Haytham Dsouki from Egypt was crowned the overall winner of Stars of Science Series 3, a pan-Arab reality TV program for innovators. He won $300,000 for his invention "VIVIFI". The second place winner was Ziad Sankari from Lebanon who won $150,000. The competition aims to support young Arab innovators and is hosted by Qatar Foundation.
1. Photo Caption
STARS OF SCIENCE Series 3 on MBC4: Winner Announced
Haytham Dsouki, innovator from Egypt crowned overall winner of SOS 2011
Doha, 2nd December 2011: After a thrilling nine weeks, the waiting was over for four young Arab
innovators last night as the overall winner of Stars of Science Series 3 was announced in an exciting live
finale, held in Doha, Qatar. With a score of 35.4% Haytham Dsouki from Egypt won over not only the jury
but also the public vote to claim this year’s title as Stars of Science Series 3 overall winner, walking away
with a first prize of $300,000 to help develop his invention – ‘VIVIFI’.
Following Haytham in second place was Ziad Sankari (Lebanon)- ‘LIFESENSE’ who will receive
$150,000, with Mohammad Al- Rifai (Kuwait)- ‘KWILI’ and Mohammad Al-Chaari (Tunisia) -
‘POWERWAVE’ who will each receive $100,000 and $50,000 respectively.
Haytham Dsouki said “I am absolutely thrilled to be named as winner of such a prestigious competition –
when they called out my name I couldn’t believe it. I have enjoyed every minute of my time on the show
and I am very excited to have received this investment to go towards helping me develop my invention. I
would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my fellow candidates, the mentors, judges and of course
Qatar Foundation for supporting this initiative and believing in young Arab innovators such as myself – I
am so proud to be a part of this and I can’t wait to see my invention become a reality in the future, made
possible by my appearance on Stars of Science.”
Launched in 2009 by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF),
Stars of Science is the region’s first pan-Arab docu-reality TV program dedicated to innovation.
For budding innovators interested in entering Stars of Science Season 4, there are still a few days left,
with applications closing at 6PM GMT on Monday 5 th December 2011 (any applications submitted
thereafter will be considered for Season 5). Young Arab innovators aged between 18 -30 are encouraged
to apply via the official Stars of Science website www.starsofscience.com / www.nojoumeloloum.com.
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For further information on Stars of Science, please contact:
Toufiq Othman or Samar Saliba – Weber Shandwick MENA
Tel: +971 4 3210 077 / +971 50 595 6727
Email: toufiq.othman@ws-mena.com or samar.saliba@ws-mena.com
2. Follow SOS
• Follow us on Facebook, facebook.com/StarsofScienceTV, Twitter @StarsofScience3, or Youtube
youtube.com/starsofscienceTV
• Keep up with all the action by watching the daily episodes everyday from Friday to Wednesday at
4:30pm KSA on MBC4
• Log on to the official Stars of Science website www.starsofscience.com / www.nojoumeloloum.com
Notes to Editors
Qatar Foundation – Unlocking Human Potential
The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development is a private, non-profit
organization that is supporting Qatar on its journey from carbon economy to knowledge economy by
unlocking human potential for the benefit of not only Qatar, but the world. Founded in 1995 by His
Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Amir of Qatar, QF is chaired by Her Highness Sheikha
Moza bint Nasser.
QF carries out its mission through three strategic pillars: education, science and research, and community
development. QF’s education pillar brings world-class universities to Qatar to help create an education
sector in which young people can develop the attitudes and skills required for a knowledge economy.
Meanwhile, its science and research pillar builds Qatar's innovation and technology capacity by
developing and commercializing solutions through key sciences. Finally, its community development
pillar helps foster a progressive society while also enhancing cultural life, protecting Qatar’s heritage and
addressing immediate social needs in the community.
For a complete list of QF’s initiatives and projects, visit http://www.qf.org.qa
About Stars of Science
Stars of Science is an original TV format, initiated by Qatar Foundation, which has been broadcast on
over 17 TV channels throughout the Arab world. Currently in its third season, Stars of Science supports
16 young innovators who have an idea based on a novel scientific feature. Each project is developed for
commercialization through several stages of the innovation cycle, which includes proof of concept,
engineering prototyping, design production and business feasibility.
The four finalists are ranked by a jury and viewers in a live show in which the winning products are
revealed. The finalists receive a total cash prize of $600,000 to help them develop their product further.
Stars of Science receives support from a raft of experts and mentors such as VIP juror Dr. Farouk El-Baz,
an Egyptian-American scientist widely known for his work at NASA, as well as blue-chip companies and
universities which are partners of Qatar Foundation. These include Virginia Commonwealth University in
Qatar; Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar; Texas A&M University at Qatar; and Carnegie Mellon
University in Qatar. Other supporters are College of the North Atlantic-Qatar and Qatar University, as well
as Qatar Science & Technology Park.
Hosted by Khaled Jumali, Stars of Science consists of eight prime-time episodes, plus the finale when the
public will be invited to vote alongside the Jury. Prime-time episodes last 80 minutes, every Thursday
(10pm KSA), with 30 daily updates starting from October 28 th 2011 (4.30pm KSA), all broadcast for the
first time on MBC4.
For further information on Stars of Science, please contact:
Toufiq Othman or Samar Saliba – Weber Shandwick MENA
Tel: +971 4 3210 077 / +971 50 595 6727
Email: toufiq.othman@ws-mena.com or samar.saliba@ws-mena.com
For further information on Qatar Foundation, please contact:
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3. Tariq Alsada
Media Relations Officer, Public Relations & Marketing, Qatar Foundation
Tel: +974 4540991
Fax: +974 4541047
Email: talsada@qf.org.qa
About MBC4
MBC4 is the Arab world’s first exclusive tailored channel for women and young Arab families. It
broadcasts the latest top-rated western entertainment in addition to locally produced programming. The
channel airs prime-time shows such as Dr. Oz, The Doctors Show, Numbers, Grey’s Anatomy, The
Vampire Diaries, Ringer, The Secret Circle, and The Good Wife, among other popular Turkish
Drama soaps dubbed into Arabic.
Today, the channel is more geared towards MBC Group’s own local flagship productions, as well as
towards some acquired Arabic content from across the MENA region. MBC4 successfully aired the
biggest production ever in the Arab TV history: “ARABS GOT TALENT” and is currently in production for
Season 2.
MBC GROUP:
About MBC Group
MBC Group is the first private free-to-air satellite broadcasting company in the Arab World. It was
launched in London in 1991 and later moved to its headquarters in Dubai in 2002. Over the past 20 years,
MBC Group has grown to become a well-established media group that enriches people’s lives through
information, interaction and entertainment. Based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, MBC Group
includes 10 television channels: MBC1 (general family entertainment), MBC2 and MBC MAX (24-hour
movies), MBC3 (children’s entertainment), MBC4 (entertainment for new Arab women), MBC Action
(action series and movies), MBC Persia (24-hour movie channel dubbed in Farsi) , Al Arabiya (the 24-
hour Arabic language news channel); Wanasah (24-hour Arabic music channel) and MBC Drama (24
hour Arabic drama) and two radio stations: MBC FM (Gulf music), and Panorama FM (contemporary
Arabic hit music); as well as O3 productions, a specialized documentary production unit. It has also
several online platforms: www.mbc.net, www.alarabiya.net, and www.shahid.net.
For further information on MBC, please contact:
Ruba Al Ayed
Group PR Manager
MBC Group
Tel: +971 56 6038358
Email: ruba.alayed@mbc.net
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