Roaring applause echoed throughout the Multipurpose Room on Sunday, Feb. 24. It was the final event for NYUAD’s second-ever International Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World. Eighty computer programmers worldwide congregated in cosmopolitan Abu Dhabi to program applications aimed at solving social issues. The event culminated in a final symposium. NYUNY participant Max Stoller remarked, “I’ve been to 10 plus hackathons and this one was by far the best.”

On the first day of the hackathon, participants crafted a set of approximately 20 ideas geared towards inciting social change in the Arab region, drawing inspiration from keynote speakers and receiving guidance from organizers of the event. Students formed groups based on their preference of the idea generated and the issue it aimed to tackle. Students hailed from 16 different countries across the globe and studied everywhere from American University of Beirut in Lebanon to Universidade Federal de Campina Grande in Brazil to Princeton.

The eclectic multi-cultural mix of students cultivated a unique setting for the Hackathon. These students worked with a mentor from top-notch firms like Grameen Foundation, Microsoft, Google and NASA.

Twenty-two judges from eight countries collectively decided on the top three ideas. First place was awarded to team Take Flight, composed of Seth Thompson and Geoffrey Lit from Yale University, Omar Omran from Lebanese American University, Alex Qin from NYUNY, and their mentor Ramsey Nasser from Eyebeam Art+Technology Center. The team developed a web application that tackles the high youth unemployment in the Arab world.

Take Flight’s project involved linking students to mentors from across the globe through Facebook. To facilitate dialogue, users can build a profile listing the skillsets that they wish to develop and the skills that they can teach. Take Flight enables users to schedule videoconference appointments with their mentors providing a translation service to overcome any language barriers. The team even created an iPhone application for their innovative mentoring platform.

Lit said that he couldn’t be happier with the results especially knowing that he was partly responsible for “making cool technological advances geared towards bettering the world.”

Second place went to team Safe Journey comprised of students from Princeton University, Ain Shams University and Khalifa University of Science, Technology & Research. The mobile application tracks the user’s progress from one destination to another and notifies a selected contact via SMS to ensure the safety of women and children when using public transportation. The judges praised the group’s innovative solution to a simple yet widespread problem.

Two teams tied for third, Laha and Landmarkr. Laha created a social platform for Arab women with chronic diseases. The platform allows women to share their experiences. While Landmarkr created a website that provides landmark cues for navigation to address the issue of the lack of street name references within the Middle East.

Landmarkr consisted of three NYUAD students, including sophomore Oleg Grishin, freshman Moiri Gamboni, and freshman Morgante Pell.

Although Landmarkr did not win first place, several venture capital funds and companies have expressed interest in investing in their application.