University IT wizards showcase software projects at inter varsity competition

Eighteen teams from eight universities took part in the competition held at the Knowledge Village auditorium. There was a large turn-out of IT enthusiasts, industry experts, members of community and students interested in software development.

A team from American University of Sharjah bagged the top prize for its project 'Infopods', mobile Zigbee devices for real-time monitoring of XML-based Internet, which allow receiving updates without PC or mobile phone.

The solution provides tiny, low-cost mobile devices using Zigbee wireless technology.

The AUS team, comprising Ahmed Wasy and Mustafa Jabbar, worked under the mentorship of Dr. Imraj A. Zualkernan and Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Ali.

The second prize was won by Mahe Manipal University for its project 'Virtual Classroom" which creates an audio based interactive classroom over the network for the benefit of students who are remotely placed.

Virtual Class uses technology like VoIP for direct conversation, audio broadcast and other features required by teacher to communicate with students.

It was developed by the team of Usman Zafar, Nikhil Dayal and Saransh Yadav, under the guidance of Suman Patgar.

The project of 'Innovative File Search Engine' from a team from Bits-Pilani bagged the third prize.

This online application searches for files on the Internet, rather than web-pages, reducing the need to browse several web-pages or find dead or wrongly placed links.

The project was developed by Shoaib Khan under the mentorship of Dr. S. Vadevel.

The Academic Prize was won by Shayma W. Al Rawi of Ajman University for Personal Pharmacy Application (PPA), a mobile-based application designed for organising the intake of medicines by people on a daily basis, by recording and alerting them on usage and expiry dates.

PPA uses primary database operations and regular checking to retrieve information. Shayma worked under the guidance of Prof. Mahir Subhi Ali.

Earlier, inaugurating the event, Mr. Ibrahim Jamel, Director, Business Development, Knowledge Village and DIAC, described the UOWD as one of their key partners and complimented it on the unique initiative.

He said DIAC was pleased to support activities that promote innovation and advances in information technology.

Speaking on occasion, Mr. David Rome, President of UOWD, said STDS provided an excellent platform for showcasing software projects in a competitive environment, raising the participating students' profile, and providing incentive and encouraging to bright students.

The projects were judged by a panel comprising Steven Gill from Herriot-Watt University, Dr. Saad Ali Amin, dean, Faculty of Information Technology, the British University in Dubai, Mark Walker, Platform Strategy Manager, Microsoft Gulf and Naima Shaikh, Executive Director, Dubai Holding.

The projects were evaluated on the basis of four main criteria: innovation & research, real world applicability, integration of new technology and benefit to the community.

The participating universities were Bits-Pilani University, American University of Sharjah, Khalifa University, Mahe Manipal University, University of Dubai, Ajman University, University of Wollongong in Dubai and Higher College of Technology Men's.