MATHALIVE! the unique interactive math and science exhibit created by the Raytheon Company will be returning to Saudi Arabia on May 26 and will be hosted by the Fakieh Leisure and Entertainment Group (Tarfeeh Fakieh), at the Fakieh Planetarium.
MathAlive!’s return comes as Raytheon commemorates its 50th anniversary in Saudi Arabia. Lou Laroche, president Raytheon International Inc. in Saudi Arabia, remarked: “Raytheon is incredibly honored to be celebrating 50 years of partnerships and friendships with the Saudi people. MathAlive! is a most meaningful way for us to mark this special anniversary and support the vision of the Kingdom by helping to make math and science fun and interesting for the future innovators that are so important to the continuing success of Saudi Arabia.”
Laroche added, “The Fakieh Planetarium offers a perfect venue to host MathAlive!, as the Fakieh Group shares a vision of engaging youth in various fields of science through their innovative and engaging activities.”
In his remarks, Jamil Attar, executive director of Tarfeeh Fakieh, said: “We are delighted to partner with Raytheon to present MathAlive! at Fakieh Planetarium since it accords perfectly with our commitment to provide edutainment — education through entertainment — to enhance the academic curriculum within a Saudi cultural environment.
“The edutainment attractions offered by Tarfeeh Fakieh are unique and are designed for the enjoyment of guests of all ages, from children to adults offering them one of a kind experience. The introduction of the MathAlive! experience is in line with our strategy to diversify our programs and extend our focus to other things beside astronomy and cosmology and continue to expand our shows to include earth, science, volcanoes and marine biology.”
The exhibit’s return to the Kingdom is the latest stop on a Gulf region tour over the past two and a half years where it has been experienced by more than 250,000 visitors across Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Kuwait.
MathAlive! offers many interactive modules that demonstrate the relationship between STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and activities such as building design, football, space travel, video games and more — bringing math and science to life for late primary and early secondary school students. The exhibit is presented in Arabic and English, and includes historical achievements of Arab mathematicians who are recognized as STEM pioneers and innovators.
Raytheon’s MathAlive! first traveled to the Kingdom in 2014, visiting the Prince Sultan Bin Abdul-Aziz Science and Technology Center (Scitech) in Al-Khobar. With its Jeddah opening to the public on May 26, the exhibit is scheduled to run at the Fakieh Planetarium for the summer season until the end of August.
Fakieh Planetarium is the only planetarium in Saudi Arabia that displays the spectacular world of astronomy in a unique interactive education-through-entertainment experience, where visitors travel in their own virtual spaceship on a journey to the stars and see the wonders of the universe under a 14-meter dome of the sky and a 7.2 surround sound audio.
A unique feature of Fakieh Planetarium is the World Wide Telescope (WWT), a state-of-the-art technique that enables visitors to zoom in to any location on the galaxy and watch it on the Planetarium’s full dome digital projection. It is controlled by an Xbox controller making the journey all more fun.
MathAlive! is Raytheon’s premier traveling educational exhibition, designed to show the math behind things young students enjoy. The exhibit first opened at Washington, D.C.’s Smithsonian International Gallery in 2012, and a special version of MathAlive! began a tour of the Gulf region in 2013.
Designed specifically for the region, MathAlive! offers exciting activities in both Arabic and English — everything from the building of future cities to programming of the robotic arm from the International Space Station’s Cupola observatory module.
Tarfeeh Fakieh was established by the prominent Saudi businessman Sheikh Abdul Rahman Fakieh in 1998 when he laid the foundation stone for five major tourist projects in prime locations along the seafront on the Jeddah corniche.
Driven by a commitment to elevating the quality of domestic tourism in Saudi Arabia and with its main focus on making Saudi families happier families, Tarfeeh Fakieh provides residents and visitors to Jeddah with leisure, comfort and relaxation by delivering a diverse range of best in class tourist attractions that are designed for the enjoyment of guests of all ages, from children to adults, in a safe and healthy environment. — SG
