DOHA: Candidates Hassan Albalawi (Saudi Arabia) and Yaman Abou Jieb (Syria) outshone the competition in the first design episode of Stars of Science on MBC4, bringing them in the finale of the “edutainment reality” TV programme initiated by Qatar Foundation (QF).
Jurors favoured the confident Hassan, who outscored the dauntless Yaman by 15 points to come in first place. Heart-breaking for his fans, Fawzy Othman (Tunisia) came in third by three points and was forced to bow out.
Tasked with evaluating young entrepreneurs is a jury panel of three experts in science, technology and design.
Permanent Juror Yussif Abdulrahman Saleh, General Manager, Qatar Shell Research and Technology Center, joined counterpart Professor Fouad Mrad, Executive Director, UNESCWA regional technology centre, and James Law, award-winning architect and innovative design advocate and Founder and CEO of James Law Cybertecture International.
After weeks working on inventions, candidates pitched to the jurors. Hassan delivered a well-practised, convincing defence of his EEG Cap Analyser device, dubbed ‘Wakecap’, designed to detect and warn of drowsiness.
Opting for a hard hat model, Hassan demonstrated how his product would protect construction workers, for whom alertness is paramount for safety.
Law was impressed, congratulating him for skilfully achieving a balance between functionality and design.
Fawzy energetically explained how ‘Foz’, his robotic goalie trainer, could allow football goalies to customise workouts without having to rely on others to perfect their craft.
The ‘Foz’ shoots footballs while switching the angle, pitch and distance of the shots quickly to give goalies a challenge while defending the net.
The jurors praised the aesthetics of the prototype, but faulted Fawzy for being too complicated in design.
Yaman went third, giving a glimpse of ‘Glean’, his solar washing machine. By designing the invention to be compact and efficient, Yaman argued that ‘Glean’ would save water and energy, extending the convenience of washing machines to more people around the world.
When the results were announced, Hassan’s simple and effective prototype won the day, earning him a large margin of victory.
Yaman secured a spot in the final episode next to Hassan.
The Peninsula
