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Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Crowns Winners of Industrial Hackathon

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Crowns Winners of Industrial Hackathon

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef and Prince Sultan bin Khalid bin Faisal, CEO of the SIDF, crowned the winning teams of the second edition of the “Industrial Hackathon”.

Launched by the SIDF to encourage youth contribution in developing industrial sectors, the Industrial Hackathon introduces innovative solutions to the challenges facing national manufacturers through three aspects: design, production, and sustainability.

In the design track, the PSU Industry 4.0 team secured the first-place position, with the THROUGH team taking second place. In the production track, the BRDAN team claimed first place, while the Mankhal team earned the second-place spot.

In the sustainability track, the HEXA team emerged as the first-place winner, followed by the E-VIVE team in second place. The RedNest team was recognized for presenting the most outstanding solution to the challenge posed by the Red Sea International Company (RSI) during the hackathon.

The first-place winning teams received a prize worth SAR 50,000, and the second-place winning teams won a prize of SAR 35,000, while the winning team in the Red Sea International Company (RSI) Challenge received a prize of SAR 25,000

Al-Khorayef congratulated the participants, extending his gratitude to all the entities supporting the Hackathon from the public and private sectors.

He reiterated that the Hackathon reflects the Industrial Fund’s continued commitment to supporting national manufacturers, embracing and supporting innovators, being one of the most important platforms that gather talents and creative ideas in a number of diverse industrial fields and challenges.

He pointed out that the Hackathon aims to support national companies and factories by devising creative solutions to the challenges that the manufacturers face and contributing to the growth of national products and promoting them at the local and global levels.

The Hackathon aims to bolster national companies and factories by devising innovative solutions to the challenges they encounter, helping with the advancement of domestic products and enhancing their visibility both locally and globally, he added.

The Industrial Hackathon is an opportunity to learn about the creative potential in Saudi society that can help in achieving the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Strategy for Industry.

The total prize pool for the second edition of the Hackathon amounted to more than SAR 1,000,000.

This edition was held in partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) as an innovation partner, Riyad Bank as a financial partner, and Sipchem Company as a Platinum sponsor.

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Should You Stretch before Exercise? After? Never? Here’s What to Know

Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
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Should You Stretch before Exercise? After? Never? Here’s What to Know

Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)

For many people of a certain age, high school gym class began with reaching for their toes. Then, over the years, we were told it was better to stretch after exercise.

It turns out, both those things can be true, but the differing advice has created some confusion.

Stretching can help make you more flexible, improve range of motion in your joints — and feel good. David Behm, who researches human kinetics at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, Canada, offers this advice on when to stretch and how to do it safely:

Warm up first

It’s almost always good to stretch, but it’s better if you warm up first, said Behm, author of "The Science and Physiology of Flexibility and Stretching." He recommends a light aerobic activity such as jogging, walking or cycling for five or 10 minutes.

Follow that with some static stretching, the traditional way of reaching and holding a position (think back to that gym class). You can then do activity-specific dynamic stretching, in which you warm up the muscles with repetitive movements like leg lifts.

Behm says one minute is "the magic number" for how long to do static stretching per muscle group without fatigue.

Expand your definition of 'stretching'

Should you always stretch before exercising? If it's traditional stretching, not necessarily.

The better question, Behm says, is, "Should people increase their range of motion? Should people have better flexibility? And that is yes, because it helps prevent injuries. It helps with health. But you don’t have to stretch to achieve that."

Resistance training, for instance, can be an effective form of stretching, he said. Doing a chest press increases range of motion in your deltoids and pecs, whether with barbells, dumbbells or machines, so there is no need to stretch beforehand. Just make sure to start with a small amount of weight to warm up and then add more to train.

"You probably don’t have to do extra stretching unless you’re a gymnast, a figure skater, or even a golfer who needs a great range of motion through that swing," Behm said.

Nor do you need to stretch first if you’re going for a leisurely run. Simply start with a slow jog to warm up and then increase the pace.

Don't do it if it hurts

After exercise, "light stretching is OK, as long as you don't reach a point where you're feeling pain," Behm said. Since your muscles will be warm by that point, overdoing it makes you more likely to injure yourself.

Foam rollers can help with muscle recovery and have been shown to increase range of motion as well as stretching.

Do some static stretching before sports

If you’re playing a sport, Behm said, static stretching beforehand helps reduce muscle and tendon injury.

"If you’re going to do an explosive movement, change of direction, agility, sprint, any of these explosive activities that involve your muscles and tendons," he said, "you’re going to be stronger if you do static stretching."

People can especially get in trouble when they go back to a sport they used to play, whether it's tennis, surfing or any sort of team activity.

Also, stretch both sides equally. Lacking flexibility on one side also can lead to injury.

Sounds simple. Why all the confusion? Different studies over the years have either encouraged or discouraged stretching before exercise. Behm says that partly because some studies didn't reflect real-life conditions, or were designed with elite athletes in mind, not regular people.

"If you’re Usain Bolt, it makes a difference," said Behm. Not so much for the rest of us.