NYU Abu Dhabi to Host Fifth International Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World

Three day programming marathon set to take place April 15 – 17

Press Release

Talented student hackers from around the world are set to descend on NYU Abu Dhabi’s campus (NYUAD) this April for the annual International Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World. Taking place between April 15 – 17, students will be split into teams and mentored by renowned international computer science professors, founders of successful startups, technology professionals, and venture capitalists, as they come together to develop innovative applications for the benefit of social good.

Organized by Sana Odeh, NYUAD clinical professor of computer science; faculty liaison for global programs of computer science, NYU, New York, the teams are brought together to teams programme day and night, developing innovative applications relevant to diverse fields such as health, education, film, music, business, and science. Presenting their applications to a panel of judges on April 17, students will compete for top honors. Winning apps in previous years have included a wearable device to monitor construction worker health.

Commenting on the Hackathon, Odeh said: "NYUAD Hackathon is a global event that brings talented and passionate students and mentors from around the world to create new and innovative technologies from apps to hardware applications for social good in the Arab world. We are pushing for new ways of creative learning and also creating strong collaborations across borders to build technologies that has the potential to change the world. Our Hackathon alumni go on to win awards, get funding, start their own startups and even find jobs through our network. We are always impressed by the quality of Hackathon participants joining us from universities such as MIT, Stanford, AUB, Al Akhawayn, MASDAR, among others. We are looking forward to what this new groups of talented students can innovate this year at NYUAD."

Students will present their applications to a panel of judges on Sunday, April 17 at 5:30pm. Judges will include:

Egypt
Mohammed Mansour, Entrepreneurship Program Coordinator
Mercy Corps and Riseup Egypt

Jordan
Kamel Al Asmar, Founder & CEO, Forbes 30 Social Entrepreneurs 2014
Nakhweh, Wamda

Lebanon
Abdallah Absi, CEO
Zoomaal

Munir David Nabti
General Manager (GM) at Bootcamp LB andCEO
Chief Entrepreneur & Organizer atAltCity.me

Turkey
Jeffrey Avina, Assistant Professor
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar

United Arab Emirates
Hunter Lee Soik, Founder | Chief Executive Officer
SHADOW | Community of Dreamers

Marc Michael, Assistant Professor
New York University Abu Dhabi

Muhammed Mekki, Founding Partner
AstroLabs

Nina Curley, Director,
Flat 6 Labs

Rima Al-Sheikh, a serial entrepreneur
nambbesh, GLT.io, and now mokus.io

United States
Arnaud Sahuguet, Product Manger
Cornel Tech

Jeremy Johnstone, Head of Data Infrastructure and Chief Architect
Nomi

Michael Goldweber, Professor of Computer Science
Xavier University, and Chair of ACM SIGCAS

For further information on the fifth International Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World, visit http://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/news-events/conferences/nyuad-hackathon.html.


About NYU Abu Dhabi

NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective undergraduate curriculum across the disciplines with a world center for advanced research and scholarship. The university enables its students in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world and advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from over 115 countries and speak over 115 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.