Two students from the Carnegie Mellon University of Qatar (CMUQ), a Qatar Foundation-partnered university, have won first prize in a Qatar Development Bank contest in the FoodTech Category. Mohammad Fadhel Annan You can also find out more about the following: Lujain Al Mansoori The idea of 3D printed veggies could be a viable alternative to farming in areas like Qatar with very little arable soil.
Qatar Development Bank hosted the Business Incubation & Acceleration Hackathon. Annan and Al Mansoori, winners of the FoodTech Category, received 25,000 QAR for their investment.
QDB’s Business Incubation and Acceleration Hackathon was designed to empower entrepreneurs in Qatar to share their ideas and creative solutions to address challenges in digital transformation across a variety of industries.
The 2023 edition covered the Fintech, SportsTech, and FashionTech industries and featured solutions for Enabling Customer Experiences and Operational Solution for Digital Transformation. In a number sectors, such as food technology, a CMU Q applicant won the first prize.
Michael Trick, dean of CMU-Q, was impressed by the ingenuity of Annan and Al Mansoori’s idea: “We encourage our students at CMU-Q to apply the knowledge they learn here to create solutions that will have a big impact. Congratulations to Mohammad and Lujain for such an innovative approach to food security.”
Annan Al Mansoori and Al Mansoori came up with the idea of using a combination UV-sensitive printer ink and artificially grown vegetables cells to print vegetable. The pitch included plans on how to modify 3D Printers to accommodate biological materials, as well a model printed carrot.
Dr. Hamad Mejegheer, Executive Director of Advisory and Incubation at QDB, emphasized the importance of the competition, which “represents a continuation of our efforts to foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem that embraces innovators and pioneers who add value to our diversified and knowledge-based economy in line with the strategic objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030.”
The students will continue to develop their ideas as they study. Mohammed Al-SadiThe project was mentored by, a teaching assistant in information systems.
Annan has worked on adapting 3D printing technology to the production of food. “We have spent a lot of time developing a CAD model for a specialized 3D printer that can use edible inks to print food products. As each layer is printed, UV light solidifies the edible ink, and in the end you have a vegetable.”
Al Mansoori believes that food production has many possibilities. “We could potentially print food in bulk, greatly reducing the time and money it takes to grow fruits and vegetables. It’s limitless what we can do.”
After their successful pitch at the QDB competition, the students have been offered a seat in QDB’s startup program, where they will have access to experts and mentors to guide their progress.
Carnegie Mellon University Qatar offers undergraduate programs in four areas: business administration, information systems, computer science, and biological sciences. Students are encouraged work across disciplines in order to create projects with a real world impact.
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Carnegie Mellon University Qatar
Since more than a hundred years, Carnegie Mellon University challenges the curious and passionate people to imagine and produce work that matters. Carnegie Mellon is a private, global, and top-ranked university. It sets its own path with programs that encourage creativity and collaboration.
In 2004, Carnegie Mellon Foundation partnered with Qatar Foundation to deliver selected programs that would contribute to Qatar’s long-term economic development. Carnegie Mellon Qatar now offers undergraduate degrees in the fields of biological sciences, computer science and information systems. Carnegie Mellon Qatar is home to more than 450 students hailing from 60 different countries.
CMU-Q graduates are working in the top companies around Qatar and the world. Many have also started their own businesses. More than 1200 alumni have graduated from 16 classes.
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