BSc in Computer Engineering student Mohamed Alzarooni interned with Dubai Expo 2020’s Innovation and Future Technology (IFT) Department, where he was part of the Virtual Expo team responsible for developing the Expo’s virtual experiences.
Being able to work on the Dubai Expo 2020, also dubbed the “Greatest Show on Earth,” was, as Mohamed put it, life changing.
“I feel immense pride to have been part of the Expo 2020. It is a feeling like no other and I recommend that people be involved with the event whether they are employees, interns, volunteers, or even visitors. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said.
Mohamed’s nine-week long internship put the skills he has been gaining at KU in software development and testing to good use.
“My role primarily included testing several of those platforms developed for Expo by companies located across the globe. I worked with a team at Expo but also with other teams under different companies on a regular basis,” Mohamed explained.
He took great joy in the project, stating this his most memorable part of his experience was “seeing people’s reactions to the projects I worked on once they were released to the public. Especially the reactions of my friends and family when they tried experiences like that on VirtualExpo.world or saw Augmented Reality elements embedded as part of Expo’s Opening Ceremony.”
His main responsibility during the internship was to verify the functionality of the software applications being developed for Expo.
He would test and verify that texts and images appeared properly in apps and checked that different features agreed with specific constraints.
One app that he worked on extensively, called Expo Xplorer, is now available to download for both iOS and Android. Expo Xplorer is an app that features a 3-dimensional recreation of the Expo site that users can explore and play around with from anywhere in the world.
This internship was a game-changer for Mohamed, who is now rethinking his plans for the future.
“My experience made me realize that I am capable of more than I initially thought possible. I simply need to challenge myself.”
Erica Solomon
Senior Publication Specialist
4 November 2021
