Safin Bayes wins Ignite Doha 2017

Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq) electrical and computer engineering student Safin Bayes won Ignite Doha 2017 with an insightful and informative presentation on the Big Bang theory recently at the Texas A&M Engineering Building in Education City.
Ignite Doha, like a TED talk, asks students to introduce a topic of their choice to a general audience in an engaging manner. The format challenged students to give fast and fun five-minute presentations, while also testing their ability to be clear and concise.
Ignite Doha is a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) initiative of Texas A&M at Qatar that develops communication, organisation, visual literacy and presentation skills.
‘Writing Across the Curriculum’ co-ordinator and instructional assistant professor in the Liberal Arts Programme, Dr Amy Hodges, said: “As we know from the companies that employ our graduates, 21st century engineers have to be adaptable and creative communicators in order to succeed in the workplace. An engineer can have an innovative idea, but if he or she can’t communicate it to others, nothing happens.”
Seven students competed in the finals. Abdullah Yousef placed second and Sofian Ghazali came third. The other finalists included Qishu Zhang, Alaa Abdulla, and Shaheen al-Kuwari and Jassim al-Matwi, who presented jointly.
The presenters “all performed exceptionally in front of a crowd packed with fellow students, staff, faculty and judges”, Tamuq said in a press statement. Presentations ranged from reflections on black holes, inspiration to do what you love and to do it with others, the power of music, and why Americans call football soccer.
After his presentation on how the cold temperature in classrooms affects student performance, Yousef said: “Ignite showed me that preparation translates into confidence. I was able to deliver a good presentation because of the hard work I had done before the presentation. It helped me understand my nervousness and how I can overcome it.”
Ghazali added, “Ignite your speaking and thinking skills to explain a complex topic to people of all ages in five minutes. Not as easy as it sounds, but worth it!”
The judges were last year’s winner and electrical and computer engineering senior Abdulaziz Saad al-Qahtani, career services co-ordinator Sarah Aboulhosn, mechanical engineering professor Dr Eyad Masad, head of outreach at Qatar Foundation Research and Development Abtesam Yousuf, distinguished career professor of business communication at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar Patrick McGinnis, petroleum engineering former student Maryam al-Bishri and Oxy Qatar director of EOR and Development John Bolling.