Riyadh, November 28, 2017-  Dar Al-Hekma University students emerged as the winners of the fourth place in the MENAISC 2017 Hackathon competition held recently on the sideline of the fifth annual information security conference for the Middle East and North Africa region in Riyadh.

The main objective of the Hackathon was to give students a chance to prepare them for future roles in the field of information security and protection of information infrastructure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A total of 64 students from 10 universities across the Kingdom took part in the competition. The Hackathon provided students with the platform to go from the “idea formation stage” to the “implementation stage” in a short span.

Dar Al-Hekma University won for its app 30,000 SAR in addition to a training program at STC with an employment opportunity.

Dr. Suhair Hassan Al Qurashi, the president of Dar Al-Hekma University lauded the efforts of her students, she said: ‘’ We are all extremely proud to see our students translate their interdisciplinary knowledge they have learned in the classroom into ideas that are useful to the society.’’ 

As the only female university to be among the top four winners, Al Qurashi added “These students have shown a thirst for knowledge and strong interest to be part of the development process for a more advanced and prosperous future.”

Members of Dar Al-Hekma fourth place team were Sarah Al-Ammari, Zainah Adwan, Elaf Shah, Rowida Al Haddad and Eman Mohamed.

The Hackathon is a free dynamic competition aimed at Saudi public and private university students, serving as a platform for their inspiration and exploiting their technical talents through a competition in which they attempt to penetrate a model of a smart city.