Over 700 GEMS students display their inventions at Maker Day Abu Dhabi

Press release

Published April 30th, 2017 - 09:07 GMT

Over 1,000 community members were present, including students, parents and teachers

GEMS Education’s Abu Dhabi network of schools hosted Maker Day Abu Dhabi 2017 at GEMS American Academy on 29 April.

The Maker Day provided a wide range of student-led activities, from creating scribbler robots to programmable Legos, fashion infused with technology, art displays, community action exhibits, musical performances, and an exploration of the solar system inside the GEMS American Academy planetarium.

Michael Gernon, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Innovation, Research and Development, GEMS Education, said: “This event is designed to inspire 21st century learners to explore creative ways to help improve the world around them. Maker Day is a great platform for young innovators to mingle with some of the brightest minds in the nation, and at GEMS, we continuously strive towards equipping our students with necessary skills to succeed in their careers.”

Over 1,000 community members were present, including students, parents and teachers who gathered to participate in a celebration of innovation, with a focus on closing the global skills gap.

Partners such as Easy Peasy Coding, Masdar Innovation Center, Edutech, and Computer Explorers provided hands-on learning experiences for participants to engage in drone simulations, virtual reality, and coding.

Earlier this year, over 4,000 students, families, investors, and inventors participated at the 1st annual Global Innovation Challenge – formerly called Maker Day – launched by GEMS Education and Silicon Valley’s Singularity University, at GEMS Wellington Academy, Silicon Oasis, Dubai.

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Background Information

GEMS Education

In 1959, two teachers, KS Varkey and his wife Mariamma, arrived in Dubai.

At the time, Dubai was a burgeoning trade centre on the Arabian Gulf. The Varkey family had left Kerala, India to seek a better life for their family. What they found was a real need to educate children arriving in the city from around the world.

Their son, Sunny, added a visionary’s ambition to a practitioner's experience. From simple roots in a family of teachers, GEMS Education, is today an international company with schools and education services across the Middle East. We still share the same mission - to provide a quality education to everyone.