From AI-driven health solutions to tomorrow's healthcare start-ups, MASE 2026 brought together young minds from 100 UAE schools for the exhibition's milestone 20th edition

Ajman: Twenty years ago, Gulf Medical University (GMU) started MASE with a simple belief: if you give young people a real stage for science, they will rise to meet it. This month, that belief was proven once again as the 20th edition of the annual Medical and Science Exhibition welcomed over 10,000 students and visitors to the GMU campus. Students from 100 schools across the UAE together submitted ex 1,453 projects, posters, business ideas and AI entries, supported by a further 493 online participations.

Scientific projects led the way with 540 entries, followed by 419 research posters, each one the product of weeks of reading, testing and refining. Alongside them came 310 business ideas and 184 AI innovations, two categories that capture where this generation is heading. Students did not simply present what they had learned. They stood beside their work and defended it in front of experts, the same way working researchers do every day.
The AI innovations category was among the most striking parts of the exhibition. For these students, artificial intelligence is not a subject reserved for the future. It is a tool they are already using to approach real questions in health and science. The business ideas category told a parallel story, revealing young people who want to build solutions as much as study problems, and who see healthcare as a place where science and enterprise meet.
After careful evaluation by a panel of doctors, professors and medical science professionals, Metropolitan International Indian Private School, Umm Al Quwain, was named Overall Winner of MASE 2026, while Sharjah Indian School, Ghubaiba, took the Runners-up title. Both schools stood out across categories in an edition where the standard of work was consistently high.

The 20th milestone also invites a look back. MASE was born at Gulf Medical University under the vision of Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder President of Thumbay Group, who saw the value in opening a medical university's doors to school students long before they choose a career. In 2012, the exhibition welcomed students from 15 schools across four emirates. Two decades on, it has become one of the most anticipated events on the UAE school calendar, bringing thousands of students to Thumbay Medicity every year.

For many of them, MASE is the first time they set foot inside a medical university. They meet faculty, explore laboratories and simulation facilities, and get an honest sense of what a life in medicine, health sciences or research really involves. That early spark is what MASE has always been about. Twenty years in, it continues to help the UAE's next generation of doctors, researchers and healthcare entrepreneurs find their path sooner, and with more confidence, than they otherwise might.

Gulf Medical University (GMU), Ajman, is one of the region's leading private medical universities and the academic arm of Thumbay Group. Located at Thumbay Medicity, GMU offers programs across medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, physiotherapy, biomedical sciences, health care management and public health, supported by the Thumbay Academic Health System. GMU welcomes students from over 111 nationalities, living up to its motto, "Where the World Comes to Learn."
Admissions are open. Visit http://www.gmu.ac.ae