VCUQatar Students Design Stage at Annual Research Conference

Qatar Foundation’s Annual Research Conference 2016 (ARC’16) was held on March 22-23 2016 at Qatar National Convention Centre, and 23 students from Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCUQatar) attended the event, which attracted several hundred people, including scientists, international scholars, students, and local dignitaries.

VCUQatar’s Interior Design (IDES) program partnered with QF R&D to organize a student design competition for the conference.

The aim of the competition was to design a stage that would host the opening ceremony, and the award ceremony at the end of the conference. Awards would be given in nine categories, ranging from Computing and Information Technology, and Main Stage Design, to the Best Research Office of the Year.  

The judging for the award for stage design consisted of two phases. The IDES faculty judged the first phase, and they ended up shortlisting 10 projects.

The 10 shortlisted projects were then sent to representatives from Qatar Foundation, as well as the design company (The Audience Motivation Company Asia), which would then construct the winning stage design, with the involvement of the winners.

Thuraya Al Omar and Sherin Karawia, both IDES senior students from VCUQatar, won the ARC’16 Main Stage Design Competition. VCUQatar and its IDES program were also recognized at the opening ceremony for their art and design contribution to the conference. 

ARC has been taking place since 2010. It allows knowledge sharing and cooperation to take place between Qatar’s brightest scientific minds and leading international researchers.