The Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar invited high school students in Qatar to present their ideas for better designed products for the problems faced by members of their community.
This year's theme of "Better Living through Better Design" encourages students in the 14 countries to express their creative solutions to problems they see in their surroundings. Along with cash prizes ranging from $1000 for first place to $200 for fifth place, two qualified students will win the four-year Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned Scholarships for Creativity to attend VCUQatar. Regency Group Holding is offering 70 awards in 14 countries of the competition.
At the launch press conference Dean Allyson Vanstone thanked Regency Group Holding and invited students to participate. "We are grateful to Mr. Ibrahim bin Hassan Al Asmakh, Chairman of Regency Group Holding Company, for his generous support of the Design Competition. I'd like to take this opportunity to invite young designers to look at their community and think creatively about how they can improve the lives of people they know," declared Dean Vanstone. She challenged students to think about how things that we use everyday today such as elevators and mobile phones had to begin as great ideas in someone's mind to solve transportation and communication problems.
Mr. Ehab Selim, General Manger of Al Asmakh Development and Al Asmakh Facilities management companies represented Regency Group Holding at the event. He proclaimed, "Regency Group Holding is proud to support the visionary leadership of HisHighness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar and Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, by supporting education and design at VCUQatar and the Qatar Foundation. Design is a field of critical importance for the growth of a developing country such as Qatar. Since Qatar is a country rich in history and culture it is critical to portray the modern picture of Qatar while paying tribute to its heritage. A good design means comfortable life and a peaceful mind. We at Regency Group Holding are interested in developing the design capability of students to develop our country as the foundation a prosperous future. We hope that many students in Qatar will submit their ideas and apply for this scholarship."
This is the first time VCUQatar is accepting all entries online. Students interested in the competition should visit Design Competition Scholarship section at www.qatar.vcu.edu to obtain the competition rules. The deadline to submit the entry online is January 8, 2009. Questions can be answered by email VCUQADMISSIONS@qatar.vcu.edu or phone at +974 492 7238.
Regency Group Holding is sponsoring the five cash prizes in each country to receive $1,000, $800, $600, $400, $200 for first through fifth place respectively. The five country winners from all the countries can compete for a chance to win one of the two full Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned Scholarships for Creativity. The scholarship pays for tuition, housing and academic expenses for four years of study at VCUQatar.
The competition is open to senior secondary school students in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
