Students showcase research projects at university’s annual research symposium

DOHA, QATAR – A research project demonstrating how bacteria found in Qatar’s sand can be used to purify water won the Best Project award at the 10th annual Meeting of the Minds undergraduate research symposium held by Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q).

The research study titled, “Characterizing a Novel Bacillus-like Phage from Qatar’s Sand” was conducted by biological sciences student, Aya Abd Elaal, under the mentorship of Annette Vincent, assistant teaching professor of biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon in Qatar. The study explores using bacteriophages extracted from Qatar’s sand to disinfect water.

Second prize was awarded to “Wireless Eruptions – Reprogramming Wireless Sensor Networks: Challenges and Approaches” by computer science student, Aliaa Essameldin. “Role of DNAJB3/HSP-40 in Maintaining Metabolic Homeostasis” by biological sciences student Bushra Memon was awarded third place.

Ilker Baybars, dean and CEO of CMU-Q, commented that “Meeting of the Minds is a highlight of the academic year, a celebration of the ingenuity, hard work, scientific exploration and intellectual curiosity that characterizes students in all disciplines at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.”

The award for Best Poster went to “CheckMyStack Vulnerability Detection Tool for the Qatari Web” by computer science students Aseel Ghazal and Daanish Ali Khan, under the mentorship of Thierry Sans, assistant teaching professor of computer science.

Students presented their research projects to a panel of judges from the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics, Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), Qatar Computing Research Institute, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Qatar Biobank, Qatar Science and Technology Park, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Georgetown University in Qatar, Texas A&M University in Qatar, Qatar University, Northwestern University in Qatar, and Siemens.

Additionally, the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics recognized five projects for special awards. QNRF recognized one project and one poster for a special award.

Meeting of the Minds originated on the Carnegie Mellon University main campus in Pittsburgh, USA, which hosted the first annual undergraduate research symposium in 1995.

For a complete list of Meeting of the Minds award winners, please visit qatarcmudev.wpengine.com/meeting-of-the-minds-winners-2016