Today's Edition
MAYS IBRAHIMM (ABU DHABI)
A new crop of entrepreneurs is emerging from the halls of 42 Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital’s disruptive, tuition-free coding academy.
As part of its inaugural Entrepreneurship Week, the academy is showcasing a diverse array of innovative student-led Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) that tackle real-world challenges through coding applications.
Child Sense: Bridging Psychology and AI for Child Development42 Abu Dhabi student Mohammad Algafri, along with his team members, Mulham Soufi, Maha Gasem Elsid, Ahmed Kanbari, Iman Qandyl, and Zubydullo Abdirakhmonov, created a solution aimed at understanding and alleviating the impact of stress on children.
“Children often can’t express stress, but their bodies remember it,” Algafri told Aletihad.
Drawing from his psychology knowledge and coding skills acquired at 42 Abu Dhabi, Algafri helped develop an AI-powered stress detection system for children called Child Sense.
The system uses wearable sensors to monitor heart rate, skin response, and heart rate variability, detecting stress levels in real time.
“When there’s a spike in stress based on location or time, the AI generates questions that help the child express what’s bothering them,” Algafri explained.
The tool provides parents with insights, allowing them to intervene early to reduce stress, a key factor in childhood mental health challenges such as ADHD, he noted.
Algafri credits 42 Abu Dhabi with providing the collaborative environment that enabled him to bring his vision to life.
“At 42, we’re encouraged to work across disciplines. I connected with AI experts, data managers and web developers, combining our skills to make this project a reality.”
Cohub42: Revolutionising Team Building for Startups
Another innovative venture, Cohub42, seeks to solve a common problem for entrepreneurs: finding the right team.
Its development was a group effort by students Noof Al shebli, Ouafa Talha, Abdoul Aziz Taro, and Hamsathul Haris.
The platform uses AI to match startup founders with potential co-founders, developers, and investors.
Speaker to Aletihad, co-founder Haris, an aerospace engineer with experience in start-up development, explained that Cohub42’s AI algorithm analyses users’ profiles and matches them with suitable partners based on their skills, backgrounds, and needs.
“It’s like a social network for start-ups, but with a focus on building teams,” Haris said.
In addition to team-building, Cohub42 offers 24/7 AI-powered business assistance, smart investor booking, and expert mentorship, giving entrepreneurs the tools they need to scale.
Haris credits 42 Abu Dhabi’s hands-on learning approach with equipping him with the practical skills needed to launch such a venture.
“At 42, we don’t just learn coding; we learn to collaborate, pitch ideas,and solve real-world problems. It’s a completely different experience from traditional education,” he added.
GrowAI: A Comprehensive Growth Tracker for Parents
For parents navigating the challenges of child development, GrowAI offers a unique solution. The platform aggregates a child’s medical records, grades, and even photos and videos to generate comprehensive reports on their physical, mental and emotional growth.
Developed by 42 Abu Dhabi students Jinxiu Yao, Mukhammadusmon Ganiev, Faraz Khan, Alban Medetbek, and Abdulloh Rashidov, GrowAI aims to simplify child monitoring by providing intuitive charts and actionable insights.
Parents can access real-time data, helping them make informed decisions about their child’s well-being.
“We provide a centralised report that is easy to understand and shows parents the next steps they should take,” Yao told Aletihad.
What sets GrowAI apart is its ability to connect parents to healthcare providers and support them with early intervention strategies, ensuring that no child’s development is overlooked, he noted.
Reflecting on his experience, Yao also highlighted the unique approach of 42 Abu Dhabi, where hands-on coding is prioritised: “I’ve been a student here for the past two years, and it’s a revolutionary environment where you focus on writing programmes from day one-it’s all about getting into the code and learning through doing.”
The Entrepreneurship Week, which kicked off on Tuesday, is organised in partnership with the Authority of Social Contribution – Ma’an, Abu Dhabi School of Management, Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, startAD and Endless Studios.
