Smart Schools” project, which aims at helping teachers and parents communicate more efficiently as well as helping teachers with the daily task of taking attendance of students. 

“In Ireland, the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition has hugely contributed to the uptake of science in secondary schools and the quality of its teaching,” Vincent O’Neill, Ambassador of Ireland to Jordan, said during the opening ceremony. 

He added that he has “no doubt” that similar benefits will occur in Jordan as a result of the launch of the JoYS. 

“Ireland will remain committed to supporting this initiative in order to ensure its success,” said O’Neill. 

The three primary pillars of the JoYS programme are outreach activities, an annual exhibition and a bootcamp, the statement added. 

The outreach activities will provide students and teachers with the opportunity to participate in workshops for a variety of scientific and practical experiences, including workshops in the domains of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The JoYS Exhibition will provide a platform for students to showcase their science, technology, and innovation skills. 

Meanwhile, at the bootcamp winning students and teachers will attend workshops on entrepreneurship, communication and protective intellectual property to get the skills necessary to turn their ideas into products and viable businesses. 

“JoYS is a chance for Jordanian society to focus on innovation and creativity and help youth to be a part of the innovation system,” Mohammad Tahboub, JoYS Chairman, said during the ceremony. 

He stated that their ambition is to let JoYS enter every school, in order to motivate youth to participate, innovate, think and contribute.