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Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar launches new outreach event

High school students from 15 schools in Doha attended the Ibtikar Qatar kickoff event

DOHA, QATAR - Seventy-five high school students in Qatar have been given a task: Use Information Systems to improve awareness about environmental challenges in Qatar. The task is the focus of the new Ibtikar Qatar competition at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.

Ibtikar Qatar was created by the Information Systems faculty at Carnegie Mellon Qatar as a way to get high school students involved in an environmentally focused competition, while at the same time peaking their interest in the field of Information Systems.

"Since we just launched the Information Systems major this year, we wanted to find a way to inform students about the program and the field of IS," says Selma Limam Mansar, Ph.D., Information Systems faculty member. "Instead of just holding an information session, we thought a competition would be fun and more engaging for the students."

Carnegie Mellon's Information Systems program is an internationally recognized undergraduate major for students who want to design and implement effective solutions to meet organizational and management needs for information and decision support. IS combines many of the technical aspects of Computer Science with the analytical and organizational skills of Business Administration in a way that yields real-world results.

Ibtikar Qatar challenges students to use Information Systems to make businesses and organizations more effective. The event began with a kickoff workshop Saturday at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. Teams of students along with a few teachers and even some parents learned the rules of the competition, as well as the role innovation and Information Systems play in the marketplace. They also learned how to design a poster to explain their project, and began brainstorming about ideas. Each year the Ibtikar competition will focus on a different topic. This year's theme is the environment.

Applying what they learned at the event, student teams now have until Jan. 6, 2009 to come up with a project and create a poster that explains their idea. Then on Jan. 17, 2009 the teams with reconvene at Carnegie Mellon to present their ideas and posters to a panel of judges.

"We're excited about Ibtikar because it gives high school students an opportunity to learn about team work, communication skills and keeping up with innovations in technology, as well as the importance of lifelong learning," says Ian Lacey, coordinator of the Information Systems program at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. High school students who take part in Ibtikar Qatar also will get a taste of university life, as current Carnegie Mellon undergraduate students will serve as mentors for the teams.

Lacey says the students and teachers who attended the workshop were very excited about the new Ibtikar event and many have already come up with some great project ideas. "We're really looking forward to seeing their posters and hearing more about their ideas. Their level of excitement and energy are sure to make for an exciting and innovative competition in January."

Schools that participated in the Ibtikar kickoff event include: Al Bayan, Doha Independent School, Academic Bridge Program, Omar bin Al-Khattab Secondary School, Roda bent Mohammed, Al-Kawthar Secondary School, MIS-Delhi Public School, Ahmad Bin Mohammed, Qatar International School, Doha College, Al-Shahania Independent Primary and Secondary School for Girls, Global Academy International, Qatar Academy, M.E.S. Indian School and Al Wakrah School.

-Ends-

ABOUT CARNEGIE MELLON
With more than a century of academic excellence and innovative research, Carnegie Mellon University is a global leader in education with real-world applications. Consistently top ranked, Carnegie Mellon offers a distinct mix of programs to its 10,000 students at campuses around the globe. Core values of innovation, creativity, problem solving and collaborative teamwork provide the foundation for everything we do.

At the invitation of Qatar Foundation, Carnegie Mellon joined Education City in 2004. Here, Qatar Foundation has created a world-class center for scholarship and research that is the ideal complement to Carnegie Mellon's tradition of innovation through collaboration. Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar offers its highly regarded undergraduate programs in business administration, computer science and information systems to students in Qatar and the Gulf Region.

The Ibtikar competition will take place Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009 at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. The event will start at 9 a.m. and will last into the early afternoon. Media are welcome to attend.

© Press Release 2008