RIYADH — Members of the Saudi science and engineering team, who bagged 22 medals at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF 2022), returned to their homeland to a rousing welcome. Upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport here on Sunday evening, they were accorded a stirring reception by a large number of people, including officials of education and Mawhiba, as well as their parents. Eng. Faisal Al-Dawish, chairman of the board of directors of the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), accompanied the team of students during their victorious trip and return to the Kingdom after scripting history with winning a record number of prizes. Dr. Saud Al-Mathami, secretary general of Mawhiba, expressed his positivity and optimism about a new talented and conscious Saudi generation capable of fast absorbing changes in the world as well as in participating in the process of building the nation's future, and achieving the goals and initiatives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and the prosperity of mankind. "The remarkable achievements scored by the young talented Saudis at ISEF 2022 represent a qualitative leap in the talents, capabilities, culture and knowledge of the people of the country, and it heralds a prosperous future. "This historic achievement will be a turning point in Mawhiba's brilliant track record, which will consolidate the Kingdom's leadership on the map of talent and creativity, and the institution's position as the most comprehensive approach to educating talented people in the world," he said. He noted that Mawhiba has a sky-high aspiration, to achieve the ambitions of the wise Saudi leadership by graduating generations of talented Saudis so as to enable them to become international figures. The Saudi team won 22 international medals, including 16 grand awards and six special awards, in addition to the award for the best project in the world. There are two awards in first place, two awards in second place, five awards in third place, and six awards in fourth place, along with six special prizes. The talented young Saudis competed with around 1,700 students from different countries of the world. The student Abdullah Al-Ghamdi achieved first place in the field of energy for his qualitative project. Al-Ghamdi also bagged the award for the best research scientist in the world. Saudis won awards in the fields of energy, chemistry, social sciences, behavioral science, botany, materials science, environmental engineering, engineering technologies and transitional medicine. Saudi Arabia is represented by Mawhiba and the Ministry of Education at the annual event, which was held this year at the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, in the United States from May 7 to 13.
