NYUAD 2020 Hackathon

The 9th annual NYUAD International Hackathon for Social Good which focused on one of the most promising technologies of our time, Quantum Computing (QC). The event was held from April 16, 2020, to April 19, 2020.

Teams  Gallery   Students   Mentors   Judges

The 2020 Teams

1st Place
Health Hero Match

“Truthfully, I didn’t expect an online hackathon to work out, but it turned out to be awesome. Communication, teamwork, great ideas, good laughs—it was all there. Team H2M came together like nothing else and I felt like I was creating something amazing all the way through. I’m really happy to have been a part of it.”

Máté Hekfusz

“This experience added a lot and conveyed to our knowledge faster than the rapid spread of corona. Here is the positive that we have touched on the experience of sharing knowledge, skills and experiences. Meeting good people worked very well with online Hackathon. It is all about having the great innovative idea with that blend of teamwork chemistry.”

Dr. Yousra

بطل الصحة / Health Hero Match Health Hero Match

Health Hero Match (H2M) is a double-sided website that connects medical workers with hospitals currently facing staffing shortages by using AI to provide resources that facilitate a seamless transition to becoming a front-line worker.

Students

Mentors

2nd Place
TaskJAM

“As a student, I have learned a lot during these few days. I think this hackathon has taught us how to collaborate and work together in a limited period. By having the same goal to produce the best final product. I have enjoyed the extraordinary experience by meeting with a variety of people and different skills in a short time. I have learned from them as they were with me in the real world. This Hackathon might be different because of the COVID-19, but actually we have learned from it some unforgettable lessons, it teaches us how to adapt to life in its different situations. I would thank all the organizers and especially our amazing mentors that we will not bring it up without them.”

Noora AlHammadi

“This is my first ever Hackathon experience and I am proud to say that it was absolutely stellar. The team that I have had a privilege to mentor displayed enthusiasm and professionalism of levels rarely seen anywhere. Our project, TaskJAM, is a game-changer for motivation and productivity not only during the days COVID-19 but beyond that time as well.”

German Shein

تاسك جام / TaskJAM TaskJAM

TaskJam is a mobile app that addresses the problem of personal productivity during lockdown by pushing you to accomplish daily tasks and goals. It allows you to finish your daily tasks with joy and excitement by connecting people with similar tasks to join and work together. TaskJam is the destination for every one of us who is looking to invest the day and do the tasks in an enjoyable way. Not only that, if you don’t know what to do just enter the app and look for some interesting activities that are going on and join them.

Students

Fatima Dakalbab Student, University of Sharjah, UAE
Oscar Gomez Student, NYUAD, UAE
Norah Ba Fadhl Student, University of Sharjah, UAE
Raneem Hamdi Qawasmeh Student, University of Sharjah, UAE
Halah Albadani Student, University of Sharjah, UAE
Noora Yousef AlHammadi Student, UAE University, UAE

Mentors

Poseidon Ho Founder & GP, Outliers Fund, United States
Abdullah Tasleem Application and Content Developer, IBM, UAE
German Shein Full Stack Web Application Developer, IBM, UAE
3rd Place
BFiT

“I owe it to the mentors and the organizers for making this a truly amazing first hackathon experience! But most importantly, I have to thank my amazing team. It was an honor to work and think with others in such a flexible and creative space, and I am really looking forward to what the next experience brings!”

Oona Pecson

“I had an amazing experience competing with such talented people in the NYUAD 2020 hackathon. I am grateful to the mentors for inculcating me with knowledge and their timely support even in these difficult times in being available 24/7 helping us sort out issues. I would definitely love to compete again in the future and I would recommend the same for anyone wanting to have a wonderful experience!”

Mohammed Shoaib

ركز على لياقتك / BFiT BFiT

There is an increased trend of people staying home to work or attend classes online as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the conditions in which people are doing this work from home has very negative impacts on one’s physical and mental health. The body suffers from lack of movement, social isolation is depriving people of human interaction, and these concerns alone can only add to further health concerns. We propose building a “professional trainer” application into our computers, by leveraging existing technologies like Web RTC. In this way, people can not only properly exercise, but also have a chance to socially connect with others to work out together, all from within their own home.

