American University of Kuwait Wins Regional Final

Microsoft Gulf, together with du, today announced the regional winners of the Gulf Imagine Cup 2010 after an intense competition amongst university student team finalists from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE. The three member team from the American University of Kuwait celebrated their first-place finish in the regional finals for their project ‘Multi-touch tutoring system’. The second place went to the team from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman for their project ‘Show me the traffic; the third runner-up was the team from University of Bahrain for their project ‘Cash Trash’ and the fourth place went to the team from University of Wollongong, Dubai for their project ‘Ear-It’. In addition, another team from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman was declared as the winner of  the mobile application development category for their project ‘Find me a taxi’ supported by du. All four winning teams will represent the region and participate at the global finals of the Imagine Cup that is being held in Warsaw, Poland from July 3-8, 2010.

 

The American University of Kuwait team named ‘M.A.A’ developed a project titled ‘Multi-touch tutoring system for the physically challenged’. The solution is an educational software that uses markers and web-cams as methods for physically disable people to interact with computers. The initial prototype was tested in Kuwait schools and includes lessons for English, Math, Shapes and Science. Ten well known varsities from across the Gulf participated in the regional finals – five from UAE; one from Bahrain; two from Oman and two from Kuwait.

 

Charbel Fakhoury, Regional General Manager, Microsoft Gulf said, “Imagine Cup has grown to be a truly global competition focused on finding solutions to real world problems. This competition is about more than just creating software and gadgets; it’s about inspiring the next generation of technology and business leaders. As you can see from this group of students, inspiration is contagious— and we are very pleased with the high levels of technical innovation that these students have achieved through their projects.”

 

Now in its eight year, the Imagine Cup encourages young people to apply their imagination, their passion and their creativity to technology innovations that are focused on finding solutions to real world problems. Each team had fifteen minutes to present their work to a panel of judges comprising of senior members from the enterprise and government sectors. This year’s event was supported by du telecom and Information Technology Authority (ITA) Oman.

 

Hala Badri, EVP Brand and Communications, du, said, “Imagine Cup sets a great example of how companies should work towards the development of a knowledge based society. We congratulate the winning team, the winners under mobile application development category, and all the other participants for their superb display of innovation and clarity of thought in executing their projects.  We are pleased to be associated with Microsoft to expand opportunities for students and educators and to encourage innovation in the technology industry.”

 

"We are very proud of our students and excited to represent the university and the Gulf at the finals" said the team’s mentor, Dr. Amir Zeid from the American University of Kuwait. "We believe Imagine Cup is an excellent platform to provide an outlet for students to explore technological and artistic interests outside the classroom. We commend Microsoft for giving them an opportunity to demonstrate their talents and help them to realize their potential.”

 

As the world’s premier student technology competition, the Imagine Cup is Microsoft’s initiative to encourage young people to apply their imagination and creativity to technology innovations that can make a difference and address real-world issues.