Eight Sharakah partner schools participate in AUS FUNtastic FZX 2016

American University of Sharjah (AUS) held a day-long physics fair for 23 participating teams from eight Sharakah partner schools that involved different physics projects as part of the AUS FUNtastic FZX competition held at the university on February 11.

Organized by the AUS Office of Enrollment Management in collaboration with the Department of Physics, the FUNtastic FZX competition welcomed prospective students from Sharakah schools and included interactive lectures, live displays, hands-on activities, and demonstrations of physics principles and their wide applications.

The event sought to bridge the gap between the university and high school students, to show that physics can be fascinating and to provide the fundamental understanding of how most things around us work.

Dr. Ali Alnaser, Head of the Department of Physics, welcomed the high school students to the second annual open day celebrating physics and said, "I hope you get the chance to see the different flavors of physics today and understand the various aspects of what it represents. We are counting on students to study physics and be able to connect between physics and other areas of study."

In his welcoming address, Dr. Mahmoud Anabtawi, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, welcomed the high school students and said, "This is a very important event for AUS and for you as prospective students. We have an excellent, outstanding and exceptional group of faculty in the AUS Department of Physics. I encourage you all to learn more from these projects presented by students and we wish you the best of luck."

In order to win the competition, the judges evaluated the teams' projects according to the following criteria: clearly explaining the physics concepts behind the project and how they relate them to physics facts and laws learned at school; clearly explaining the goal of the project and the relevance of their project to practical applications; evaluating the team's poster in terms of design and information, reflecting their creativity and own thinking; and finally, explaining the role of the elements and the materials used and the procedures followed to construct their project.

Haya Nassrullah, a chemical engineering and chemistry student at AUS and volunteer said, "Sharakah students find this event interesting because they get to be challenged about something they admire."

Maya Janabi, a grade 10 student from Al Ma'arifa International School said, "Today's event is highly informative and we get to learn a lot about physics. It is a fun competition and so many students worked hard to prepare for it. We would like to thank AUS for this amazing opportunity."

Participating schools included Al Mawakeb School- Qarhoud Branch, Al Mawakeb School- Al Barsha Branch, International School of Arts and Sciences, International Community School, Al Shola Private School, Sharjah American International School- Sharjah, Al Ma'arifa International School and Dubai International School- Al Garhoud Branch.

First and third place went to the International Community School, while the International School of Arts and Sciences ranked second.

The event was held as part of the Sharakah program under which AUS has signed Memorandums of Understanding with 12 secondary schools in the UAE whereby the university will offer workshops to teachers and students; offer patronage of selected research, cultural, social and sporting activities and events organized by the Sharakah partner school; award partial scholarships to deserving students selected from lists provided by the schools; and offer university preparation courses, including SAT and TOEFL preparation courses, as well as recruitment of outstanding students from varied sociocultural and economic backgrounds to AUS.