100 inventors showcase works at Ibtikar 2010

As many as 100 Saudi inventors are taking part in the the Ibtikar 2010 (Invention 2010) Exhibition, which was opened on Sunday by Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, on behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

The event is being organized by the King Abdul Aziz and His Companions Foundation for the Gifted (Mawhibah) at Jeddah Hilton Hotel. Dignitaries who attended the opening included Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi.

Speaking on the occasion Prince Faisal, who is also vice president of Mawhibah, commended the interest shown by King Abdullah in scientific inventions and inventors as part of his desire to develop a knowledge-based economy in the Kingdom.

Secretary-General of Mawhibah Khaled Al-Sabti said the expo was a major step toward achieving this aim. Ibtikar 2010 has the aim of encouraging the private sector to support and invest in inventions.

About 100 individual inventors, universities and research institutes are participating in the exhibition. Their work covers areas such as nanotechnology, energy and environmental protection, medicine and pharmacology, engineering, water desalination, information technology, and telecommunications.

Fouad Al-Awad, general supervisor of the exhibition, said the expo was a unique event in the Middle East, adding that it had been recognized by the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations. He said the exhibition was a special occasion for Saudi inventors and innovators to participate with their counterparts from other countries. A number of workshops and lectures will be held on the sidelines of the exhibition, which ends on Thursday.

He said the winners of the exhibition would receive prizes worth SR1 million. The winner of the first prize will receive SR150,000, second prize SR100,000 and third prize SR50,000.

“We have doubled the amount of prize money this year in order to encourage competition between inventors,” Al-Awad said. Academics and researchers at universities and research centers will receive prizes worth SR50,000 in each field of specialization (medicine, energy, desalination, telecommunication and information technology).

Special prizes will also be given to all participants aged between 15 and 29 in order to encourage them to make more inventions. He said delegates from 19 Saudi cities and 33 local and international agencies were taking part in the show.

“This international participation will help Saudis and their work to be noticed in important centers and get patents,” Al-Awad pointed out. There are speakers from the US, Europe, Japan and other advanced countries in addition to those from Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.