Now in its second year, the Abu Dhabi Science Festival is in full swing at various locations around the emirate, including ADNEC and on the Corniche. Running from October 10-20, this year includes different stations with numerous interactive and hands-on activities, aimed at educating a range of age groups about a variety of scientific topics. As the largest festival of its kind in the region, the ADSF seems to be continually setting the bar higher for such events in the future.
One of the greatest elements of science festivals is they often showcase aspects of disciplines that students might not be exposed to in the classroom. Due to the extremely wide scope of the subject, young students might only be exposed to topics such as robotics or green energy in small sections of their curriculums. The Abu Dhabi Science Festival serves as an excellent platform in this manner by providing people with the chance to explore many topics in an interactive, fun and friendly setting.
The Science Festival is a small step the government is taking towards encouraging the economic diversification of the emirate, by promoting different vocations in scientific and technical fields. In fact, this year’s festival is being organised primarily by the newly formed Abu Dhabi Technology Development Committee (TDC). TDC director general His Excellency Ahmed Al Calily explains: ‘The objective of the Abu Dhabi Science Festival is to engage children aged five-15 in exciting science related activities that aim to inspire them to pursue education, and later on careers, in the fields of science, technology and innovation.’
Over 800 students from different Abu Dhabi universities will be taking part, acting as scientific communicators and explaining various phenomena to visitors. The scientific communicators are crucial to the success of this year’s festival but the students recruited are not only those studying science majors – as might be expected.
Many students from many different majors expressed interest in participating because it presents lots of interesting opportunities, such as improving their public speaking skills.
Activities during the festival are divided up according to ten themes: robotics and electronics; investigation, bio-med tech and health; green energy; sports science; messy science; explosions and forces; astronauts and rockets; science and art; music and sound. The various displays and outlets for the festival will have a wide range of attractions, including an animatronics dinosaur. There are also many stations where children can explore science on their own or in a group with other children.
For example, there is a station where kids can uncover a mummy and unwrap the bandages to discover why bodies were preserved in such a manner. Although geared at young ones, the festival is designed in such
a way as to involve the entire family.
His Excellency Ahmed Al Calily claims the festival will help the future of the emirate. ‘Science, technology and innovation are at the centre of the knowledge-based economy that the Abu Dhabi Government is trying to build,’
he says. ‘Our festival is one of the key initiatives geared towards building the talent base necessary for this knowledge-based economy.’ This is perfectly in line with Abu Dhabi’s Policy Agenda and Economic Vision 2030, the building of which TDC will play a role in.
Although there are many activities set to run for the entire festival, there also some special workshops and guest speakers appearing on specific days. The schedule is available on the website www.abudhabisciencefestival.ae. If you have missed some events that seem interesting to you, fear not, because the festival will be repeated next year.
