Creative Space, part of the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) under Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), recently held a programming competition and awards ceremony for students in its Python Course. 

More than 40 students, in Grades 4 to 12 at different international and public schools, competed against each other in the final event. The competition challenged them to apply their computational thinking and new programming skills to generate solutions to a series of tasks. 

During the two-month course, they learned the fundamentals of the Python language, which is used for web development, machine learning, and data science. In keeping with the learning approach at Creative Space, the course emphasized hands-on learning to enable the students to master Python in a fun and engaging environment. 

This year's competition was the “Dots and Boxes” Game in Python. During the mini hackathon, the students were asked to work individually or in teams of two to solve nine tasks and record a video to be presented to a panel of judges. They were then assessed on their speed, accuracy, and creativity. 

The winners were awarded during the “End of Python Course” ceremony. In the younger category, grades 4 to 7, the winner was Diya Jacinto (homeschooled). In the older category, grades 8 to 12, the first place winners were Rama Al-Hamidi (Michael E. DeBakey High School) and Hamza Alisic (Lycee Bonaparte De Doha), in second place, Yumna Rashid Hassan (Umm Hakeem Secondary School) and Samia Iskandar (Amna Bint Wahab Secondary School), and in third place, Rodina Alsawwaf (Alkawther Secondary School) and Yemen Alkhatib (Khalid Bin Ahmed Preparatory School).

Commenting after the closing ceremony, Dr. Eman Fituri, Director of Educational Initiatives at QCRI, said: “We are very proud of our aspiring young programmers. The competition tested their new coding skills and other abilities such as teamwork and creative problem solving. We hope the students’ success encourages them to continue their learning journeys. 

“Each year, QCRI sees demand for our Python courses growing. It is recognition of the kind of environment we have created, where students develop their talents in the fields of computer science and engineering, in a way that empowers them to become creators of technology.”