Dr Wael Al-Delaimy participates as a Jury for GIST TECH-I Competition
Every year, the United States State Department in collaboration with the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) the largest science organization in the world, organize the TECH-I global Competition. The idea for the completion is to encourage scientists and entrepreneurs to submit their idea from any part of the world and these ideas are then judged by a large panel of experts who decide which of the applications deserve to be selected to get training and make a pitch for funding at the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) which is attended by world leaders and businesses.
From the hundreds of applicants only 30 get selected to attend with fully paid travel and accommodation expenses to the event. In the past year, the GIST was held in Nairobi, Kenya and was attended by President Obama and world leaders. Many young Arab innovators and entrepreneurs compete and make it as finalists each year. Dr. Al-Delaimy, board member of
Dr. Al-Delaimy, board member of SASTA and one of 10 referees invited to evaluate and score applications and the final winners describes this event as a showcase of talent and innovation regardless of background or training. “Most of the finalists who attend have not gone outside their country before participating in this event and some have not even flown in a plane, so it is a real life-time opportunity, says Al-Delaimy. He was also a participant as a referee in the 2014 event that took place in Marrakesh, Morocco. He said I am always happy to find young Arab talents participating and showcasing their innovation despite difficult challenges in their home countries that do not support such innovation initiatives, but would like more to learn about it and apply because I think many are not fully aware of this opportunity.
The winners from 2015 are listed here http://www.gistnetwork.org/resources/2015-tech-i-finalists-announced-1
The program and application process is described here http://www.aaas.org/tech-i
Additional press coverage about the competiotion that also included interviews with Dr. Al-Delaimy:
http://www.aaas.org/news/great-ideas-young-entrepreneurs-bloom-global-innovation-competition http://www.aaas.org/news/global-competition-propels-innovation-snowball