24 Pakistani students in US space camp

HUNTSVILLE: A total of 24 Pakistani students, selected by a judging panel for their winning projects from three Karachi schools, are currently participating in the United States Space and Rocket Center’s Space Camp in Huntsville.

The US Consulate General Karachi and The Dawood Foundation’s (TDF) MagnifiScience Centre have come together to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education across 50 schools in the city.

The Washtington-funded grant consists of three components: STEM training for 100 Pakistani teachers, educational field trips of over 1,000 students to the MagnifiScience Centre, and a culminating science project competition.

“Students will be motivated to pursue careers in science fields, thereby meeting the increasing demand for STEM graduates in industry, academia, and research,” said the joint statement released by TDF and the consulate.

The programme also aims to promote a US-Pakistan ‘Green Alliance’ framework, focused on supporting Pakistan as it “strengthens climate resilience, pursues energy transformation, and fosters inclusive and sustainable economic growth.”

US Consul General Nicole Theriot said that she was “thrilled that we were able to send such bright and talented young students to Space Camp in the United States as a reward for their creativity and commitment to further developing Pakistan through green technologies and entrepreneurship.”

“I’m confident these students will continue to grow in their education and make important contributions to Pakistan and the world,” Theriot said.

An inter-school competition was organised around the topic of “eco-sustainability and entrepreneurship”, and science kits were issued to all of the competing school teams.

Eight students and one teacher were selected from each of the three winning schools, totalling 24 students and their three teachers, all of whom travelled to Huntsville, Alabama to participate in the space camp.

The winning entries included:

KMA Girls & Boys Primary School’s “Chicken Feathers: Go Green before the Green Goes”, a project in which chicken feathers were used to create paper.

Evergreen Elementary School’s “Anti-Sleep Glasses”, in which anti-sleep glasses were developed with a built-in alarm that helps reduce the incidence of vehicle accidents caused by driver fatigue.

KMA Boys Secondary School’s “Plastic Road”. In this project, waste plastic was used to create roads that can have a lifespan of over 50 years.