CMU-Q senior places third in Stars of Science

Updated October 24

Mohammed Al-Qassabi placed third in the Stars of Science television competition with his invention of an automatic football offside detector. Al-Qassabi is a senior in the information systems program at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foundation partner university. 

Al-Qassabi was the youngest finalist, and the only one from Qatar, in the series’ 13th season. An avid football player and fan, he invented the offside detector while a first-year student at CMU-Q. 

“One of my most useful classes was learning to code in Python,” he said. “When I started at CMU-Q, I just had the idea for the offside detector, but I could make a proper prototype once I learned to code.”

During his first year, he won a gold medal for the project at the 11th International Invention Fair Middle East (IIFME) in Kuwait. He refined the prototype and in his second year at CMU-Q, he received the individual gold medal at the Doha Oasis for Innovation. Al-Qassabi also won Best Startup at Al Fikra 2020. 

“During Stars of Science, the jury asked me to develop the project further,” said Al-Qassabi. “Now it not only detects if the ball is offside, but it tracks performance and can record the mechanism of any injuries.”

Mohammed Al-Qassabi presents to the jury at Stars of Science Season 13.

During the proof of concept, engineering, and design phases of the competition, Al-Qassabi received top marks from the judges. 

“I am thankful for how Stars of Science has helped me improve my invention. Insh’allah, I hope it could be used in Qatar football, and maybe even at the World Cup.”