GUST to collaborate with KFAS on Kuwait Science Festival

Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) announced yesterday that it will be hosting the newly formed Kuwait Science Festival in March 2018, in collaboration with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), the Ministry of Education (MOE). GUST President, Professor Donald Bates, “GUST always takes pride in actively participating in events of this caliber; to offer our experience and support for the development of our youth and community. It is a pleasure to be working with an accomplished group of individuals to give the event the attention it deserves.”

GUST and KFAS organized a three-day planning workshop, on the university’s premises, to kick off the initial preparations for the festival. The workshop was attended by associates of the Association for Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) in Washington DC, including Dr Walter Staveloz, Director of international Relations at ASTC; Dr John Durant, Creator of the Cambridge Science Festival from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Dr Tod Boyette, Co-Founder of the North Carolina Science Festival from University of North Carolina (UNC); David Wells, Maker Programming Director at the New York Hall of Science; Hanaa Hosny, Manager of the BA Science Festivity at Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt; and Vincenzo Lipardi President and CEO of Citt· della Scienza in Naples, Italy. GUST was represented by President, Professor Donald Bates, Director of Public Relations, Aseel AlTurkait, Assistant Dean of the College of Arts, Dr Iqbal Al-Shammari, Head of the English Department, Dr. Cathy Daniel, and Head of the Mass Communication and Media Department, Dr Fahed Al-Sumait.

Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences was represented by Dr Salam AlAblani, Director of the Scientific Culture Directorate, several program managers including Dr Layla Al-Musawi, Engineer Manar AlRashid, and Engineer Dina Al-Nakib, including the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of The Scientific Center of Kuwait, Rana Al-Nibari.

The workshop included discussions on various aspects of the festival planning, including each entity’s specific roles, how its success will be measured, what youth programs to include, and how to market it externally to its audience. The festival will launch with the theme of ‘Sustainable Development’ with a focus on renewable energy and innovation, to shed light on the importance of this issue internationally.