ADNOC students beat out four other teams to take top spot in Abu Dhabi carrier’s innovation challenge

Abu Dhabi, UAE – February 12, 2018:   A team of five students from ADNOC Schools reached first place in Etihad Airways’ Artificial Intelligence Competition, held in Abu Dhabi. With five teams and over 40 students participating, the competition challenged the children to develop a service or solution that harnesses the power of AI technology in order to solve a problem or create a new capability within the aviation or air transport sectors.  The competition, held by Etihad and enabled by IBM technology, was held as part of the UAE’s Innovation Month. 

The competition took place in several phases. The students were first required to familiarize themselves with IBM’s Digital Nation (D-NA), a brand new platform, which they were the first in the Middle East to have access to. This was followed by a variety of workshops hosted by IBM, which allowed students to learn how to use AI technology in real-world environments. 

The competition itself was held between 4-6 February in Abu Dhabi. Students worked in their teams to create the projects, choosing one of two problem scenarios and utilizing IBM D-NA technology in order to create their solution. The winning team, A.I.rlines from ADNOC Schools, created “Murshid”, an intelligent “chatbot” that acts as a personal assistant, optimizing transit passengers’ experience, via a mobile app. The app utilized chat, map utilities, and Application Programming Interfaces. 

Nilay Ozral, Chief Executive Officer, Aldar Academies, Operator & Manager of ADNOC Schools, expressed excitement at the team’s victory, saying, “We are incredibly proud of our students’ performance in Etihad’s AI Competition. At ADNOC Schools, we place a heavy focus on STEM subjects, and our students’ success is an indicator of this. Our students have shown their own talent and facility with complex, cutting edge technology and, more importantly, have displayed their ability to learn new things quickly and go on to succeed. We’re very thankful to Etihad for creating such an exciting event, and are extremely proud of our winning team, as well as all the ADNOC Schools students who participated in the competition.”

A panel of five judges from Etihad and IBM judged the teams’ projects based on functionality, creativity, practicality and viability, with the results being delivered at Etihad Headquarters on 7 February. The prizes awarded included internships at Etihad, flights to Baku, Azerbaijan and three-month subscriptions to IBM Digital Nation.