NEW YORK // Amir Abo-Shaeer took only one day off from teaching when it was announced he had won a US$500,000 (Dh1.8million) "genius" grant this week for his pioneering work in using robotics to inspire high school students, particularly girls, to study science.
The physics teacher, 38, said he was told two weeks ago about the award from the MacArthur Foundation, which can be spent however recipients decide. But he was sworn to secrecy, so it was a relief to share openly his joy with students at the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy, with is part of the public Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California.
"I still had to teach because if I don't stay on track, the students won't finish the curriculum and they have national tests coming up," he said. "The award is definitely very exciting but overwhelmingly I felt relief it wasn't a secret anymore."
Mr Abo-Shaeer was born to an Iraqi Muslim father and a Catholic American mother in Sao Paulo, Brazil, but the family moved when he was nine months old to Santa Barbara, which is about 150km north of Los Angeles, and he has lived there ever since.
This is his 10th year teaching at the academy, which he attended as a child and where he has helped increase female enrolment to 50 per cent, well above the national average of high school girls studying science. He was among 23 creative people awarded grants this year on Tuesday and the foundation described them as "exceptional people who are likely to make great things happen". They included David Simon, the author and creator of The Wire television series, and Sebastian Ruth, the founder of an inner-city music academy in Providence, Rhode Island, as well as a number of artists and scientists.
Anonymous "nominators" suggest candidates to the foundation, where anonymous judges then narrow the pool of hundreds of people to about 20 each year. Including this year's fellows, there have been 828 recipients since the first group was named in 1981. Mr Abo-Shaeer was already on the verge of fame because of a book due to be released next year by Neal Bascomb, a New York Times bestselling author, and optioned for a film. The book, The New Cool, tells how Mr Abo-Shaeer set out to transform science education by making participation in an international robotics competition part of his curriculum.
The charity First, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, runs the robotics competition. The competition was designed to inspire high school students to become engineers by giving them real-world experience working with professional engineers to develop a robot. Mr Abo-Shaeer's students have won several prizes at First, which was founded in 1989. He credits robotics along with active encouragement and advocacy behind his high rate of female students.
"We reach to 13- and 14-year-old girls through seminars and get older students to speak with them to show science is accessible and interesting," he said. "It's a problem of society and culture that more girls don't feel science is for them. We give an overt and political message to girls about science that a lot of people shy away from." Mr Abo-Shaeer was fascinated by science as a child. "I would take things apart just to put them back together, play with Lego and invent things," he said. After attending the Dos Pueblos high school, he went to the University of California, Santa Barbara where he earned a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's in mechanical engineering.
He worked in the private sector for almost four years in aerospace and telecommunications but he found engineering too "controlled" and wanted a creative outlet. He thought he could find in teaching, so he then earned a master's degree in secondary education. He is married with one child. "Given I've won an award, I really hope to change education on a wider scale," he said. "I know some of the things I've been doing are working and it would be great to talk to people who shape policy rather than just wait around under policies that aren't [working]."
He has no idea how he will spend the grant, which is taxed and paid over five years in instalments, the first of them in January to allow time for recipients to reflect. But Mr Abo-Shaeer does not plan to take a sabbatical or quit teaching, which pays an average of $60,000 a year in California. "I'm not going to buy a yacht or give up teaching otherwise things would fall apart. We're in the process of hiring and training new teachers so perhaps after that," he said. "But a decent holiday would be nice!"
sdevi@thenational.ae
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Naga
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Victims%20of%20the%202018%20Parkland%20school%20shooting
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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The%20Kitchen
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The%20specs
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
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Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.