Alice Middle East Programming Competition 2017
Alice Middle East Programming Competition 2017

Local schools create, code and compete at CMU-Q programming contest

Alice Middle East Programming Competition inspires 36 student teams to explore computer science

DOHA, Qatar: Computer science took center stage at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) as 125 students from government and international schools in Qatar came together to showcase their programming skills.

The Alice Middle East Programming Competition was held for schools who are using the Alice Middle East software to learn computing. Twelve government and international schools use Alice Middle East for their Information Communication Technology (ICT) courses. For the 2017-18 academic year, CMU-Q and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education are preparing to roll out the program in all Qatar schools that teach ICT.

“It’s wonderful to see the quality of work that these students prepare using Alice. As more schools use Alice Middle East, students in Qatar will continue to develop the concrete skills they will need for their careers,” said Ilker Baybars, dean and CEO of CMU-Q.

The students developed their Alice projects in the classroom and presented to the judges on competition day. Teams were judged on creativity, oral presentation skills, and use of motion, design, camera and sound. The judges represented academic and business organizations in Qatar, including the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ministry of Transportation and Communication, Qatar Computing Research Institute, College of the North Atlantic-Qatar, Education Above All and Foresight.

Qatar Electricity and Water Company contributed prizes for the winning teams. Mr. Fahad Hamad Al-Mohannadi the general manager and managing director of Qatar Electricity and Water Company remarked: “This generation of young people must have strong programming and computing skills, no matter what career they might pursue. It is through programs like Alice Middle East that we build the foundation of Qatar’s knowledge-based economy. It is our pleasure to participate in this event and to recognize these deserving young men and women.”

Alice is interactive educational software that guides students through the basics of programming as they create virtual worlds and animations. The original Alice software was developed at the Pittsburgh campus of Carnegie Mellon. In 2008, Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser expressed an interest in bringing the software to Qatar. Associate professors of computer science Saquib Razak and Yonina Cooper, who retired in 2013, submitted a proposal to localize Alice for the Middle East. Qatar National Research Fund’s National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) funded the project in 2012.

Razak, an associate teaching professor of computer science and the lead principle investigator of the Alice Middle East project, said: “Building on the success of last year’s inaugural competition, we are delighted to see such a brilliant effort from the students once again. We saw a number of projects developed that we didn’t think were possible with Alice.”

The top five winning teams hailed from Al Khor International School, Omar Bin Al-khattab Secondary School, Middle East International School, Al Arqam Academy for Girls, Arwa Bint Abd Almotaleb Secondary School for Girls, and Al Bayan Secondary School.

Learn more about Alice Middle East.

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