Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) Capstone Project among Finalists in the Make a Difference Competition

The Make a Difference competition aims to enhance creativity, openness and knowledge between students, inventors, labs, engineers, designers, and other technology developers. This year, one of the AUK ECE capstone projects was chosen to compete among nine finalists at the Open-Lab, in Helmut Schmidt University, Germany. The selected nine finalists will be able to develop their projects further with the supply of prototyping material resources and a 3-D Printer.

AUK students Meyar Shehab, Rouaa Diab, and Fatma Al-Kandari-under the supervision of Dr. Seyed Esmaeili-Developed a project called 'Sign It', a glove that attempts to automate the conversion of universal sign language into normal audible vocabularies, in order to facilitate the daily interactions of the deaf/mute community.

The project was selected by a jury based on its impact level, creativity, manufacturability in a fabrication lab (FabLab), affordability, and accessibility, all in presenting a solution that is of social or ecological impact.

The finalists were provided the opportunity to visit the fabrication laboratory (OLab Hamburg) for a weeklong development workshop at the Open-Lab. Here, they were constantly surrounded by supportive mentors and individuals. After finalizing their project, the students were able to showcase their work in an exhibition.

The department of computer engineering commends such participation as a great opportunity for budding computer engineers as it enables the practical implementation of ideas.

The mission of the ECE department is to provide high-quality engineering education; specifically, lifelong-learning, critical thinking, and effective communication. The department prepares students to become successful engineers and to contribute effectively to their profession and community.

A short demo on SignIt can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPmRXQHNZhs

ECE team: Meyar Shehab and Rouaa Diab at the Open-Lab, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg, Germany

The nine finalists in the Make a Difference Competition

Further developing the SignIt project

Further developing the SignIt project

Further developing the SignIt project

SignIt Glove