Bahrain Polytechnic, with C5 as its Strategic Partner, hosted its 8th edition of the ICT & Web Media Project Exhibition at the campus on Monday, 12th June 2017. More than 80 capstone projects developed for various businesses were presented to companies and the ICT community.
As part of their Cooperative Learning Projects, graduating BICT students worked at USKI Studios, LMRA, Gulf Air, JLSI – Ministry of Justice, Huawei, Ministry of Commerce, Azimuth, Tree Projects, MYS, BIPA, MaroonFrog, Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs & Urban Planning, and Southern Area Municipality.
Senior ICT and Web Media students worked at the Polytechnic’s Innovation Lab and with the community to develop ICT solutions and multimedia products (videos, design, and web-based applications) for the community. Drawing on scientific research and renowned business standards, the development of the products takes into consideration the usability, ease of use, cost, and effectiveness for the user. The developed projects followed a full evaluation and support from faculty and industry.
Mrs. Raghda Zahran, the Polytechnic’s BICT Programme Manager (MIS) and the chair of the Project Exhibition organizing committee, stated: “We are proud to present the students’ work. Their initiative and persistence have produced useful digital solutions that contribute to solving business problems. The students’ work demonstrates their commitment, and this is the quality of citizens that Bahrain and the region need.
“The BICT takes into consideration input from industry to bridge the gap between academic and industry requirements. This semester we have invited Mr. Mazen Abu Hijleh, Founder Creatives; Mr. Ammar Ali, Founder MaroonFrog; Mr. Jeremy Cruz, Founder DRIE; Mr. Emile Mahdi, Project Manager ARIMA; Mr. Paul Poulose, Founder Excpy; and Mr. Ali Al Aali, Batelco Telecom Apprentice, Mobile Core and VAS O&M to evaluate the projects along with our academic panels. Their engagement was rewarding, and the students have received input on how to bring their products to a commercial level.” she concluded.
Ms. Hadyah Fathalla, Executive Director of C5, gave a keynote speech to the audience about the value of innovation and transformative technologies and encouraged the students to take their products to the next level to promote Bahrain’s digital society.
Ms. Fathalla commented: “Economies driven by knowledge, technological transformation, and innovation cannot flourish without academia blazing the trail. Universities are paramount players in laying a strong and solid foundation for sustainable growth and development. They are essential to individual, social, economic, and even political prosperity. Facebook and Snapchat to Stubhub and Def Jam Records, in addition to countless other successful startups were all born at university campuses. Therefore, we will continue to support Bahrain Polytechnic and will always strive to find synergies and opportunities to engage and nourish academia.”
As part of the partnership between Bahrain Polytechnic and ThinkSmart (Organization Partner), Mr. Ahmed Alhejair, Gulf Future Business S.P.C Group CEO invited all the senior students who presented their projects to join the FORSATI Programme during the summer. ThinkSmart, presented by Mr. Aakash Munjal and his team, played a pivotal role in organizing the exhibition.
Bahrain Polytechnic’s executive management and Board of Trustees lead a tour around the projects and listened to the students’ ideas and expressed their appreciation to the industry partners for their contribution and support to the young talents. The projects exhibit the students’ and faculty’s continuous development towards solutions that benefit society.