Software Engineering Isn’t Only for the Guys, Microsoft’s Student Competition Proves
Microsoft’s annual student competition comes to a head this week in Seoul, South Korea, with eight teams in the finals representing the Middle East and Africa. This is the largest contingent from this region since the competition began four years ago. Countering the stereotype that software development is a masculine domain, two of the finalist teams are all-female, and young women are well represented on the other teams as well.
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SEOUL, South Korea — 8 Aug 2007 — Selma Hamouda and Ghalya Ali Al-Mannei are breaking down stereotypes left, right and centre. Not only are they studying computer science, traditionally a male-dominated field, but they are also both from Islamic countries, where professional opportunities for women are rapidly changing. Today Hamouda and Al-Mannei are in South Korea, competing alongside their teammates in the world finals of the Imagine Cup — Microsoft’s annual student competition to foster innovation as part of Microsoft Unlimited Potential.
The Software Design segment of the competition challenges students to use technology to solve what they consider to be challenging problems related to this year’s theme: “Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all”. Using Microsoft tools and technology, competitors unleash their creativity and talent to create usable software applications.
This year, the largest-ever contingent from the Middle East and Africa have made it to the finals — seven teams in the software design category and one in the short film category. With a total field of 111 teams competing across nine categories, there is stiff opposition, particularly considering that all of the teams have already won their national competitions. So this week, the best of the best are looking to take home the top prizes.
Hamouda is part of an all-female team from the Institut National d'Informatique in Algeria that took the education theme to heart in their submission, which offers a way to introduce children to the PC in early childhood. Their invention, VisChild, is an interface for the Windows Vista operating system that “grows up” with a child, evolving over time as the child’s computing abilities become more sophisticated.
Al-Mannei’s team, composed of three young women from United Arab Emirates University, has created a tool that enables people to take courses via SMS messaging on their mobile phone or PDA. The team created a “mobile learning framework” that lets teachers distribute course material to students and even give multiple-choice exams — all via SMS.
“The Imagine Cup creates a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm — not to mention remarkable ideas — among students who are working towards a career in computer science, information technology and the digital arts,” says Ali Hoballah, general manager of Microsoft Unlimited Potential for the Middle East and Africa. “Fostering innovation among future talent in the Middle East and Africa is essential for economies across the region to grow and compete on the world stage.”
Now in its fourth year, the competition exposes young innovators to their peers from their country and, ultimately, around the world. Already more than 100,000 students from over 100 countries and regions have competed in the Imagine Cup.
The competition gives students a focus, separate from their academic work, to test and develop a wide range of skills, from programming aptitude, to critical thinking, to entrepreneurship and teamwork. Hamouda says the competition helped her team expand their programming and web services experience, while forcing them to work productively as a group with no real supervision.
“I am learning to open my own company to develop software, so I think this experience will benefit me a lot,” Al-Mannei says. I am leading our team, so I’m gaining experience managing a group. And I think developing our own company would be better than looking for work in the UAE, because there are very few companies developing their own software — the kind of work we are looking for probably does not exist here.”
Regarding future challenges in what some see as a man’s world, the young women are universally nonchalant. What they care most about is representing their country, and their culture, in the best possible light.
“At my university, women are a minority,” Hamouda says. “And it’s true, in our society, it is harder for women to prove themselves in their profession than for men. So that makes us very proud to be an all-girl team and represent our country.”
2007 Imagine Cup Finalists from the Middle East and Africa
Algeria: A PC that “grows up” with your child
Team HBM2: Lamia Moudoub, Lynda Mettouchi, Nadjet Belblidia and Selma Hamouda
The team from Algeria’s Institut National d'Informatique devised a less-complicated computer interface for children that becomes more advanced as they grow older. The team’s invention, VisChild, was inspired by the fact that children are exposed to computing earlier in life than ever. Tailored to each individual child’s profile, VisChild presents customised applications and interfaces that evolve as the child gets older.
Egypt: Expanding education for students with special needs
Team Trouble Ticket: Ahmed Fathalla, Mohamed Radwan, Noha Radwan, Tarek Elgaaly
EduCare is a software application for schools that serve students with special needs. Following extensive research into education sciences, the Egyptian team found that schools’ and universities’ capacity to teach students with disabilities is limited by the need to tailor the educational process (lectures, exams, etc) to individual students. EduCare automates aspects of education for students with disabilities, enabling academic institutions to take on more students who would otherwise not find available seats.
