Jordanian students develop app for easier writing, drawing on touch screens

AMMAN — Two electrical engineering students have been able to develop an app that improves drawing and writing on touch screen devices using a new idea after taking part in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2014 Jordan.

Fourth year students at the Jordan University of Science and Technology Momen Nemrat and Tareq Domi developed the app using new technology that Microsoft described as “never used before”.

The two-student team, which was recently announced as the winner of the Imagine Cup 2014 Jordan, is representing the country at the Imagine Cup Arab Semi-finals in Qatar, slated for June 3, during which it will compete against participants from 22 Arab countries.  

Winners of the semifinals will qualify for the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals 2014, slated to take place in July in Seattle in the US, according to Microsoft.

“Taking part in the competition has greatly enhanced my skills and those of my colleague Tareq,” Nemrat told The Jordan Times over the phone on Saturday.

“The feedback, training and mentorship my colleague and I received while taking part in the competition were priceless. We had the chance to interact with businesspeople and experts in the fields of software and applications,” he added.

“The app we developed helps engineers, designers and professional artists greatly because it enables very precise drawing. We hope that the app will be available in app stores before we head to Qatar in June,” said Nemrat.

“The competition plays an important role in exposing us students to actual market needs as through the feedback we got we were able to improve our application — ‘the Pen’.”

The Pen team, which was the overall winner of the Imagine Cup 2014 Jordan, was also the winner in the competition’s innovation category, which honours developers of applications that deliver accessible innovations and advance major platforms such as social networks, search engines, classified advertisements or online shopping, according to a statement from Microsoft Jordan. 

In 2011, Jordan ranked third in the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals.

Launched 11 years ago, Imagine Cup is geared towards encouraging and empowering students to make a change, according to Microsoft. 

The year-long competition kicks-off with national online rounds in more than 100 countries, after which finalists qualify to compete in the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals, which are held in a different country each year. 

Imagine Cup brings together talented students from around the world and provides them with “invaluable resources and opportunities” to innovate using the latest technologies.