University of Dubai (UD) College of Information Technology (IT) students displayed their capstone projects on May 31
st, 2016 at UDís new campus in Academic City, Dubai. Under the supervision of Dr. Sami Miniaoui, Dean of IT at UD, two senior IT groups delivered their capstone projects; e-Pot, ìa system that maintains and manages plantsî and VTS a ìVehicular Tracking System.î UD deans, staff, faculty, and students, attended a brief presentation by both group members who explained the concept and function of their projects. The attendees witnessed the embodiment of these seniorsí efforts, sleepless nights, and hard work through their final, decisive capstone projects. Introducing a creative feature to the world of plants, Asra Asbali, Babel Younes, Walid Nooman, and Ghalia Ramadan designed the ìe-Potî project. The ìe-Potî enables users to comment on pictures, share their experience, interact with other users, and delve deeper into the world of plants through their personal accounts on the application and website. The system is also programmed to provide users with ample information about plants and notify them about watering timings along with other tasks and issues. Commenting on the ìe-Potî system, Dr. Miniaoui stated in an interview that ìe-Potî is the fruitful product of several, continuous discussions and meetings with Plant Nursery in Dubai. ìUD students have brought plants into social media and the world of interaction and ìe-Potî is eligible of becoming a business model,î added Dr. Miniaoui. The second IT capstone project named ìVehicular Tracking Systemî (VTS) is directed to banks and Dubai authorities. VTS project was devised and presented by Hussain Al Bastaki, Danial Hussain, Maryam Al Abdullah, and Ashraf Al Ani. As its name implies, VTS is a system that is meant to help banks locate cars and release burdens from Dubai Police and RTA. ìIn a smart city, this is a smart application,î said Dr. Miniaoui. He also mentioned that these students are looking forward to expanding this project further, as some banks showed interest in it. ìWe, at UD, are planning to commercialize our studentsí capstone projects,î concluded Dr. Miniaoui. Dr. Eesa Basktaki, UD President, who also showed his presence and support to students at the presentations noted that ìOur role as a university is to provide our students with the appropriate tools to innovate, contribute to the eco-system, and enhance advanced research in the UAEî.
