Qatar University’s 7th instalment of its popular annual Computing Contest was launched in a ceremony held recently. The event was attended by College of Engineering (CENG) Dean Dr Rashid Alammari, Associate Dean for Development and Industrial Relations Dr Saud Ghani, Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department head Dr Sebti Foufou, Contest Committee head Dr Elsayed Sayed and members, and sponsor representatives Snr Development Officer Abdulrahman Sultan Darwish from Qapco, and Snr Machinery Reliability Engineer Omaer Al Nuaimi from Dolphin Energy.
Commenting on the contest, Dr Alammari noted that it targets secondary school students to build their awareness of the importance to the community of computer science and computer engineering as well as all engineering disciplines.
Darwish said: “It is a tremendous privilege for Qapco to sponsor this Qatar University initiative, to be able to support the youth of Qatar and to contribute to their education. Qapco is always keen to participate and support events and activities that contribute to Qatar’s National Vision 2030.”
Al Nuaimi said: “Dolphin Energy is keen to interact with high school students whenever possible to highlight the company’s latest activities. It also prides itself on supporting important scientific programs that aim to develop practical and academic skills and provide the country with specialists from all fields of engineering.”
Prof Foufou stated that the Computing Contest is considered one of the most important high school initiatives to raise students’ awareness of various scientific and engineering principles, and prepare them to join QU and other academic institutions. “They are tomorrow’s leaders and it is incumbent on us to lend our expertise in guiding them towards becoming professionals in the computer science and engineering field,” he added.
The first phase of the contest will include training workshops for teachers to be held on March 8 and 15. Participating students will attend training sessions in the coming weeks in the lead up to the closing ceremony in May when winners will be announced, with first place receiving QR10,000 and a scholarship to study at CSE, and second and third place receiving QR6,000 and QR4,000 respectively, Dr Sayed explained.
The Peninsula
