AUK Team Receives Excellent Academy Award in China
11th Dec 2018 | by the Department of PR & Marketing
A team of students from AUK, Haider Asim and alumna Farah Al-Mutairi achieved first place in the Huawei Information and Communication Technology (ICT) National Final. The competition was first hosted by the Huawei Center for Innovation and Training at Al-Hamra Tower. This qualified them to represent Kuwait in the regional finals that took place in Huawei’s headquarters in China where they earned the Excellent Academy award.
The final competition featured the participation of thirteen teams across ten countries in the Middle East who underwent three months of qualifying rounds, including a selective national exam. Following this, the final teams were selected for an all-expense paid trip to China, where a sum of 39 talents were represented. This competition offered the students a competitive platform where the region’s finest ICT talents were nurtured and encouraged to contribute to national efforts towards digital transformation and economic growth. To prepare, participants worked in laboratories alongside experts where they tackled challenges related to computer networks such as cloud computing, routing, network security, and other future trends in communication technology. After competing in the finals, the participants attended a technology workshop facilitated by international ICT experts, followed by a high-level panel discussion by senior delegates from the Middle East and China.
Dr. Ashraf Zaher, Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, praised the team’s qualification in the competition as he elaborates, “It is a nice opportunity for AUK students to get exposure to the state-of-the-art technologies in the field of information and communication technology, in addition to demonstrating their competency level, while competing with other students. AUK winners were able to explore potential opportunities for international scholarships, internships, and further collaborations with research-based institutions.”
For their efforts, the national winners were granted traineeships or employment opportunities with Huawei, where they will gain further insider access to Huawei’s combination of programming and coding for data communication and computer networks. Similarly, the team received the Excellence Award in the regional finals in recognition of their outstanding participation, as well as an assortment of Huawei’s latest laptops and smartphones.
Dr. Zaher further commented on the support the students received to win this competition, “AUK winners dedicated a lot of time and effort to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to win this competition. The excellent program structure of the ABET-accredited computer engineering program at AUK, with its well-chosen core and elective courses, in the concentration of data communication and computer networks was the key factor of this success, along with the state-of-the-art labs and other resources provided by AUK to its students.”
This marks AUK’s first participation and qualification in Huawei’s ICT Competition.
AUK alumna Farah Al-Mutairi receiving a certificate from Huawei
AUK student Haider Asim receiving a certificate from Huawei
AUK alumna Farah Al-Mutairi, and AUK student Haider Asim at the Huawei ICT Competition