Omani student, Neeam Al Harris won first place for bioplastic innovation

Muscat: At 14, Neem Al Harrsi bioplastic innovation won first place in the “Congnitive Development Competition” that was held as part of Oman’s Science Festival in 2019. She was encourage to enter the competition by her physics teacher MS.T. Dhikra Al Harris, at Al Rustaq School in Muscat. She learned doubt the importance of protecting her intellectual property (IP) during the completion, which inspired her new passion for innovation and IP. Since then, she has filed a patient for her bioplastics innovation with the intellectual property department of Oman. She hopes that her invention can be used in different parts of the world.

“I want to learn more about IP in school too, as it is very useful to anyone who is creative and innovative…to anyone with a good idea really.” Said Neeam Al Harrisi, Omani inventor.

Neeam is WIPO’s first IP Youth Ambassador for Oman, and its first to hold the title in the Arab Region. She is committed to promoting UP education among young people through WIPO Academy’s Intellectual Property for Youth and Teachers (IP4YouthandTeachers) service.

“My best advice to anyone who is starting to invent new things, it to to worry at the beginning. It is very normal that at the start, the invention won’t come out perfectly, so just keep at it and eventually you will get there.” – Neeam Al Harrasi, Omani inventor.

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Need Al Harrasi wants to become a chemical engineer in the future. Her favorite school subjects are chemistry, physics and mathematics. She looks up to many chemical engineering influencers on Instagram and dreams of following in their footsteps. Neeam credits her physics teacher and her parents for supporting and mentoring her throughout the invention process and the competition. They also advised her on how to balance her time between school and extracurricular commitments, as the innovation competition was held at the same time as her final exams. Neeam devotes a lot of her time for self-study as she. Enjoys researching different topics that help her come up with new ideas to improve the inventions she is developing with her school team.

“The best part about innovating at School is working in a group, because it breeds innovative ides since each group member has a different way of thinking.” Neeam Al Harrasi, Omani Inventior.