CUD hosts Dubai's first all-women ‘Hackathon'

Dubai, January 15, 2015: Canadian University Dubai (CUD), in association with The Meera Kaul Foundation, has hosted the first ever all-women hackathon event in Dubai.

The two-day event brought together female technology experts, entrepreneurs and businesswomen to take part in an intensive team-based competition to develop their knowledge of coding and come up with a viable business proposal, with the chance of winning $5,000 in prize money.

The event was organized as part of the Women in STEM 2015 initiative, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum. The initiative, which also includes a conference and awards ceremony as part of its program, aims to promote, support and pay tribute to the role of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

CUD became an official partner of the event through its active role in promoting the advancement of women in society, having held its inaugural women's conference in 2014. The University is also a leading provider of technology-based higher education, with a range of undergraduate programs on offer through the School of Engineering, Applied Science and Technology, as well as an innovative new Masters program in Information Technology Management and Governance.

Opening the event, Dr. Franziska Apprich, Dean of the Schools of Liberals Arts & Sciences and Environment & Health Sciences at CUD, encouraged the participants to make the most of the opportunity to interact and learn from each other.

She said, “This is the sort of opportunity that will help you long into the future. It is this kind of exposure that will set you apart when you look to develop your career. You don't necessarily need to win the competition to be a winner; through taking part in this event you are winning an experience that will stay with you for life.”
Participants went on to participate in networking activities, form teams, and work on the development of a business plan and prototype to present to the judging panel. Throughout the event they had the opportunity to receive mentoring from Silicon Valley tech gurus, and meet with business angels and enterprise mentors.

The competition winners were due to be announced during the Women in STEM award ceremony, the final event in the program, to be held at Jumeirah Emirates Towers.