A bright Bahraini teenager has cut through the gloom of coronavirus and school-from-home anxiety by winning a prestigious regional competition and scooping $5,000 in prize money.
Bader Al Sarraf, an 18-year-old Year 13 student at St Christopher’s School, designed a green energy system he dubbed the ‘Solar Panel CO2 Converter’ and was awarded top prize by Tatawwar in a social distance-compliant awards ceremony hosted online.
“When the winners were announced I was really proud, excited and surprised because the competition was so tough,” he said.
Tatawwar is a programme supported by HSBC bank and enterprise solutions website Potential, which aims to give students the chance to develop essential business skills, help build social awareness and create sustainable solutions.
Bader is studying Economics, Business, Mathematics and Product Design at A Level, but has also been hard at work developing his idea since first being asked to submit a business model in December of last year.
“We had to develop our business skills with a focus on sustainability,” he added. “I immediately knew I wanted to delve into green energy since environmental sustainability and the protection of our planet is a core issue.
“My invention is called the Solar Panel CO2 Converter, which is a solar panel that has a two-in-one function, having the ability to convert solar power into energy as well as converting CO2 gas into energy.
“This is done so by having special wiring and air filters, which trap in the CO2 gas, and convert it into suitable energy forms. This prototype has both a short term and long term phase.
“In the short term, it’s centred around appliance users, where they have the chance to charge their appliances or plug them in, and the power is transferred from the energy created to charge their appliances. However, for the long term, the product will be adapted to be fit into large organisations and businesses.”
Bader, who lives with his family in Um Al Hassam, began by developing his business model over two months, complemented with essays regarding the product idea and information about the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
A total of 4,650 students applied across the entire Middle East, with Bader being one of 165 chosen to advance to the semi-finals, which were held in their respective countries.
Bahrain’s semi-finals were held in February pre-lockdown at the Brinc Batelco IoT Hub. During it, Bader and the other select few had two hours to manufacture a prototype and deliver a two-minute pitch to judges.
The field was then trimmed to 20 who advanced to the final in April. However, due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, the final sessions were hosted online.
Bader said: “It was slightly surreal going from physical pitching to a digital operation. Essentially, there were two weekly ‘webinars’ held on Zoom where there were different things taught to us, ranging from the art of storytelling to enhancing our business model.
“To be honest, I was expecting things to go digital in February when the virus was worsening and restrictions were coming in. The final was actually meant to be a week-long event in Oman but the transition to Zoom was a whole new experience.
“Ultimately, after a whole month of these sessions, we then had one week to prepare for the finals, again held on Zoom, on May 8.”
For the finals, Bader had a week to manufacture a prototype, and he thanks the people at Brinc for helping him to manufacture and deliver the product.
During that time, he also had to prepare a minute-long pitch for the finals, discussing the prototype and its financial aspects on the market, before finishing off with a few minutes of a Q&A session.
After 24 hours of nervous waiting, Tatawwar announced the winners on May 9 on Zoom, with the event also streamed live on Facebook.
Daniel Howlett, the regional head of commercial banking at HSBC (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey), was on hand to announce the winners, with three people chosen for third, two for second place and one overall winner.
Bader added: “Mr Howlett said there was one presentation that stood out above all others, which was mine! I’m so happy because I’m confident it could open up many doors for me.”
As well as the prestige of winning the competition, Bader won the big cash prize worth around BD1,888, crowd-funding support for his product and a chance to present it at Expo 2021 in Dubai at the UK Pavilion stand.
Bader plans to study Economics at either Warwick or Bristol University in the UK, starting in September, but aims to devote time to the Solar Panel CO2 Converter too.
He said: “I’m planning on having weekly meetings with HSBC and see how I can communicate with engineers and specialist to bring this product into functioning.
“Obviously I’ll be focusing on my studies too but during my spare time, with the support from professors at the university, I hope that by next year it will be functional and on the market.”
