In line with the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to mark29 October as the day to honor coders and programmers, Abu Dhabi University (ADU),under the National Program for Coders, will virtually host its first Annual STEM Programming Competition on 28 October.
The competition’s challenges are inspired by EXPO 2020 Dubai,where teams compete to find solutions to ten STEM challenges using any programming language and build on how these solutions can be implemented in a way that will help the community. University students from all majors and school students from grades 7 to 12 are encouraged to participate.
Participants will receive certificates of participation,and the top three winners will be given recognition rewards.
Dr. Hamdi Sheibani, Dean of the College of Engineering at ADU, said, “Abu Dhabi University is honored to take part in this initiative launched by H.E Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to help build new generations of IT and coding professionals in the UAE. The Annual STEM Programming competition is seen as an important step by ADU as it contributes to providing solution-oriented research that will help in the overall development of our community. As we stand on the cusp of a technological revolution, digitization has become the agent of change and the most powerful force for every sector. As such, we take it as our responsibility to prepare our students to be skilled, agile, and ready to embrace the ever-changing nature of the tech-driven market.”
Dr. Mohammad Ghazal, Professor and Chair of the Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering Department, said, “The competition is one of a host of activities and initiatives in the College as part of our commitment to fully prepare the next generation of programmers and coders for the future.”
As part of its ‘Investing in Our Community’ initiative, ADU recently offered a programming course that reached more than 1,800 individuals from 300 schools, universities, and companies across more than 50 countries. The course allowed participants to develop the fundamental coding skills required for application development as part of the National Program for Coders.
Selected as one of eight national universities under the National Program for Coders launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ADU aims to empower students, coders, entrepreneurs, start-ups, and large companies through innovative training sessions focused on programming applications, coding techniques, and tools already being used in various sectors.
ADU’s program offerings focus on coding skills, including Bachelor of Science degrees in Software Engineering, Information Technology, Cybersecurity Engineering, Computer Engineering with a concentration in Artificial Intelligence, Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Robotics and Automation,as well as Master of Science degrees in Information Technology and Electrical and Computer Engineering. These programs qualify future graduates for careers in computing technologies.