Students

Mohammed Shoaib Student, Birla Institute Of Technology and Science, UAE
Julia Itani Student, Islamic University of Lebanon, Lebanon
Steven Wyks Student, NYUAD, UAE
Oona Pecson Student, NYUSH, United States
Haoquan Wang Student, NYUSH, China
Yu Yan Student, NYUSH, China

Mentors

Poseidon Ho Founder & GP, Outliers Fund, United States
Christian Grewell Professor, NYUSH, China
Audience Award
Nitaq

“Working with a dedicated, talented group of peers on a topic that we deeply care about, while getting the support from the mentors highly respected in their fields from around the world – this was such a unique learning experience. I’m glad that this was my first hackathon ever”

Brian Kim

“It’s been very exciting to be proactive in a time when we’ve been all feeling a little idle, and to be connected with a diverse group of inspiring and passionate students and mentors working on an impactful idea that really hit home”

Dana Abu Ali

نطاق / Nitaq Nitaq

Nitaq is a seamless platform for educators to transform their lesson plan into an engaging, gamified low-connectivity educational experience for their students.

Students

Lana Hasan Alhaj Hussain Student, American University of Sharjah, UAE
Ali Reza Sajun Student, American University Of Sharjah, UAE
Brylle Gomez Student, American University of Sharjah, UAE
Lauren McMillen Student, NYUAD, UAE
Vince Nguyen Student, NYUAD, UAE
Brian Kim Student, NYUAD, UAE
Reem Hazim Student, NYUAD, UAE
Amina Kobenova Student, NYUAD, UAE
Ibrahim Ahmed Bacha Student, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Informatique(ESI ex.INI), Algeria

Mentors

Jood Al Hassan Content Developer, IBM, UAE
Dana Abu Ali Software Developer for MEA Client Center, IBM, UAE
Peter Locharernkul Tech Startup Founder / Creative Technologist, Playmantic, United States
Saeed Motamed Cloud Solution Architect, Microsoft, UAE
Mohamad Al Sayadi Senior DevOps Engineer, Abjadiyat, UAE
Rami Mithalouni UX Designer & Application Developer, IBM, UAE
Karam

كرم / Karam Karam

Karam is a food waste reduction platform that seamlessly streamlines food supply from restaurants with surplus supplies, groceries with items close to expiry and individuals willing to donate to people in need of the same. It’s a platform which individuals and food banks can use to wish-list items they need, and grocery stores, individuals, restaurants, and farms can donate or sell their surplus or items close to expiration to avoid food waste and help those in need.

Students

Priya Aswani
Priya Aswani Chief Technology Officer & Faculty in Computer Science, University of Wollongong, UAE
Shahd Nara Student, Harvard University, United States
Ahmed Fwela Student, Mansoura University, Egypt
Salam Sibai Student, University of Sharjah, UAE
Connor Richard Aldredge Student, NYUSH, United States
Pengyu Wang Student, NYUAD, UAE

Mentors

Javad Sadeqzadeh Lead Mobile Engineer, Blacklane, Germany
Nancy Nash Director / Co-Founder, Bootcamp Alumni Reunion, United States
Saad Motamed VR & 3D Developer, GeoTech3D, UAE
BUTLAR

“I learned so much from this hackathon (and laughed on some good memes too), our mentors were BEYOND supportive and it was very incredible seeing how every person on the team tries their best to keep up with the rest (especially staying up till 6am so they can catch another person on another timezone). It was all so much fun and knowledge-feeding Wish to see everyone soon!”

Dania Alaaeldin

“This has been an incredibly inspiring format, the team, the organizers, the mentors, really everyone has been seamlessly working across timezones and cultures. I’ve participated in a number of in-person hackathons in the past, and really believe this new online, always-on format has real comparative benefits (beyond being able to hack in your pajamas!)”

Christian Grewell

بوتلر / BUTLAR BUTLAR

Butlar is a virtual family member that is always there to help you get to trustworthy sources of food and other necessities instantly via voice or text. It is an easy to use messaging tool – a chatbot – that is able to help people get to your needs without requiring specialized knowledge, while also putting limits to counterfeit items to keep you safe.

Students

Feruz Kiflay Elmay Student, Khalifa University, UAE
Murad Mebrahtu Student, Khalifa University, UAE
Dania Alaaeldin Student, October University for Modern Sciences and Arts, Egypt
Yue Yao Student, NYUSH, China
Ziying Wang Student, NYUSH, China

Mentors

Poseidon Ho Founder & GP, Outliers Fund, United States
Abeer Haroon Data and AI Specialist, IBM, UAE
Christian Grewell Professor, NYUSH, China
WeShare

“It’s been so much fun working with different students and adjusting to each others’ timezones – everyone
was super helpful and adjusting, and it made the grueling 48 hours so much more enjoyable!”

