Queen visits Eureka Tech Academy

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday visited the Eureka Tech Academy, during which she emphasised the importance of investing in hands-on learning and reassessing the current methods used in teaching the sciences.

Queen Rania was received by the founder of Eureka Tech Academy, Afnan Ali, who then moderated a meeting between the Queen and the academy’s team members, beneficiaries and parents of enrolled students, a statement from Her Majesty’s office said. 

During the meeting, Ali gave a brief overview of the academy and shared stories of the positive impact it has had on its students. 

Ali also explained to Her Majesty the process through which Eureka’s curriculum and study materials were developed, and elaborated on the academy’s main programmes and its vision for the future. 

Queen Rania then discussed the contributions of the academy to discovering the talents of public and private school children, and making them more involved in producing technology, rather than merely consuming it. 

Her Majesty also listened to feedback from parents and browsed the students’ projects before proceeding on a tour of some of the classes that were in session. 

The Queen first dropped in on a Pneumatics class, where six- to 10-year-olds from the Little Innovators programme were learning about the application of gas and pressurised air in engineering.

Her Majesty also stopped by the Electronics and Internet of Things class, targeted at the academy’s older students from the Bright Innovators programme, where a group of 11 to 16- year-olds was learning how to build electronic circuits and programme micro-controllers.

The Eureka Tech Academy is an organisation specialised in the education of innovation and engineering. Eureka is considered a local and regional pioneer in the development of children’s capabilities in the fields of technology and engineering. 

The academy aims to teach its students the basics of engineering and invention in order for them to transform their ideas into functional products and services.  

It first started as an offline academy in 2014, offering its services to over 500 students, before opening a branch in the governorate of Aqaba, 330km south of Amman, and expanding outside of Jordan. 

Eureka currently offers two main programmes, the Little Innovators and the Bright Innovators one, each targeted towards a different age group. 

The Little Innovators programme is tailored for six to 10-year-olds, and consists of six levels: first and second level Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Advanced Mechanical Engineering, Pneumatics and Renewable Energy.  

The Bright Innovators programme, which caters to students between 11 and 16 years of age, consists of 10 levels: Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Electronics Advanced, Robotics Advanced, Renewable Energy, Mobile Applications, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a final graduation project, along with a business plan. 

The academy has so far been the recipient of 10 local and international awards through its participation in various tech innovation competitions.