High School students participate in Texas A&M University at Qatar’s STEAM Summer Camp
Published Aug 02, 2022.jpg)
High-school students from across Qatar participated in the STEAM summer camp organized by Texas A&M University at Qatar, a Qatar Foundation (QF) partner university recently. The goal of the STEAM summer camp was to provide high school students with the opportunity to engage in hands-on activities so they can enhance valuable skills including critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation.
Over the week-long program, students learned to incorporate arts practices, elements, and design into STEM fields. The students worked to improve public speaking skills and design prototypes for solving pressing engineering problems, as well as used 3D printing techniques and explored several mathematical concepts.
Bissam Abdulghany, a student of QF’s Qatar Academy for Science and Technology who participated in the program, said, “It was a valuable experience for me. The insights provided by these incredible mentors definitely helped me see a different perspective. Building robots, and working on my public speaking skills are my personal highlights from this experience.”
Sarah Soltan, a student from Qatar Academy Doha, said, “This program helped me improve my social and communications skills, working alongside students from various different schools. One of the most surprising lessons from this experience is how there is an emphasis on mathematics, arts and influences of nature on engineering. I never thought of it like that before. I am glad I participated in this camp.”
The sessions were mentored by experts from Texas A&M University at Qatar and other Education City campuses. At the end of the program, students were split into teams and had to showcase their projects.
Texas A&M University at Qatar is dedicated to educating “the whole engineer” who can integrate all types of knowledge when engineering solutions to real world problems.
Dr. Aymen Elsheikh, the director of STEAM initiative at Texas A&M at Qatar, said, “It is amazing to see how students can come into their own and shine when given the right opportunities. We focused on developing skills that will enable them to become a better version of themselves – beyond academics. There were sessions on public speaking, creating graphics, and finding engineering solutions to everyday problems. The workshop witnessed students stepping out of their comfort zones, networking with other students and mentors, and putting their best foot forward during the STEAM showcase presentations
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