Inventors wanted
May 2, 2008 at 1:53 pm 5 comments
The Qatar Foundation has announced a worldwide competition – the Stars of Science Competition – to find and support the development and funding of original, creative new inventions (in any field) by young inventors of Arab origin and others. The website actually says only young Arabs but in the information leaflets and emails that they have sent out, they state Arabs and non-Arabs.
The 16 finalists, once chosen, will be put through a specially designed 10 week workshop in Doha with state of the art tools and equipment, to further develop the idea. They will then be tutored by experts to develop their business skills so as to enable them to turn their inventions into reality.
The winner of the competition will receive a $100,000 cash prize plus $100,000 in business support, counseling, and marketing of the idea. Four international experts will be on the jury.
I don’t know if this is worth a shot for some of our young wanna-be inventors and innovators but just thought I would put it out there. If nothing else, it is nice to see how foundations are promoting science and technology in our region.
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In the Line of Wire 
1.
Vic | May 2, 2008 at 2:33 pm
It looks a like a genuine offer, and wants to take advantage of this fad for ‘reality tv’ to get the ideas rolling!
What I found very interesting (at least in the web site, who knows if there is some amount of hidden fine print that will emerge later) is that the ‘inventors’ seem to be completely free to submit ideas for which the patents already exist.
Which implies, naturally, that neither the Foundation nor the TV channel will stake any claims on the IPR generated by this effort.
To the best of my memory, this is a first. There are other initiatives aimed at promoting innovation, but this is the first I have seen where there really aren’t any strings attached, as far as the idea’s ‘ownership’ goes.
2.
Vic | May 2, 2008 at 2:45 pm
btw, this page explains about the national origin of inventors: Arab (and North African) only, must speak fluent Arabic.
3.
Jehan | May 2, 2008 at 3:24 pm
hmmmm … they why are they promoting it at MIT etc and not mentioning t his fact? Strange people.
4.
ob | May 2, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Hmm their site says:
“this competition is solely open to those with Arab origins”
5.
Stars of Science | May 23, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Stars of Science is open solely to Arab students who would like to develop their scientific inventions.
For more information about the competition please visit the website at:
http://www.starsofscience.com
http://www.nojoumleloloum.com
Or contact us at the following e-mail address: info@starsofscience.com
Stars of Science Production