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Carnegie Mellon University's TechBridgeWorld launches iSTEP program

CMUQ student participates in this innovative technology research internship offering computing solutions in Tanzania
DOHA, QATAR (July 21) The TechBridgeWorld research group recently launched a program titled iSTEP: innovative Student Technology ExPerience, an innovative internship for Carnegie Mellon students to conduct computing technology field research with impact in developing communities. This program is a collaboration between colleagues from TechBridgeWorld and the Student Affairs team at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. This summer, six Carnegie Mellon students and alumni are participating in the newly launched iSTEP internship program. Together with TechBridgeWorld faculty and staff, they are working on three technology research projects for communities in Tanzania. The teams are working collaboratively from bases in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Doha, Qatar; and Pittsburgh, U.S.

One of the team members from the Carnegie Mellon Doha campus is Hatem Alismail, a 2009 graduate with a major in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics. Hatem is the technical lead for one of the three research projects and is based in Dar es Salaam. "TechBridgeWorld's iSTEP program redefines what an internship should be," says Hatem. "The unique and novel projects present interesting challenges that require innovation, flexibility and adaptability to unexpected situations. It is also a very unique opportunity to apply the skills I have learned throughout my education to enhance a life-impacting project. Those skills, without a doubt, are very important in shaping a successful future."

This year's iSTEP partner is the University Computing Center (UCC) in Dar es Salaam. The UCC provides computing services and consultancy in information and communication technologies to the University of Dar es Salaam community, as well as the country of Tanzania. Together with the UCC, the iSTEP 2009 team is working on three unique research projects, each catered to individual communities for which specific needs have been identified. The projects include developing a mobile phone application for use by social workers to track information on services provided to AIDS orphans and vulnerable children, creating and evaluating culturally-relevant educational technology and games for children's literacy and enhancing and evaluating a low-cost braille writing tutor for visually-impaired students.

The internship is a 10-week internship which began at the end of May and scheduled to complete at the end of July. Prior to the internship, the team completed a 6-week mini-course designed to prepare them for their work on the technology research projects this summer. The course was taught by Carnegie Mellon Qatar Professor M. Bernardine Dias during the Spring 2009 semester.

The project work from the iSTEP 2009 internship will result in papers co-authored by the participating interns to be submitted to upcoming ICTD (Information and Communication Technologies for Development) and other relevant conferences for publication.

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About TechBridgeWorld
TechBridgeWorld (www.techbridgeworld.org) is a research group based in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University that innovates and implements technology solutions to meet sustainable development needs around the world. TechBridgeWorld works closely with local partners who understand the needs of specific communities and TechBridgeWorld contributes its technical expertise to help realize the community's vision of development by inventing new tools, customizing existing technology, and inspiring the community's future technologists.

On April 17 - 19, 2009, TechBridgeWorld organized the 3rd International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD 2009) hosted at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. ICTD 2009 (www.ictd2009.org) is the premier interdisciplinary conference on ICTs and international development. This year's keynote speakers were Bill Gates (Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, and Co-Chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) and Carlos A. Primo Braga (Director, Economic Policy and Debt in the PREM Network at The World Bank).

About Carnegie Mellon University
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 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.

© Press Release 2009