28-01-2025
UAE: Over 100 students graduate from national coding programme open to citizens, residents
Over a hundred students graduated from the Samsung Innovation Campus 2024, the largest number yet, a spokesperson for the Samsung Gulf Electronics said.
In partnership with the Ministry of AI's National Program for Coders, 120 students graduated in the course.
The three-month hybrid programme is open to UAE citizens and residents aged 18-29 and considers those who have a basic understanding of statistics, object-oriented language and syntax.
Shafi Alam, director of DTC (direct-to-consumer) business and corporate marketing at Samsung Gulf Electronics, said that the programme could benefit anybody from any field, and that the main purpose is 'to help them find a better job".
He added that this year's batch of students was the largest in terms of numbers and diversity as well, with students from 26 nationalities. 'We learn a lot from students and we get insights on how we can enhance this programme,' Alam added.
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The programme is open to university-aged people who have an interest in coding and AI, not necessarily just those with a computer science, or related fields degree. Alam said that it's open for all because 'AI is a topic that attracts people from different walks of life and different specialisations. This is the beauty of this programme.'
In this batch of graduates, three students received a top student award for their high achievements. One of those students, Abhinav Kamballoor Kottayil, said it was unexpected when his name was called upon to receive the 'Top Student Award 2024'. 'It is a big surprise for me to get this award and I would like to thank Samsung for this amazing course and experience.'
For students to get a good grasp in the course, the programme starts with basic maths and algebra subjects and moves on to more advanced topics like machine learning and deep learning. For Kottayil's capstone project, he developed an emotional recognition system using a facial recognition system, which he said was 'a great learning experience' for him.
This is the third edition of the Samsung Innovation Campus, which saw its largest number of students graduating yet. The UAE is the only country in the Gulf region that partnered with Samsung to host this programme as part of its Artificial Intelligence Strategy to become a global leader in AI by 2031. In June 2024, the AI office signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Samsung Gulf Electronics to further advance the adoption and development of artificial intelligence in the country.
