Al-Nayzak Foundation for Supportive Education and Scientific Creativity received a delegation of its students and creative teachers returning from a scientific trip to the American Space Agency (NASA), where 13 students and teachers with winning creative projects participated in the national competition "Tech Talent" ". Which is implemented in partnership with the American Office of Palestinian Affairs.
The mission went through an interesting ten-day scientific adventure at NASA and many prestigious scientific and technological institutions in the United States.
The "Meteorite" mission program began with a qualitative training at NASA within an impressive scientific atmosphere, during which the participants embarked on a unique adventure by visiting Mars through Cinema 360, and implementing a kinetic simulation of navigating the sides of Mars under conditions of complete zero gravity.
The team learned about the reasons for NASA´s quest to visit Mars, and how this relates to the agency´s quest to maintain the sustainability of the planet. The team received an explanation about the biography of current and former astronauts with influential fingerprints in this field.
The team ventured into the details of their extraterrestrial life. Then the team moved to NASA´s science laboratories, where it simulated the launch and landing of the spacecraft, including controlling the ship´s arms through virtual reality (VR) technology. The delegation received an explanation about the geographical planning of the island of "NASA" in terms of places of take-off and landing, control, photography and viewing, and many other details.
At another station of the trip, the delegation was briefed by the SpaceX company on the process of assembling a space rocket that will be launched on the same day into space. The team continued their adventure at Walt Disney Studios, which was a unique station that combined learning with fun, during which the team learned about many scientific laws, engineering, design methods, industrial manufacturing, digital media and animation. The mission also learned about the competitive advantages that made Walt Disney Studios one of the most exciting places in the world.
The team visited the Thomas Edison and Ford Museum, which contains the most inspiring inventions throughout history, including more than a thousand inventions made by Edison for which he obtained many patents. The team also got to know Ford, its first cars, and its most important achievements, which constituted turning points in the world of the automotive industry.
At Lakewook High School, students presented their projects in front of the school´s students and teachers, which attracted a strong interest and desire to know more about them. On the other hand, a number of school students presented high-level technological projects. The school expressed its desire to cooperate with the "Al-Nayzak" delegation and exchange experiences and ideas for important and innovative projects in the world of technology. The team visited Lake Middle School, during which they were briefed on modern teaching methods and programs, including the engineering program for children. The school implements an engineering program, as an additional after-school activity, for students with engineering inclinations.
The team continued its march to the Seminole Recreation Center, and listened to a lecture from the founder of the FUNDucation program, during which he learned about the world of special educational games, learning through play and production, which has marginal profit goals that enabled him to be a prominent economist in the United States. The team listened to opinions about their projects from their peers and specialists in the fields of science, technology and space, who praised these projects, which will achieve bright success in the future despite the young age of their innovators.
The inspiring journey of the mission’s members concluded with many ideas and stories, which will be an important station in their professional and entrepreneurial life record.
It is worth noting that the "Tech Talent" program, on which Al-Nayzak is based, works with school students and their creative teachers, and develops their qualitative scientific projects until they become applicable on the ground. This year, more than 7000 students from different schools participated in the program, who submitted more than 600 projects to compete in the first qualifying stage, before participating in the capacity-building stage, which was followed by the local qualification stage, where 46 projects qualified to participate in the exhibition and competition. The national team won 10 projects in the categories of inventions and innovations, programming, and scientific research.
In an interview with Engineer Kamal Al-Masry, the mission leader to NASA, he said, "This experience and others like it are considered the strongest way to light the way and direct the ambassadors of Palestinian creativity towards the position they deserve, stressing that This rich scientific journey will expand the perceptions of Palestinian creators and creators, and enhance and develop their scientific and professional capabilities. to refining and building their personalities in the scientific field, in order to reach a bright future worthy of the Palestinian youth, who have long recorded their presence in international forums in all fields.”
