Doha: Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a partner university of Qatar Foundation, celebrated its flagship undergraduate research symposium, Meeting of the Minds 2026, bringing together 65 research projects in both in-person and online formats.
According to Qatar News Agency, CMU-Q's press statement highlighted the event's mission to display academic creativity amid a challenging semester. The symposium included an online stream for students who completed the semester remotely due to regional conflicts.
Khalid Al-Abdulla, a Biological Sciences graduate from the Class of 2026, won first place in the Extensive Research category for his honors thesis on the roles of hnRNPA2B1 in triple-negative breast cancer. His research was guided by Professor Ihab Younis and Mariam Elesnawi, focusing on biological mechanisms to combat aggressive tumor progression.
In the online stream, Information Systems sophomores Iroda Ibrohimova and Madina Mirzatayeva earned top honors in the Extensive Research category. Under the mentorship of Professor Gianni Di Caro, their project involved generating synthetic datasets for training deep models in large-scale animal group analysis.
Dean Michael Trick praised the resilience and dedication of student researchers, stating, "At Carnegie Mellon, we aim to have a transformative impact on society through learning and inquiry. I am very proud of these students who prioritized knowledge during weeks of uncertainty."
Judges from academia, healthcare, and industry in Qatar evaluated the projects, awarding top Early Research honors to Mohamed Waiel Shikfa and Ragad Sadaqa in their respective streams.
Specialty awards included the Social and Environment Impact Award won by Julia Nicole Castillo for her sustainability research, and Jawaher Alsayed's project on flavonoid solubility for antibacterial therapy. The Best Poster Design Award was awarded to Ghani Raissov and Peidi Dong for their respective research.
The Meeting of the Minds symposium, initiated at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1995, continues its tradition at CMU-Q, providing a platform for students to present their research to faculty, peers, and industry experts.