‘Team Quest’ by Anaya Marei and Nafisa Marei  came in first place followed by ‘The NeoGen Coders’ by Abdulrahman Al Azzam and Jena Al Taher, and will be representing Jordan in the AIC 2020 finals organized by Geek Express in Lebanon bringing them closer to their coveted goal of participating in Boston’s MIT App Inventor Championship 2020 finals. The two semi-finalists, both based in Jordan, were chosen after virtually presenting their apps  to an esteemed panel of judges: Serene Duwayri, Incubation Director, IPARK, Tareq Abu Lughod, Founder of Arab Media Network, and Ahmad Santarissi, CEO, We.The.Makers.

The judges praised the works of all the contestants and offered their heartfelt congratulations to the deserving winners.

This year’s competition comprised a total of 40 entries from 4 countries in the Middle East (Lebanon, Egypt, KSA and Jordan). Contestants were asked to develop a fully functional android application under the theme of "World Cinema" using the Educational platform MIT App Inventor. Only 18 semi-finalists were chosen, 6 of which were based in Jordan: Team Quest by Anaya Marei and Nafisa Marei, The NeoGen Coders by Abdulrahman Al Azzam and Jena Al Taher,  The Bishop's School for Boys by Yousef Al-Masri, Omar Shadeed and Yousef Jarrar, The Copperheads by Hamzeh Majzoub, Abbas Abu Hassan and Amin Mukaty, The Ahliyyah School for Girls by Layan Fakhoury, Toleen Habboub and Noor Abu Al rous, and Notorious dudes by Sanad Hatamleh and Hamza Al Fahoum.

The AIC 2020 finals, organized by Greek Express in Lebanon, had been scheduled to take place in the capital Beirut. However, due to the imposed global Covid-19 pandemic constraints, the winning teams will virtually present their work to the judges end of April.

As matters stand today with Covid-19 we are hopeful that the MIT App Inventor Championship 2020 will still go ahead, as planned, in Boston, USA this August.  The championship is a unique programming opportunity bringing together 10 to 16 year-old students from schools, STEM academies, and activity centers to compete against each other in a fun and engaging environment while putting their coding, design, and teamwork skills to the test.

It’s been a challenging process and we’d like to extend our thanks to everyone involved for their continued enthusiasm and support. Well done to all and best of luck to those moving on to the finals. Onwards and Upwards!