ALEXANDRIA, Egypt: Students at the Bibliotheca Alexandria Science and Engineering Fair (Intel BASEF) won four prizes at the competition of Intel BASEF in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, held from Nov. 27 to 30. The competition is the first Arab scientific competition for Arab World preparatory and secondary school students between 14 and 18 years old. Students from ten Arab countries participated in the competition, winning cash awards and fellowships. Egyptian student Rana Mohammad Abdel Rahman Adam, 18, placed second. She was awarded 3500 AED (U.S. $952) for her project about the role of eucalyptus oil as an anti-fungal treatment of asthma. In Chemistry, Aya Magdi el-Saqa, 16, also placed second, winning 3500 AED for her project, “The use of a chemical reaction as energy to pump heat." For electrical engineering and communications, Mohammad Magdi Al-Sayyed and Ahmed Abdel Kareem also won the second place prize of 3500 AED for their project, "How can the third worst problem in the human history be useful?" The best joint project prize was awarded to Mazen Abdel Shakour and Bahaa Khalil Salama. They won 2000 AED (U.S. $544) for their project, "How you can improve your health by your biological clock." The competition was held in cooperation with the University of Sharjah and the UAE Ministry of Education, under the auspices of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah and the President of the University of Sharjah. One hundred and thirty students participated in the competition, presenting 80 scientific projects. The participating students were from Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, Oman, Egypt, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. Intel – BASEF is committed to increasing Egyptian student's awareness of the scientific method of thinking. It also seeks to promote exposure to and participation in inquiry-based learning through the development of science and engineering projects by middle and high school students.
