More than 80 students from around Qatar competed in the Alice Programming Competition at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q). Thirty-four teams of middle and high school students represented 12 participating schools. CMU-Q is a partner university of Qatar Foundation. 

The competition was hosted by the Hamad Bin Jassim Center for K-12 Computer Science Education, a collaboration between CMU-Q and the Jassim and Hamad Bin Jassim Charitable Foundation. The centre’s mission is to foster knowledge and inspire curiosity in computing among students in different Qatar schools through a slate of programmes, workshops and training sessions for teachers.

 

CMU-Q dean Michael Trick was impressed by the quality of student work on display. He said that the competition demonstrates how computing is ultimately about people.

You each started with the same programming tools, but you created an incredible variety of final projects.

During the awarding of winners, Dean Trick said that some of the students may choose to study computer science, or may be interested in an entirely different career path. Regardless, he urged them to keep learning about computing as it will help their career.

Jassim and Hamad Bin Jassim Charitable Foundation Director of Support Services Fawaz Al-Shammari said that the competition enhances the skills of students and encourages them to innovate and create in various fields. The Hamad Bin Jassim Center is one of the most important development projects for the foundation; it stands as an excellent model for qualitative transformation in the work strategies of charitable institutions.

Winners

For the competition, the students were challenged to create a video or game using the Alice programming software. The projects were evaluated by judges and prizes were given out for beginner and advanced levels. Judges included faculty members from CMU-Q, as well as representatives from Annahda School for Girls, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance Co, Qatar Science and Technology School for Boys, and Tawar Games.

The teams from Mesaieed International School placed first in the advanced category and second in the beginner’s category. Teams from Birla Public School placed second in the advanced category and first in the beginner’s category. In third place were Qatar Science and Technology Secondary School (advanced category), and DPS-Modern Indian School in the beginner’s category.

CMU-Q offers undergraduate degree programmes in biological sciences, business administration, computer science and information systems. All students at CMU-Q take programming in their first year.

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