John Adithya

“It is a pleasure to find such a group of dedicated students eager to build awesome things that have a positive impact on society. You’ve gone from barely knowing each other to form a strong working team!”

Juan Doldan

وي شير / WeShare WeShare

WeShare is a mobile app that connects those who can, with those who can’t.

Students

Apurva Bhargava Student, NYU, United States
Harshit Gajjar Student, BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus, UAE
Youssef Khaled Roshdy Student, Cairo University, Egypt
Nicolas Zilberstein Student, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Elif Özoğlu Student, Bahçeşehir University, Turkey
Baran İşcanlı Student, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
John Adithya Student, Canadian University Dubai, UAE

Mentors

Randa Abu Ali Web Developer, Gtech Information Technology, UAE
Juan Antonio Doldan Senior Software Engineer, Google Inc, United States
Amal

“I’m really thankful that my first Hackathon experience hits a topic so close to my heart, coming from a family with many healthcare workers and immunocompromised people”

Marcelo Sandoval-Castañeda

“I feel extremely privileged to be one of the mentors at the NYU AD 2020 hackathon. It was an incredible experience working alongside such amazing people and brainstorming to come up with potential solutions to combat the global crisis that we all are going through. A big thankyou to all the organizers for putting together such a great event.”

Hashim Noor

"In 3 days, the team worked together to identify a problem worth solving they felt personally passionate about, and had a chance to learn, apply and teach one another new tools and frameworks, from Quantum, ML, data visualization, storytelling, and business strategy, allowing them to build and practice new skills."

Sama Kanbour

أمل / Amal Amal

Amal أمل is a chatbot that checks-in daily on covid-patients and reports their vitals to nurses and doctors, eliminating the need for face-to-face routine checks and reducing the risk of exposure to the virus.

Students

Dominica Jamir Student, New York Institute of Technology, United States
Bader Anini Student, Bir Zeit University, Palestine
Marcelo Sandoval-Castañeda Student, NYUAD, UAE
Malik Ziq Student, Bir Zeit University, Palestine
Gautham Dinesh Kumar Lali Student, NYUAD, UAE
Mohammed Arham Jahin Chowdhury Student, NYUAD, UAE

Mentors

Sama Kanbour
Sama Kanbour Executive Director, GE Aerospace, United States
Hashim Noor Content and Application Developer, IBM, UAE
Hareef

“Let us all give the help we wish we had!”

Hany Anan

“Helping others is the secret sauce to a happy life.”

Mohamed Gamal

حريف / Hareef Hareef

Hareef is a platform to help daily wagers apply the skills they have or help them gaining new skills and match their skills-set to initiatives needed by the community during the crisis/pandemic.

Students

Bouarfa Amal Yassmina Student, University of Abu Bekr Belkaid, Algeria
Hany Anan Student, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Sara Khaled Alshamsi Student, UAE University, UAE
Joonha Yu Student, NYUAD, UAE

Mentors

Mohamed Gamal Mohamed Student, Cairo University, Egypt
Worood Dabbas Content and Application Developer, IBM, UAE
QueueRona

“The funniest part of the experience was in the rehearsal presentations, watching how the webinar turned into a giant meeting with permissions granted to everyone.”

Anthony Chua

“The novelty of the participants made this a lifetime experience.”

Najeeb Aqel

كيو-رونا / QueueRona QueueRona

QueueRona is a crowd-management digital ticketing system that enables businesses to relaunch amid the pressure of social distancing through a set of matching criteria to regulate overcrowding while ensuring safety and minimizing wait times.

Students

Abiel Fissehatsion Ghebreslasie Student, Khalifa University, UAE
Ayah Al-Ramahi Student, University of Jordan, Jordan
Abdelkhalik AL Junidie Student, Palestine Polytechnic University, Palestine
Takumi Miyawaki Student, NYUAD, UAE
Anthony Chua Student, NYUAD, UAE
Maryam Khalili Student, NYUAD, UAE
Lavesh Deepak Panjwani Student, Middlesex University, UAE

Mentors

Yohanna Rizk Software Engineer, Google, United States
Najeeb Aqel Computer Vision Engineer, PXL Vision, Switzerland
People Directory