NYUAD International Hackathon for Social Good
Quantum Computing and UN Sustainable Development Goals
2024 WINNERS
1st Place & Audience Award
QGasBusters | كاشف الغاز (Team 20)
QGasBusters protects critical infrastructure by instantly detecting pipeline anomalies, and optimally allocating emergency resources using Quantum Sensing & Machine Learning.
Students
- Mateo Stipanicic, Junior, Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
- Sarah Marya Mitiche, Masters, University of Essex, UK
- Federico Fuidio, Senior, Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
- Mehak Mehak, Masters, Raman Research Institute, India
- Rustem Khassanov, NYUAD, UAE
- Tamara Hamad, Sophomore, Ajman University, UAE
Mentors
- Alberto Marchisio, Postdoctoral researcher, NYUAD, UAE
- Elias Xaver Huber, Yenching Scholar, Peking University, Switzerland
- Priya Aswani, Independent Consultant, UAE

“Hackathons: where teamwork fuels innovation toward achieving SDG goals” ~ Tamara M. T Hamad
“Brilliant midns joining forces to solve problems and shape the future of quantum computing is an invaluable experience” ~ Alberto Marchisio
2nd Place & SDG Award
QMarjan | كمرجان (Team 17)
QMarjan helps identify optimal spots to achieve the highest coral restoration with limited resources.
Students
- Agustín Panizza, Senior, Universidad de Montevideo, Uruguay
- Corey Ferrier, MIT, USA
- Obada Abdallat, Junior, Applied Science Private University, Jordan
- Sojood Jamoos, Senior, An-Najah National University, Palestine
- Reem Abu Hasna, Senior, Ajman University, UAE
- Basil Ahmed Qureshi, NYUAD, UAE
- Aknur Kassym, NYUAD, UAE
- Md Hasibur Rahman, NYUAD, UAE
Mentors
- Mohammed Alkhanafseh, Assistant Professor in Computer Science (Cyber Security), Birzeit University, Palestine
- Sama Kanbour, GE Aerospace, USA
- Hayk Sargsyan, Senior Software Engineer, TII

“It was an enlightening experience! I loved working with ambitious like-minded people from around the world to contribute to the solution of global problems.” ~ Aknur Kassym
“In 3 days, the team worked together to identify a problem worth solving they felt personally passionate about, and had a chance to learn, apply and teach one another new tools and frameworks, from Quantum, ML, data visualization, storytelling, and business strategy, allowing them to build and practice new skills.” ~ Sama Kanbour
3rd Place
aQua | نقاء (Team 15)
Using Quantum Simulations to Identify how to remove harmful PFAS molecules from water supplies to make them drinkable
Students
- Yahia Abdeldjalil Benyahia, Junior, Bouira University, Algeria
- Ameera Saeed, Junior, Ajman University, UAE
- Sama Hassane
- Andrew Juang, Junior, Boston University, USA
- Mohammad Aker, Senior, An-Najah National University, Palestine
- Yassine Abbahaddou, PhD Student, Ecole Polytechnique | Visiting scholar, New York University, USA
- Ines Manel Boumazouza, Senior, Higher national School of computer science ESI, Algeria
Mentors
- Mohammad Aamir Sohail, Ph.D. Student, University of Michigan, USA
- Mamoun Abu Helou, Dr./ Head of Data Science Department, Al-Istiqlal University, Palestine
- Omar Al – Khazali, Student, American University of Sharjah, UAE
- Lalit Pradhan, PhD, Applied Scientist – NLP, Core42

“An international collaboration between brilliant young minds that want to help people in the most impactful way” ~ Omar Al Khazali