Birzeit University Wins the Arab Imagine Cup 2015

Represented by Birzeit University, Palestine won the first prize in the Arab world competition “Imagine Cup 2015,” in the category of technological innovations, organized by Microsoft Corporation in the Bahraini capital Manama.

The Birzeit University first prize-winning project on the Arab world level is a "Robot" that is controlled by the brain signal- the first of its kind in the Arab world. The project was implemented by the students Muhammad Atiq and Hassan Bakr, under the supervision of the Birzeit University Computer Engineering Professor Wasel Ghanem.

The idea of the project is based on finding out "what humans think", a new scientific research, aims to read the signals coming out of the brain to be processed for the use in many applications, such as assisting those  with disabilities to move their wheelchairs via thinking only, and many other different applications that serve human life.

Three Palestinian teams have participated in this international competition from An-Najah National University, Birzeit University and the Polytechnic University, as part of three creative groups, which competed via 36 projects from 13 Arab countries.

The project will take part in the international competition, which will be organized in Seattle, United States, along with a one-week training project on entrepreneurship to be conducted in San Francisco, in addition to a $ 7,000 financial award.

The Imagine Cup international competition starts from the local level, then moves to the regional level and the winners will compete on the international level. It focuses on information technology and harness technology to serve the community, in order to solve the problems facing mankind.