Dubai, 16 March 2019: The Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), the voice of the chemical industry in the Arabian Gulf region, announced the winners of the inaugural edition of the Innovation Competition, GPCAs latest initiative aimed at recognizing ingenuity and talent among university students in the Arabian Gulf region.

Winners were awarded at a gala dinner on the sidelines of the 6th GPCA Research and Innovation Summit by H.E. Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Minister of Oil, Bahrain a special guest of honor and a patron of the summit on 13 March at ART Rotana, Amwaj Islands, Bahrain.

Students enrolled on a B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering or Chemistry at a university in the GCC were invited to submit their final-year projects for the chance to win a two-month internship and cash prize of up to AED 10,000. In total 20 entries were evaluated and received by an independent jury panel who shortlisted the five best candidates and the following winners.

Ms. Athari Muhammed Al Hosni from Caledonian College of Engineering in the Sultanate of Oman won first place in the competition and a cash prize of AED 10,000 for Production of polymers from sulfur solid waste.
Ms. Hiba Hamid Aljabri from the National University of Science and Technology in Oman was awarded second place and a cash prize of AED 6,000 for her work in Application of nanotechnology in corrosion inhibition of oil pipelines.

The jury awarded third place and a cash prize of AED 4,000 to Mr. Hussain Al-Ibrahim from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia for his Design integration of gasification and reforming technologies for the syngas production.

The initiatives first edition was sponsored by SABIC and Saudi Aramco, with Popular Science acting as official Arabic scientific partner.