AUC Students Win Omnicom Group MENA Inter-University Challenge

AUC students Nour El Tahawy, Nour Beshir, Yousef Nassar, Mai El-Ghamry and Nadine Riad won the Omnicom Group MENA Inter-University Challenge with a $10,000 prize, competing with students from other international universities to solve a real data analytics science problem. They were the only team made up completely of undergraduates.

The contest was hosted by Omnicom Media Group, the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc., a global advertising and marketing communications company.

"They learned everything very fast, worked really hard and produced great results in very little time,' said Nouri Sakr, student adviser and assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. "I am one extremely proud mentor and wish them all the best in their future endeavors as they continue to represent AUC with such high proficiency and intellect."

The challenge involved students solving a real data science problem statement and building a model using sample datasets provided. During the first phase of the competition, teams from each university competed against each other, and in the second phase, the winning team from each university competed against each other in Dubai.

What the Students Have to Say

"When they announced that we were first-place winners, the happiness I felt was indescribable. It was truly the perfect ending to a story of hard work, dedication and perseverance."

— Nadine Riad, business administration 

"Winning this competition made me feel that this hard work for two months finally paid off, especially after realizing that we were competing with graduate students."

— Nour El Tahawy, actuarial science 

“It felt great to win the first prize; our hard work paid off. Yet, the greatest reward was what I became to be. The journey, indeed, developed my skills and personality."

— Mai El-Ghamry, actuarial science 

"Getting the chance to challenge myself and represent AUC in an international data science competition has been a pleasure and an honor on its own. Topping that with actually winning the competition against graduate students from other top universities is one of the main highlights of my undergraduate journey here at AUC, which I will forever cherish and remember."

— Nour Beshir, business administration and economics