Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) concluded its online Summer internship program on July 5 with an award ceremony. The event provided an opportunity to acknowledge the various contributions made by interns from academic institutions at home and abroad.

This year, QCRI welcomed 56 interns to contribute to 26 different projects. Local candidates came from HBKU, as well as Qatar University (QU), Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMUQ) and Texas A&M University at Qatar. International contributions were made by interns from Princeton University, Georgia Institute of Technology, New York University, University of Toronto and others. Their activities were overseen by 34 mentors, including scientists and software engineers. Interns presented their work to a panel of judges from HBKU, QU, CMUQ and QCRI during the final week of the program.

Among the interns receiving awards was Nada Soleiman, a Computer Science student at Carnegie Mellon University - Qatar. After being announced as this year’s second placed intern, she said: "The QCRI Summer Internship Program was a valuable experience that helped me gain insight and hands-on experience of the research process. I also developed key skills and gained familiarity with useful tools that are essential to any computing-related career path."

“QCRI’s Summer Internship Program offers students like Nada an exciting opportunity to obtain hands-on research experience,” added Ms. Soleiman’s mentor, Dr. Husrev Taha Sencar, Principal Scientist, QCRI. “By working with researchers and engineers, students not only learn about tackling a variety of problems but also get involved in developing new tools and systems. The fact that early-year undergraduates are accepted to the program makes the internship an even greater opportunity. I firmly believe these experiences help students to better understand computer science concepts and prepare them for a successful career.”

Speaking after the awards ceremony, Dr. Eman Fituri, Director of Educational Initiative, QCRI said: “We were delighted to deliver a high-quality internship program under such exceptional circumstances. In keeping with previous years, all interns were engaged with their projects from day one and offered some innovative and thought-provoking solutions in the process. The overall standard of this year’s interns was exceptionally high and judging their contributions was a difficult, albeit welcoming, challenge. We’re already looking forward to staging next year’s internship initiative and the contributions it will make to building Qatar’s innovation and technology capacity.”

For more information on the work of Qatar Computing Research Institute, please visit qcri.hbku.edu.qa.