UDST President Dr. Salem Al Naemi and other officials with high-achieving students at the awards.
Doha, Qatar: The most outstanding students from University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) were recently celebrated at the University’s prestigious Annual Academic Awards ceremony. The awards honoured the exceptional academic achievements of the students and recognised a total of 49 undergraduates and graduates. The event was attended by UDST President Dr. Salem Al Naemi, and guest speaker Rachid Al Sulaiti, Deputy General Manager of Qatar Shell.
Students were recognised in eight Academic Award categories: Academic Excellence Award, Academic Merit Award; Academic Distinction Award; Foundation Program Award; Industrial Trades Dean Award; Achievement Award; Applied Research Award; and Innovation Award.
The University awarded the Academic Excellence Awards to final-year students with the highest weighted averages in their respective programmes. The Academic Excellence Award for the Master’s Degree was presented to Ameera Fatima Anaz, a student in the Accounting and Finance programme at the College of Business; for the Bachelor’s Degree the award was presented to Aivan Aves, a student in the Electrical Engineering – Automation and Control Systems programme at the College of Engineering and Technology; for the Advanced Diploma the honour was given to Abdulaziz Khaled Azazi, a student in the Chemical and Processing Engineering Technology programme at the College of Engineering and Technology, and the Academic Excellence Award for the Two-Year Diploma was presented to Reem Omar, a student in the Pharmacy Technology programme at the College of Health Sciences.
Commenting on the occasion, Dr Al Naemi said, “These awards do not just represent academic excellence, but also the values of continuous learning and innovation. We are committed to making a positive impact on the community in Qatar. The achievements of our students reflect the high standard of education at UDST and the value our faculty members place on nurturing future leaders. The Awards Night is not just a celebration of individual achievements, but a testament to the collective spirit and ambition that characterizes our University.”
UDST places a high value on research and innovation, giving students the opportunity of hands-on, practical projects, and exposure to real industry experience. Special recognition was given through the Applied Research Award to Nihala Moosa Panangat, a student in the Pharmacy Technology programme.
Nihala has participated in two funded research projects, under two calls, UREP 29 and UREP 30 through which she has published and presented a paper and two posters. At the recent International Conference on in-silico Trends and Approaches in Drug Discovery and Development, her work entitled ‘Computational Assessment of Pharmacokinetics for three desert plants with promising antibiotic potential’ was an important research area. With the growing global resistance to antibiotics, research is now looking to find new antimicrobial medicines from natural sources. Nihala presented her work to international experts who were impressed with the quality and defense of her research.
The Innovation Award, was presented to Sumaiya Rizwan, a student in the Data and Cyber Security programme who represented the university in Huawei’s Seeds for the Future competition in Dubai. The product is Tactobraille, an innovative smart glove designed to enhance the accessibility of information for those who are blind or visually impaired. All recipients of the Academic Excellence Awards and Academic Merit Awards were offered monetary awards, and all winners received a university certificate, with the distinction noted on their official transcript.
