Qatar MWM Workshop for High School Students at the Materials Technology Unit

In May, 2011, MWM conducted a series of workshops where one hundred and eight students from three high schools, Omar Bin Alkhattab Science HS, Qatar HS and Abdulah Almesnad HS, learned materials sciences with MWM Sports Materials, Composites and Smart Sensors Modules.

The five-day workshop was conducted by MWM director, Professor R.P.H. Chang, and senior module developer, Dr. Matthew Hsu, assisted by Dr. Yasser Hussein Abdulra Hussein and Dr. Noora AL-Thani, Noora H. S. Al-Qahtani and Abdul Jaleel N. O. Manniyil at Qatar University. The students from each high school were allocated two days to familiarize with the modules and work on the design projects. In each session, MWM staff showed the students a new approach of learning materials science through understanding by inquiry and design via hands-on activities. During day-one sessions, the students formed groups of four to design a suitable material to meet the challenge in the module: sports ball for a mini-golf game in Sports Materials Module; strong, lightweight fishing pole in Composites Module; and smart coin counting device in Smart Sensors Module.

On day five of the workshop, each group presented their design projects to a panel of judges and all the participants. Their presentations showed a great deal of creativity, originality, improvisation and team work.

 Workshop Schedule

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