Qatari high school students win honors for robotics engineering

Five Qatari high school students attending the Summer Engineering Academy at Texas A&M University at Qatar recently won the best research project prize for their investigation of the application of robotics technology in the nation’s energy industry.

The two-week academic enrichment program allowed the five winning students the opportunity to study how robots could be used to ensure pipeline integrity or fight fires. The students even developed prototypes for those applications.

Students participating in the Summer Engineering Academy were tasked with finding creative answers to challenges Qatar faces in the fields of energy, environment and cybersecurity. A panel of judges selected the robotics team from among five projects related to those research areas.

Hamid Parsaei, professor of mechanical engineering and director of academic outreach at Texas A&M at Qatar, said the program is intended to give talented research students practical experience while giving the university the opportunity to recruit those talents.

“We hope to see each of these young Qataris apply for admission to Texas A&M at Qatar this fall,” Parsaei said.

The winning team members were Salem Al-Marri, Ebrahim Al-Muhannadi, Ali Al-Sayed, Ahmed Al-Sumaiti and Ghanem Al-Yafei.

Al-Yafei said the program stimulated his thinking process and helped him gain valuable research experience.

“We were fortunate to apply whatever we have learned from the talented faculty and lab coordinators and to have the opportunity to work closely with them on these projects,” Al-Yafei said.

The program was a combined effort of Texas A&M University at Qatar and Maersk Oil Qatar, a subsidiary of the massive Danish shipping company.