Pakistan: Automated video recording for the classroom
Team AVRiL: Ahmad Humayun, Ozair Muazzam, Tayyab Javed, Yahya Cheema
Four students from the Lahore University of Management Sciences entered the competition with AVRiL — automated video recording of lectures. The team saw the potential for using smart devices to automatically capture university lectures in video. Their solution incorporates intelligent video direction that records speakers, presentation slides and chalk-board information. Among AVRiL’s benefits are distance-learning applications and reducing students’ need to take comprehensive notes, as opposed to focusing on learning and understanding in the moment. The team developed AVRiL using Microsoft Visual Studio.NET and Microsoft Expression.
Saudi Arabia: Wouldn’t it be great to have a second brain?
Team SmartPal: Muhammad AlShehri, Salman Rahmat, AbdulRahman Dawood
SmartPal is aptly named. Driven by artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the application acquires information from many sources, collects it in an artificial brain, and is able to answer questions through spoken or written responses, or through animated visual presentations. The application is available in the form of a physical robot or through an animated interface on Windows-based PCs or a Pocket PC device. The team envisions SmartPal being used as a personal assistant in fields as varied as business, engineering and art. SmartPal incorporates a wide range of technologies, including AI, natural language processing and voice recognition.
South Africa: An advanced system for school administration
Team SA: Claudie Ferreira, Davide de Caires, Grant Lindner, Nicholas Goossens
New technologies have tremendous potential to improve how schools are managed and run, and that’s what inspired Team SA. These students, representing the University of Pretoria and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, developed eduCORE, which takes advantage of technologies such as biometrics, SMS and encryption for enhanced school adminstration. Created using Visual Basic, ASP.NET, SQL Server and a host of complementary technologies, the application covers a broad range of administrative functions such as staff and student record-keeping, report generation and an automated roll-call system based on fingerprint scans.
Turkey: If babies could talk…
Team PARE.NeT: Murat Bilici, Deniz Demir, Can Kayacan, Erman Oral
Research shows that babies use meaningful voices until they begin to speak, and inexperienced parents everywhere would benefit from better understanding what their child is trying to communicate. So team PARE.NeT developed a technology to analyse and translate babies’ voices into meaningful messages. The team expanded this concept to include an education platform to enhance parents’ knowledge of baby care. The team used Microsoft Visual Studio, SQL Server and the .NET Framework to build a web service to store and disseminate parenting information.
United Arab Emirates: Learning on the move
Team Creative: Eiman Al-Mansoori, Fatima Ahmad Al-Mansoori, Ghalya Ali Al-Mannei, Hayfa Jarrah
With the proliferation of mobile devices, people have an unprecedented opportunity to fill unproductive time with learning. Team Creative invented a mobile-learning module that uses SMS technology to transmit course content from teachers to students. The advantage of SMS-based distance learning is that it can be used with mobile phones, smartphones and PDAs wherever a mobile network is available. In other words, it facilitates highly accessible, very low cost learning for the greatest number of people around the world. Built with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, SQL Express 2005 and Office, this novel learning approach is completely flexible, adapting to any learner’s device capabilities, location and available time.
Turkey: When good people embrace violence
Team Ottomans: Cerem Dinc, Filiz Sahin, Murat Kuscu, Sinan Dinç
In the short-film category, Team Ottomans entered “Tanbron”, which raises the question — how is society to deal with people who have turned to violence, triggered by horrifying personal experiences and social circumstances? Is it possible to bring these people back into civilised society?
Tanbron opens with soldiers carrying automatic weapons running through the mud of a deserted industrial site, stealthily closing in on their target. Entering a factory building, they run up the stairs and break through a locked door using plastic explosive. A man in a white t-shirt and jeans is captured and beaten. Face bloodied, expressionless, he is told he will be given a second chance if he volunteers for a new education programme — an MRI-like procedure that quarantines his most evil instincts and “infected” memories.
“The main character in the film is an ex-soldier who has experienced psychological trauma, which we believe is something that has been experienced by many of us,” said Ottomans team member Murat Kuscu. “In an extreme way, he symbolises a great many people in our society. We are asking ourselves, and our audience, whether you can cure the dark side of our nature, and what the consequences of that might be.”
