Saudi Arabia to Give 18 Prizes for Best Projects Participating in ISEF 2023

Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2023 logo
Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2023 logo
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Saudi Arabia to Give 18 Prizes for Best Projects Participating in ISEF 2023

Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2023 logo
Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2023 logo

Saudi Arabia, represented by the King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), is participating in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2023, held in Dallas in the US, between May 12 and 19, as a main sponsor, and will provide 18 special prizes for the best projects participating in various scientific fields.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Dr. Basil Al-Sadhan, the Deputy Secretary-General for Gifted Services at Mawhiba, said that the prizes include 12 scholarships at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, and six scholarships to attend the Mawhiba Universal Enrichment Program.

He also said that Mawhiba, since 2010, has been annually presenting special prizes for a number of participants in ISEF in various fields of interest to the Kingdom, which in the past 12 years, totaled 109 prizes for 139 students from 23 countries.

This year, Saudi students are competing with more than 1,700 students from over 70 countries for major and special prizes, with a team of 35 students from various educational departments within the Saudi National Team for Science and Engineering, who presented 35 scientific projects in areas of national priority.



World War II Sergeant Whose Plane Was Shot Down over Germany Honored with Reburial in California

This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
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World War II Sergeant Whose Plane Was Shot Down over Germany Honored with Reburial in California

This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)

After 80 years, a World War II sergeant killed in Germany has returned home to California.

On Thursday, community members lined the roads to honor US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport to a burial home in Riverside, California, The AP reported.

Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany, according to Honoring Our Fallen, an organization that provides support to families of fallen military and first responders.

One of the surviving crewmembers saw the plane was on fire, then fell in a steep dive before exploding on the ground. After the crash, German troops buried the remains of one soldier at a local cemetery, while the other six crewmembers, including Banta, were unaccounted for.

Banta was married and had four sisters and a brother. He joined the military because of his older brother Floyd Jack Banta, who searched for Donald Banta his whole life but passed away before he was found.

Donald Banta's niece was present at the planeside honors ceremony at the Ontario airport coordinated by Honoring Our Fallen.

The remains from the plane crash were initially recovered in 1952, but they could not be identified at the time and were buried in Belgium. Banta was accounted for Sept. 26, 2023, following efforts by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency within the US Department of Defense and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System.