Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar recognized the work of its students to create knowledge and tackle real world problems at its annual ‘Meeting of the Minds’ research symposium, which brought together aspiring researchers with experts in their fields.
In addition to rewarding the most notable works, the symposium sought answers to some of today’s most pressing questions such as ‘what affects student’s acceptance and use of technology?’ and ‘what are the legal and regulatory obstacles to becoming an entrepreneur in Qatar?’
Mark Stehlik, associate dean for education, presented the awards and congratulated the students on their hard work and creativity.
"Research is a core part of the Carnegie Mellon educational experience. It provides students with opportunities to learn in new ways, to think creatively and dynamically, to “go deep” on a topic in a way that is impossible in a normal classroom.
“The best thing about research is that while it doesn’t always generate results, it is always a learning experience. Meeting of the Minds is an opportunity for students to showcase their research, photography and other creative projects. And it’s a chance for us to see how they are thinking outside the box," Stehlik said.
The winner of the best undergraduate project was Afnan Fahim, whose research project titled “Towards Computational Offloading in Mobile Clouds” illustrated how the experience of mobile phones users could be improved by offloading to smaller clouds placed closer to users.
“This prize is the culmination of the all-nighters and hard work that went into this project. This is a great time to celebrate all the hard work that we have done. I am really happy and proud, and even more motivated to continue my research to achieve greater things,” Fahim said.
Fahim’s project has recently been selected for the annual SIGCOMM Conference, to be held in Hong Kong this August. The conference focuses on significant research contributions to the field of computer and data communication networks.
The award for the best poster was given to Jyda Moussa and Sophie Qingjia Jiang, who investigated newspaper coverage of the Arab Spring.
The projects were reviewed by a committee consisting of industry experts from organizations such as General Secretariat for Development Planning (GSDP), Vodafone, iHorizons, Shell, QCRI, QMIC, QNRF, QF Research Division, Meeza, QBRI, Aspire, SEC and faculty members from other universities including TAMU-Q, VCUQ and Qatar University. The judges scored the presentations and posters on criteria including appearance, creativity and significance.
For the third year, Barak Saeed Yehya, expert in institutional development at the GSDP, recognized five projects for being in-line with Qatar’s National Development Strategy.
Ilker Baybars, dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar recognized the 43 participants, who presented 27 posters in categories of Business Administration, Biological Sciences, Computer Science, and Information Systems.
“Our faculty supports and encourages students to participate in research, which will foster a lifetime of intellectual curiosity that will benefit them, their employers and their country’s development,” Baybars said.
The annual Meeting of the Minds took place at Carnegie Mellon Qatar where undergraduates, as well as graduate students, used posters, videos and other visual aids to present their work to a wide audience of faculty, fellow students, family members, industry representatives and the larger community.
This year’s research projects tackled a range of topics from Biofilm Formation of Pathogenic Fungi Isolated at Hamad Hospital to Arabic Accented Facial Expressions for a 3D Agent. Some projects develop from coursework, while others are proactive initiatives by Carnegie Mellon students to solve real-world problems using interdisciplinary collaboration.
