Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar holds second Meeting of the Minds student research and project symposium

Meeting of the Minds is part of Carnegie Mellon University's Undergraduate Research Initiative, which is a program that supports and encourages undergraduates to participate in innovative research. Some projects grow out of coursework, while others typify Carnegie Mellon's emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration to solve real-world problems.

'Carnegie Mellon is based on research - research on important issues of society, research on how well we teach, research on student outcomes, research on how well we do research,' says Charles E. Thorpe, dean of Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

'We encourage our undergraduates to get an early start on research in their classes, through independent studies and in projects funded by the Qatar National Research Fund.'

In addition to potentially creating new technological breakthroughs, undergraduate research encourages students to extend themselves beyond structured course material and become independent thinkers and learners.

The annual research symposium gives students an opportunity to present their work to a wide audience of faculty, fellow students, family members and industry representatives.

At Meeting of the Minds, undergraduate students, as well as graduate students and Ph.D. candidates, use posters, videos and other visual aids to help them present their work in a manner that can be easily understood by those who are not in that field. Through this experience, the students learn how to bridge the gap between conducting research and presenting it to a general audience.

'An important part of research training is presenting the results to the world so others can understand and build upon what our students do. Meeting of the Minds is a chance for students to showcase their work to their peers, to faculty and the wider community,' says Thorpe.

Meeting of the Minds also helps members of the Qatar community understand the importance of conducting research, and see the numerous ways that research can benefit society. Meeting of the Minds has been held at the end of the spring term at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh for several years, and is an annual tradition in Doha as well.

Awards were given to the best projects and the best poster. Winners were: Noura El-Moughny, Best Computer Science Project and Best Poster; Amna Al-Thani, Fatima Al-Rumaihi, Lulwah Al-Thani, Maha Obaidan and Noor Al-Athirah, Best Liberal Arts Project; and Best Information Systems Project award went to Al-Johra Al-Obaidly, Fatima Hilal, Hira Ahmed and Maryam Al-Kuwari.