A team of KU Mechanical Engineering students has won this year’s Hackathon 3.0 – Abu Dhabi. Hackathon 3.0 is a series of events/hackathons that took place in the seven emirates of the UAE from February to March 2020. This event was organized and sponsored by the Dubai Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) with the goal to spread the culture of digital transformation in the country. It provides an opportunity for different sectors of the community, such as universities, entrepreneurs, and IT experts, to use open data to come up with solutions based on specific themes and challenges.
Team Shams of Khalifa University won 1st place during the Abu Dhabi leg of the Hackathon. The team is composed of Muhammad Taha Ansari, Mariam Saeed Aljneibi, and Sham Mousa Antakieh and they were supervised by Dr. Firas Salah Jarrar, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
The team developed an app that monitors and tracks a fleet of solar smart cars that users can book, much like how you book a taxi. The smart cars are designed to be used by university faculty, students, and employees, and stationed in different areas within campuses.
The app shows all the smart cars available near the user’s location and the user can then book the car nearest to them. Users will be able to access the vehicle through an auto-generated QR code or using their university ID cards. After completing the ride, users must park the cars at the designated parking spots.
The app provides a convenient online booking system for users. The concept also meets the UAE Green Agenda 2030 of providing a safe and sustainable alternative mode of transportation. Since the cars are solar powered, they are both environmentally friendly and economical, and would offer users a more affordable transportation alternative. The fleet of cars would need to be recharged less frequently because they run on 100% solar energy.
The winners of Hackathon 3.0 were announced at a digital ceremony on 4 March 2020, wherein H.E. Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing and the Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office and H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General participated in the event.
Ara Cruz
News Writer
5 July 2020
