Schools compete in front of high-level panel of judges, including representatives from EGA, Khalifa University and Abu Dhabi Polytechnic

United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced the winners of its national competition held under the patronage of the Ministry of Education, the EGA Aluminium Design Challenge.

20 competing teams were invited to an award ceremony on 29 January, where EGA announced the winning entry. This followed two days of student presentations to a panel of high-level judges that included representatives from EGA, Khalifa University and Abu Dhabi Polytechnic.

The competition was launched in September as part of EGA’s ‘Engineer the Future’ programme which aims to encourage young people to study and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

‘UAE Vision 2021’ calls for UAE students to reach world-class attainment in science and mathematics subjects and for the UAE to transition to a knowledge-based economy that focuses on innovation, research and development.

EGA employs more than 1,540 professionals in STEM related fields, including some 500 UAE Nationals.

GEMS Our Own Indian School received first prize for their unique aluminium-based submission under the competition theme of Futuristic Transport, whilst Greenwood School won for their entry in Packaging for Humanitarian Relief. Jameela Bu Herd school won the award under the Architectural Marvels category, while the creative solution by Um Al Arab school took the award for Kinetic Art. All the winners were presented their awards by Her Excellency Jameela bint Salem Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Public Education.

Khalid Essa Buhumaid, Senior Vice President Government Relations at EGA, said: “Young people are the scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians of tomorrow, who will create the UAE’s future. We hope this competition will encourage more young people to study and pursue careers in these fields. The students have shown tremendous enthusiasm for the competition, which bodes well for all of us. The final decision was certainly not an easy one to make, and we would like to extend our thanks to all the participating schools.”

EGA’s ‘Engineer the Future’ programme also includes hands-on interactive STEM workshops at high schools. Recently, the programme marked the milestone of reaching 10,000 students since it was launched last year.