An ambitious group of Omani students ranked among the top 30 teams in the world at this year’s Imagine Cup – a global technology competition in Seattle, USA.
Alya Al Shanfari and Hana Al-Raisi of the Beta Team won the Regional Championship in Lebanon earlier this year. After that, they traveled to the world finals in Seattle to represent Oman. Sultan Al Subhi, the third team member, was unable to join the peers in the USA. The competition was severe, told the students. There were 54 teams from all around the world. The Omani representatives reached the quarter finals. The Czech Republic won the first place, but the Omani team was proud of its work.
The talented young entrepreneurs presented their Bee project. It is a retail shopping app connected with Beacons technology. The innovative solution analyzes the shopping experience and affects future shopping decisions.
The Bee app got high recognition at home as well. It was among the leading projects of the Upgrade program; a student development program launched by the Research Council.
Al Shanfari told the Times of Oman:
The idea was my final year graduation project at GUTech, and we’ve taken it from the local Oman Imagine Cup, all the way to the world championship. 54 teams have come from around the world to Seattle, and some of the teams hail from prestigious universities, such as Stanford and Princeton.
The final goal of the Omani initiative was to turn undergraduate projects into small or medium size enterprises. The Bee app received help and guidance by Omantel, TRC, Riyada, and more. The team will continue working on the app and hope to turn it into a successful startup.