SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi inventors showcase their ideas at the 'Ibtikar' exhibition in Riyadh

Record ID: 189275

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi inventors showcase their ideas at the 'Ibtikar' exhibition in Riyadh
  • Date: 8th December 2013
  • Summary: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (DECEMBER 1,2013) (REUTERS) POSTER SHOWING BOY LOOKING WITH BINOCULARS AT THE 3RD SAUDI IBTIKAR EXHIBITION EXHIBITION HALL PARTICIPANT EXPLAINING HIS INVENTION TO VISITORS DEVICE FOR MEASURING FUEL LEVELS IN OIL TANKS VISITOR ASKING INVENTOR ABOUT DEVICE INVENTOR EXPLAINING OIL TANK DEVICE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) EXHIBITION VISITOR, ABDULLAH KHALED, SAYING : "I did not expect the exhibition to be like this. It's really nice and we have met inventors of various ages: students in high school, university students, and older people, and they are still inventing." GIANT BALLOON WITH LOGO OF THE IBTIKAR EXHIBITION VARIOUS OF VISITOR SPEAKING TO A REPRESENTATIVE OF A SCIENTIFIC GROUP SCIENTIFIC GROUP REPRESENTATIVE SHOWING HISTORIC ARAB INVENTORS AND CURRENT SAUDI INVENTORS/ GIVING NAMES AND INVENTIONS WALL SHOWING NAMES OF SAUDI INVENTORS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) REPRESENTATIVE OF AL-AGHAR SCIENTIFIC GROUP, MARWA AL-HADI, SAYING : "Today we have thinkers, and creators and also there is support, but they need to focus on them (the inventors) and help them more, because we can still return to the Golden Age." NAME OF ONE INVENTION READING (Arabic): 'PROTECT AND SAVE' VARIOUS OF INVENTOR EXPLAINING HIS INVENTION OF AUTOMATIC WINDOW FENCE OPENING IF THERE IS A HOUSE FIRE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) INVENTOR, KHALED AL-OTAIBE, SAYING : "If there is no fence, that's a problem and it can cause deaths and victims. If there is a fence and it is fixed, it can also cause deaths and victims. The fence must protect the building, while at the same time serving as a life saver." PICTURE SHOWING THE IDEA OF THE SAFETY PROJECT, WITH AUTOMATIC WINDOW GRATE OPEN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PARTICIPANT, DR. KHALED AL-RASHEED, SAYING : "Huge amounts of money are spent on scientific research and then we might come up scientific uses. If we applied this to every state institution, we would find useful inventions." VISITORS BEEHIVE BANNER WITH ARABIC WRITING SHOWING DETAILS OF INVENTION (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) INVENTOR, DR. AHMED AL-GHAMDI, SAYING: "This innovation is a portable house to transfer bees from one area to another to save the bees from the heat. In Saudi Arabia, we import 200,000 bees per year and 90 percent of them die in the summer because of the high temperatures and low humidity. This house solves this problem." EXHIBITION HALL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MINISTER OF EDUCATION, PRINCE FAISAL BIN ABDULLAH, SAYING : "We want to build a knowledge society and knowledge-based economy based on inventions and innovations. What we have seen today bodes well." VARIOUS OF VISITORS IMPRINT VIBRATION TECHNOLOGY LAPTOP SCREEN READING (Arabic): 'IMPRINT VIBRATION TECHNOLOGY' (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) INVENTOR FROM MECCA, MARIAM SAMI, SAYING : "It is a device that picks up all the sounds while recording video, then separates all the sounds and voices and shows the sound you're interested in by determining the specific sound vibrations that characterise each person." VARIOUS OF EXHIBITION HALL
  • Embargoed: 23rd December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: General,Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA7HO3EU6DRAD9KRVDCY7LQDZKE
  • Story Text: Thousands of visitors have been flocking to the third Ibtikar Exhibition in Riyadh for a chance to see the latest in Saudi innovation.
    More than 200 creations by male and female inventors from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region are on display at the five-day event, which has attracted students from hundreds of high schools and universities.
    One visitor said he was impressed by the quality of the work on display.
    "I did not expect the exhibition to be like this. It's really nice and we have met inventors of various ages: students in high school, university students, and older people, and they are still inventing," said Abdullah Khaled.
    The exhibition is showcasing the latest inventions in the fields of energy, oil and gas, and communications technology.
    One exhibitor from the al-Aghar scientific group said she hoped to one day see the Middle East return to the so-called 'Golden Age', between the eighth and thirteenth centuries, when the region was at the cutting edge of science.
    "Today we have thinkers, and creators and also there is support, but they need to focus on them (the inventors) and help them more, because we can still return to the Golden Age," said Marwa al-Hadi.
    One idea by inventor Khaled al-Otaibe showed an automatic window fence that opens in the case of a house fire. Called 'To protect and save', the window grate provides a safe space for residents to sit and wait until help arrives.
    "If there is no fence, that's a problem and it can cause deaths and victims. If there is a fence and it is fixed, it can also cause deaths and victims. The fence must protect the building, while at the same time serving as a life saver," said al-Otaibe.
    Another invention aimed to provide a solution for bee-keepers in a country where many different varieties of honey are produced for both eating and healing purposes.
    "This innovation is a portable house to transfer bees from one area to another to save the bees from the heat. In Saudi Arabia, we import 200,000 bees per year and 90 percent of them die in the summer because of the high temperatures and low humidity. This house solves this problem," explained inventor, Dr. Ahmed al-Ghamdi.
    The exhibition comes after the IMF warned Saudi Arabia that it needed to strengthen its private sector to satisfy a surge in job demand from its young population, reduce its dependence on oil export markets and diversify its economy.
    Minister of education Prince Faisal, who opened the Ibtikar exhibition, said the talent on display offered enormous promise for the country's future.
    "We want to build a knowledge society and knowledge-based economy based on inventions and innovations. What we have seen today bodes well," he said.
    In the field of information and communications, one inventor hoped her gadget would help in criminal investigations, by isolating sounds and voices.
    "It is a device that picks up all the sounds while recording video, then separates all the sounds and voices and shows the sound you're interested in by determining the specific sound vibrations that characterise each person," said Mariam Sami from Mecca.
    The exhibitionon Thursday (December 5).
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