JEDDAH: The Governor of Makkah region, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, has honored successful students from Makkah and Jeddah who attended a science fair in the US earlier this month. Prince Khalid congratulated three winning students who took prizes at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), which was held from May 7 to 13. The Governor and adviser to King Salman congratulated the students, stressing the importance of striving for success that contributes to the nation’s continued renaissance. Student Mawaddah Omar, hailing from Makkah, won third place in social and behavioral sciences, Youssef Khoja, from Jeddah, won a special award in embedded systems, and Rafaa Qanash won fourth place in engineering technologies. The winning students expressed their thanks and appreciation to Prince Khaled for his gesture, which they said had a profound impact on them, motivating them to exert more effort and showcase more Saudi achievements in international scientific forums. The Saudi Embassy in the US tweeted: “Congratulations to our young #Saudi scientists Represented by @mawhiba and @tc_mohe, the student delegation won 6 awards at #ISEF2022, the second time this record is achieved in the Kingdom’s 16th year of participation.” This year’s ISEF exhibition attracted more than 2,000 students from public education systems in over 85 countries. The Saudi Center for International Communication tweeted: “Saudi students made history with an impressive success at the Regeneron International Scientific and Engineering Fair 2022 in Georgia, #USA. KSA has won 22 major awards, meaning 62 percent of the total number of prizes. #ISEF_2022.” ISEF 2022 marks the Kingdom’s 16th consecutive participation in the forum, which has been part of an annual program organized by the Mawhiba Foundation since 2007. Saudi students have won 83 prizes at ISEF events, including 53 major prizes and 30 special prizes. Mawhiba also presented special annual international prizes in the competition for students from 20 countries.