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UOWD wins place to represent Arab World at Microsoft's Imagine Cup finals

LAMAPP enables those who suffer domestic violence to be able to confidentially and reliably report incidences to the authorities, along with offering vital support for women suffering domestic abuse.

Dubai: A team of students from the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) have recently secured their place in the international finals of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup, the world’s most prestigious student technology competition, to be held in Seattle.

Competing in the World Citizenship category of the competition, UOWD students Heba Nayef, Artaza Aziz and Jawad Jandali Refai showcased their innovative mobile application, LAMAPP, to a team of judges headed up by Mr Jeffrey Avina, Citizenship Director of Microsoft Middle East and Africa, at the Pan Arab Semi-Finals of the competition held in the Kingdom of Bahrain recently.

LAMAPP enables those who suffer domestic violence to be able to confidentially and reliably report incidences to the authorities, along with offering vital support for women suffering domestic abuse.

The Imagine Cup Pan Arab Semi-Finals were the culmination of months of hard work for the team that won the UAE finals with their invention last month. During the semi-finals, the trio joined 36 other first-prize winners of national rounds from 13 countries across the Middle East and North Africa region, to vie for places at the world finals due to be held in Seattle from July 27 to 31.

Competing across Gaming, Innovation and World Citizenship categories, the teams were judged on the concept of their innovation, its execution, the use of technology, the relevance to the category and the feasibility of the invention.

Joining the team from UOWD in the finals are ‘Back in Time’ — a post-apocalyptic game created by a team from Tunisia, and a brain controlled robot which uses brain wave reading technology to help paralysed people to communicate created by a team from Palestine.

Along with a place at the world finals, winning teams were also awarded with a $7,000 cash prize.