Wednesday, 15 May, 2019

- 200 High school students from top schools in the UAE participated in the AppVison competition - Judges included key members from Microsoft, NOKIA and GE - Three groups of winners were awarded Academic Scholarships to attend UOWD - Stand out sustainability based project, Livin Green was one of the winners The University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) welcomed representatives from 12 of UAE’s top schools to participate in the second edition of the AppVision competition; which pledges to recognise young talent in the region. Twelve students in total were awarded Academic Scholarships in order to pursue their higher education; winning projects included, Projectify by Future International Private School, MediCare by Liwa International School, and the standout sustainability project Livin Green by Delhi Private School, Dubai. Nearly 200 students were grouped into 55 teams for the competition hosted by UOWD. Each team had to develop and present an application to be used on any smart phone or tablet device. Along with this, teams were also tasked with packaging their ideas and creatively describing their thoughts in a poster and present a non-functional interface of the app. The format of the competition encourages youth to embrace technology and to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions to solve day-to-day problems. This year, the judging panel consisted of representatives from multinational companies such as Microsoft, NOKIA and GE. The outstanding students of Delhi Private School, Dubai were one of the three winning groups awarded Academic Scholarships to attend UOWD, for their project, Livin Green, an app based on sustainability and waste management. The concept uses digital money for disposing waste in an organised manner, pairing with convenient Smart Trash Cans, using NFC or QR codes and transferring credits to the users digital account when doing so. AppVision was conceptualised by the visionary faculty of UOWD, to explore and inspire fresh talent from the region. The concept behind the competition was to give students a platform to showcase their competencies and skills; as well as allowing them to mingle with industry practitioners providing them with the right exposure. Members of the judging panel included the likes of Mr Wadeea Wakim, Operational Manager at Technoserve Electronical, Mr Jean El Kesserwani, General Manager at CG Technology LLC, Mr Tamer Alaa, Senior Consultant at NOKIA, Professor Mohamed Watfa, Associate Dean (Research) for Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences (FEIS) – UOWD, Dr Kamal Jaafar, Associate Professor– UOWD and Dr Haile Rajamani, Associate Professor – UOWD. Professor Mohamed Watfa, commented, “It’s fascinating to see young high school students come up with great ideas each year. This is the second time we are hosting the competition and it was refreshing to see students come up with innovative ideas, specially solutions to waste management, it’s ideas like these that can help build a sustainable future.” Known for its premium quality education, UOWD has earned a great level of respect and trust from the UAE. Established in 1993, the esteemed University of Wollongong in Dubai is one of the UAE’s first International Universities and has completed 25 years of Academic excellence in the region. All degree programmes offered by the University of Wollongong in Dubai are accredited by the Ministry of Education - Higher Education Affairs through the Commission for Academic Accreditation.