Qatari students win 25,000 QAR for 3D printed vegetable development

According to Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foundation partner university, two of its students, Mohammad Fadhel Annan and Lujain Al Mansoori, have won a top prize in the FoodTech category at a Qatar Development Bank (QDB) competition – for their idea for 3D printed vegetables, an alternative to farming that could bolster food security in places like Qatar where there is very little arable land.

QDB’s Business Incubation and Acceleration Hackathon was designed to empower entrepreneurs in Qatar to share their ideas and creative solutions to address challenges in digital transformation across a variety of industries. As the winners of the FoodTech category, the team received 25,000 QAR to invest in their idea.

The 2023 edition spanned the Fintech, SportsTech, and FashionTech industries, and featured solutions on enabling customers experiences, and operational solutions for digital transformation, in several sectors such as food tech.

“We encourage our students at CMU-Q to apply the knowledge they learn here to create solutions that will have a big impact. Congratulations to Mohammad and Lujain for such an innovative approach to food security,” said Michael Trick, Dean of CMU-Q.

For the competition, Annan and Al Mansoori developed their idea to use a combination of artificially grown vegetable cells and UV-sensitive 3D printer ink to print vegetables. Their pitch included plans to modify 3D printers to accommodate biological matter, and a 3D printed carrot prototype.

Dr. Hamad Mejegheer, Executive Director of Advisory and Incubation at QDB, emphasized the importance of the competition, which “represents a continuation of our efforts to foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem that embraces innovators and pioneers who add value to our diversified and knowledge-based economy in line with the strategic objectives of the Qatar National Vision 2030.”

Both students are beginning their third year in information systems at CMU-Q, and they intend on developing their idea as they continue their studies. Mohammed Al-Sadi, a teaching assistant for information systems, served as a mentor on the project.

“We have spent a lot of time developing a CAD model for a specialized 3D printer that can use edible inks to print food products. As each layer is printed, UV light solidifies the edible ink, and in the end, you have a vegetable,” said Mohammad Fadhel Annan.

“We could potentially print food in bulk, greatly reducing the time and money it takes to grow fruits and vegetables. It’s limitless what we can do,” said Lujain Al Mansoori.

After their successful pitch at the QDB competition, the students have been offered a seat in QDB’s startup program, where they will have access to experts and mentors to guide their progress.