Etisalat, Intel and Ericsson celebrate the winners of the 5G University Competition

Dubai, 1 May 2018:   Etisalat and Intel, together with Ericsson congratulated students from the American University of Sharjah for demonstrating innovative 5G use cases as part of the recently concluded university competition.

The information and communication technology (ICT) giants joined forces in February this year to launch the university competition, targeting engineering students from renowned UAE universities, under the theme of ‘Driving the Future of 5G Innovation’.  

Over 20 teams from the American University of Sharjah, Khalifa University and New York University Abu Dhabi competed to best demonstrate 5G use cases. Five of the 21 teams were shortlisted and invited to present their innovative ideas in front of a prestigious jury of industry executives: Khalifa Al Shamsi, Etisalat Group Chief Strategy & Corporate Governance Officer, Petter Järtby, Head of Etisalat Global Customer Unit at Ericsson, and Taha Khalifa, Sales Director, EMEA Territory at Intel evaluated the shortlisted projects.  

Abdullah Ahmed, Jayroop Ramesh, and Saad Aldeen from the American University of Sharjah won first place after presenting their ground-breaking idea of Decentralized Peer to Peer Mobile Devices Cloud computing using 5G technology.

Runner up position went to students Baleegh Ahmad and Doovaraha Maheswarasarma from NYU Abu Dhabi who proposed a solution based on 5G, augmented reality and robotics to optimize and automate operations in the cargo industry.

Finally, Bashar Al Jabery, Marawan El Bardicy and Mustafa Al Jassim from the American University of Sharjah came in third place with their “Wear Hear” use case around using smart glasses, 5G and Edge computing to help individuals with hearing disabilities better communicate and integrate in the society.

The winners were chosen based on certain parameters including their creativity and innovation, their business case potential, their 5G applicability and the benefit and positive impact on the UAE society. 

The winning teams will all receive valuable prizes including internship opportunity in Etisalat or Ericsson as well as a one of its kind enrollment opportunity to a tailor made three-month coaching program from Ericsson Garage, which will be kicked off by a full week trip to Ericsson Stockholm.

Saeed Alzarouni, Senior Vice President, Mobile Network, Etisalat, commented on the students’ entries at the awards ceremony: “We believe innovation is the future of human investment which is why our vision as a company is in line with the national agenda that emphasizes its importance across sectors where innovation, research, science and technology will form the pillars of a highly productive and competitive economy. Etisalat has made continuous efforts in enabling digital technologies that empower customers and the ecosystem with technologies that can lead the way to a digital future. 

“Etisalat is proud to be driving this competition that gave us an opportunity to guide and mentor these young minds and innovative ideas. With 5G technologies and services taking precedence, this is a great platform to see 5G use cases that will become a reality tomorrow.”

Petter Järtby, Head of Etisalat Global Customer Unit at Ericsson said: "1st May 2017, exactly one year ago, we joined hands with Etisalat and we did the first 5G trial with full mobility in the region. Today, we are building on that leadership and are engaging academia in our quest for the 5G use cases that will make a tangible difference to life in the UAE. The journey will not stop here, we will look into feasibility to take the best ideas forward into the realization and testing phases. It is a journey and we are fully committed to the technology advancement of UAE and how it can contribute to the UAE Vision 2021 and at the end Happiness for its people.”