DOHA: After inspiring primary and secondary school students in Qatar with its innovative solar energy educational programme, Shams Generation has broadened its outreach to include institutes of higher learning.
The Shams Generation programme is the largest national-level educational initiative of its kind in Qatar and aims at forging a blueprint for progress on sustainability of solar energy as a resource, using the interdisciplinary approach of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics).
An initiative of Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec), Shams Generation celebrated the first successful completion of its Level 3 programme as undergraduate students of Texas A&M at Qatar (TAMUQ) showcased their MVPs (minimally viable products) all centred around the efficient use of solar energy. The Level 3 programme ran through the complete spring semester and was incorporated into the teaching curriculum as part of a graded course by TAMUQ.
Shams Generation’s educational programmes are designed to be tiered for primary (Level 1), secondary (Level 2), and tertiary students (Level 3).
“By engaging with TAMUQ, we have managed to expand the outreach of Shams Generation to include universities and aid in developing the solar energy applications knowledge of these future engineers.
“By working together, Shams Generation and TAMUQ have demonstrated that providing a real-world experience can truly enrich the knowledge of students beyond the classroom environment; one that equips them for the challenges and accomplishments of life,” said Chairman and CEO of QSTec, Dr Khalid K Al Hajri.
“The work the students have produced is absolutely amazing and highlights the value our Shams Generation initiative is adding to solar education in Qatar.”
The class of juniors were invited to design fully functional solar MVPs on the hypothesis they could be turned into viable products if a startup funding was available.
A total of 30 students were divided into seven teams for the project and had been provided with a Shams Generation advanced solar kit to test their innovative ideas on.
For TAMUQ, the collaboration allowed the university to offer students a STEAM environment from the typical STEM education engineering students are designed to encounter.The Peninsula
