Minister of Sports and Youth opens Oasis of Manufacturers at QSC

HE the Minister of Sports and Youth Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali opened Tuesday the Oasis of Manufacturers and Innovators at the Qatar Scientific Club (QSC), on the sidelines of the Challenge & Innovation (CIF) forum, which is organised as part of the activities of Doha, Capital of Culture in the Islamic World 2021, with the participation of 100 inventors from 38 countries around the world.The opening was attended by several representatives of international organisations concerned with innovation and intellectual property, a number of diplomats, guests of the forum, ministry officials and innovators participating in the forum.The Oasis of Manufacturers is considered an advanced technological platform at the regional level that has been developed by the QSC with the ministry's support.It launched to combine modern digital technology, activating the "Internet of Things" and "Artificial Intelligence" in design and manufacturing processes.Head of the Oasis of Manufacturers at the QSC Eng Salman Ghanem al-Sulaiti explained that their strategy promotes a culture of innovative entrepreneurship, as the oasis can be used as an incubator and accelerator for emerging innovations, which contributes to reducing time, effort, and cost.It also provides an effective work environment that encourages creativity and development for innovators and entrepreneurs to continue developing their project models until the production stage.In addition, it contributes to training and exchange of experiences between interested and specialists and provides organised spaces according to technical specialisations, including engineering design, digital manufacturing, modelling, electronics, computing, robotics, AI, and production mechanics.He pointed out that the Oasis consists of several sections: the digital fabrication lab, the robot and AI lab, the electronics and communications lab, the engineering design corner, the innovative business incubator, the project implementation and assembly corner, as well as the materials library that provides all the materials needed by the innovator.He stressed that the support provided by the Oasis includes three stages, starting from the research and development stage, then developing the innovation product, leading to the development of the business model.Meanwhile, a 48-hour collective competition started Tuesday at the QSC as part of the CIF.The winners will be announced Thursday.A co-operation agreement was signed between the QSC and the Oman Makers Centre (OMC) in Muscat. It was signed by the QSC Executive DirectorRashid al-Rahimi and Director-General of Oman Makers Centre Eng Hilal Nassir al-Shibli.The agreement provides the exchange of expertise and technical advice, and the holding of courses and workshops between the Oasis of Manufacturers and the OMC. (QNA)