Enhancing efficiency at ports, terminals: Hyd student wins DP World's Big Tech World

Dhanalaxmi along with her teammate Abass Bamidele Abdulsalam overcame stiff competition from three other teams.

By Newsmeter Network  Published on  29 Nov 2022 11:00 AM GMT
Enhancing efficiency at ports, terminals: Hyd student wins DP Worlds Big Tech World

Hyderabad: A student from Hyderabad studying in the UAE, Dhanalaxmi Gaddam, has won the first edition of DP World's Big Tech Project. The award was given to Dhanalasmi Gaddem for finding a virtual solution that could enhance productivity and efficiency at ports and terminals around the world.

Dhanalaxmi Gaddam of Hyderabad is currently studying at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi, UAE. She along with her teammate Abass Bamidele Abdulsalam overcame stiff competition from three other teams. Akshat Garg and Agrim Jain from the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore, India (IIITB) took the runner-up spot. Other teams from IIIT Bangalore and IIT Kharagpur made up the remaining finalists. The winner will receive a top-of-the-line Macbook and a $5,000 cash prize, while the runner-up will receive $3,000.

DP World is a leading provider of smart logistics with operations across the globe. The theme for this year was to design solutions that answer one question—How would you solve trade challenges through the power of the Metaverse? The participants were from India and UAE.




The inaugural round of the competition challenged students from the top universities in UAE and India to reimagine global supply chains and create new technology-driven solutions. The event witnessed participation from major universities in India and the UAE before the final four teams were treated to an all-expenses paid trip to Dubai.

The expert panel of judges assessing the four shortlisted solutions felt that the Metaverse-based solutions created by students from some of India and the UAE's leading universities have the potential to change the face of global trade in the future.

All the finalists will now be offered an exclusive two-month internship and private mentoring with DP World where they will be introduced to staff leading the development of cutting-edge applications in heavy automation, Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and robotics to change how trade flows.

Dhanalaxmi, a Masters student in machine learning, and Abbas Bamidele Abdulsalam, who is pursuing his M.Sc. in computer vision, described their winning solution as two ideas in one—using 3D immersive experiences via VR, MR, and AR technologies to better improve supply chains.

Dhanalaxmi said, "We are very proud of our solution. It might not be the biggest idea, but we would like people to know that technologies can help companies to work smarter. We wanted to understand the challenges that the logistics industry faces and how technology can alleviate genuine issues a company like DP World experiences."

She further said, "We couldn't have done this without our mentor Mostafa ElSayed from DP World. He gave us an understanding of the industry that we initially did not have, helped polish our ideas, and also helped us to see how being process driven is critical to coming up with technological solutions. It is very encouraging to witness that companies like DP World are focused on using the Metaverse and other futuristic technologies for solutions to their challenges and our experience has given us a feel of what working with the company would be like. We would definitely want to work with the company in the future as they are committed to using technological solutions to solve a range of pressing challenges the industry and the world face today."

Pradeep Desai, DP World's chief technology officer, who was part of the judging panel, said, "The Metaverse is obviously very new and we cannot predict exactly how it could be utilised in our industry in the future, but the ideas these inspiring students put forward have the potential to change the face of global trade. We were impressed by what we saw and are really looking forward to the students joining us for their internship."

He added, "At DP World, we are focused on making trade flow seamlessly through technological innovations and solutions. We believe that technology will make trade more resilient by infusing flexibility, resilience, and transparency into the logistics ecosystem. This event has demonstrated the power of fresh, innovative thinking and we are confident that the internship will benefit the students as well as our organisation as we work together in changing what's possible in trade and logistics."

Next Story