Student Award on sustainability ideas receives 630 submissions from over 400 universities in the region

Siemens has announced that it has received heartening response to its student award initiative. Launched in May, the Siemens Student Award 2011 set out to seek the best answers to one of the world’s toughest questions – “How can you build sustainable cities in the desert?” The contest engages students from accredited universities in the region to seek the answers within the parametres of four megatrends: Demographic change, Climate change, Urbanisation and Globalisation, the announcement explained.

Reportedly, the call for outstanding ideas from the innovative minds studying at Middle Eastern universities resulted in Siemens Student Award 2011 receiving an overwhelming response in terms of ideas: 630 students from over 400 universities across the Middle East, including Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan, have participated. Siemens claims that the award website (www.siemens.com/studentaward) has enabled an extensive online community to be established, as well as facilitating entries.

According to Siemens, the submissions will be evaluated by a council of Siemens Student Award experts along with the online community to select 10 finalists from the 630 submitted entries. The finalists will then move to the final round, to be evaluated by a jury of high-profile individuals from institutions and organisations that are involved in sustainability initiatives. The Three winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on November 1 in Doha, Qatar. The total cash award amounts to $45,000. The winner will receive $25,000, while two runners-up will receive $15,000 and $5,000 respectively. All three winners will be offered internship opportunities with Siemens.

Commenting on the initiative, Erich Kaeser, Patron of the Siemens Student Award and CEO, Siemens Middle East, said: “The response has been outstanding. In just two months, more than 20,000 people visited the dedicated Siemens Student Award website and over 8,500 registered as community members. The high calibre of ideas submitted by students from all the Middle East countries is a reflection of the promising intellectual capital right across the region.”