RIT Dubai hosts design challenge for area teens

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M. Abushagur

Members of the British Dubai Academy accept a scholarship award from Mustafa Abushagur, president of RIT Dubai, for winning the recent Dubai Challenge, a combination academic competition and engineering design event.

Faculty and staff of RIT Dubai hosted more than 100 area high school students for the first annual Dubai Challenge, “Dare to Compete.” Teams of students from the schools competed in engineering design projects and academic competitions.

“The challenge event is way to bring high school students to campus to introduce them to RIT Dubai and familiarize them with our programs in a fun and exciting way,” says Mustafa Abushagur, president of RIT Dubai. “Schools were invited to participate with two teams—one to compete for in a general knowledge trivia competition and the second team to design a package that protects an egg from breakage when it is dropped from 10 feet.”

British Dubai Academy, the winning school, received a scholarship award of 80,000 dirhams, approximately $22,000 U.S. This award will be distributed to the school’s top qualifying students according to RIT Admissions guidelines.

The students had a great time competing and enjoyed the excitement of their teams’ participation, Abushagur says. He plans to have the event annually, expanding the college’s reach in the area.

“Many of the students and their counselors said this is the first time any university in the country had such a fun event,” he adds.