Carnegie Mellon student wins best creative idea at Healthcon 2022

A student from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foundation partner university, was part of the winning team for Best Creative Idea at Healthcon 2022 in Dubai. Muneera Al-Baker, a second-year student in information systems, represented Qatar in the competition along with her teammates, Qatar University students Sara Al-Baker and Eman Al-Obaide.

The competition was hosted by the Gulf Health Council as part of Expo 2020 in Dubai. Al-Baker and her teammates were tasked with creating a marketing campaign to inform youths about the dangers of using e-cigarettes.

“Our campaign focused on the teenager’s point of view,” said Al-Baker. “Instead of saying that e-cigarettes are harmful for your health, we came to them the other way by telling them that it’s not cool.”

The team presented their campaign at the GCC Pavilion of Expo 2020. She says the judges were impressed with the team’s approach to the question, as well as the materials they developed.

“We created videos to share on TikTok, because that’s where teenagers are,” she said. “When we presented to the judges, they were very impressed because we took our campaign idea and actually applied it.”

Al Baker has represented Qatar at several international events, including the 2019 International Invention Fair Middle East in Kuwait for a device she invented as a high school student.