Meet the young scientists in the Middle East innovating to make their community a better place
Through the Google Science Fair, we've invited today's brightest young minds to answer an important question: how can they make the world better through science, math, and engineering? We received thousands of extremely impressive answers to this question from over 107 countries this year, and we can’t wait to announce the winners later in September.
Before that happens, though, we want to recognize the projects that aim to solve tough community challenges like providing clean drinking water, keeping people safe from natural disasters, and fighting droughts. This year, we'll be giving not just one, but five regional Community Impact Awards: one for each top project that focuses on fixing a difficult resource problem across North America, Latin America, the Middle East & Africa, Asia & the Pacific Islands, and Europe.
Please join us and our partners — LEGO Education, Scientific American, National Geographic and Virgin Galactic — in celebrating the Middle East and North Africa’s Community Impact Award finalists below:
Finding the Words: Tools for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
In Cairo, Egypt, Sara (18), Nourhan (17), and Asmaa (17) were shocked to realize that a significant number of citizens suffer from disabilities yet receive little governmental support or resources to help improve their quality of life. In particular, people who are deaf and hard of hearing struggle to connect with the hearing community, who do not always have the patience to learn sign language. This trio worked together to create a glove that translates hand signals into letters and speech, helping the wearer to communicate more easily. The young women hope that their invention will be another powerful tool for people who are deaf and hard of hearing to navigate more easily through life.
Tune into the Google Science Fair website on July 18th to find out which five young scientists will win their regional Community Impact Award! With the generous support of our partners, winners will receive mentors and scholarships to help them further their education and inspiring projects.
To keep an eye on the competition, visit the Google Science Fair site.