Success Stories
About the Project
Ghassan, a former professional Taekwondo player for Bahrain’s national team, knows all about referees in Taekwondo. He believed every fight could be judged more effectively by applying technology to the equation. Fair-play and accuracy is what he wanted. So he set things in motion and developed in 2016, ‘TakeOne’, an automatic, digital scoring and management system. Ghassan’s system acts as a digital eye, working alongside a referee. The sportsman engineer racked up enough points to impress the Stars of Science jury granting him 4th place.
Beyond Stars of Science
An electrical engineer by trade, Stars of Science opened up new possibilities for the multi-talented Ghassan. He currently works as the Technical Guru at Qatar Business Incubation Center’s (QBIC) Fab Lab, a place where budding tech entrepreneurs can see their ideas get taken to market.
Ghassan participated in the Mini Maker Faire UAE in 2018, where he took home gold at a hackathon. Throughout six grueling days, Ghassan’s team successfully designed a parking allocation system which uses visual recognition and identifies people with special needs. They no longer have to look for designated parking spots. It also fines people who take up designated spots for disabled people.
As a change-maker who advises young entrepreneurs, Ghassan is a strong advocate of impact-driven projects. Having understood the product life-cycle, he insists that it is not enough to simply finish a project. “Stars of Science has completely changed my mindset,” Ghassan said. “I used to be solely focused on the technical side, but now I know that a more encompassing approach is what defines success. A great product always has to benefit an end user, and you have to put yourself in their shoes to fully grasp its utility.”
With his regular job taking up so much of his time, Ghassan hopes he will soon go back to working on his SOS innovation. In that spirit, he commented saying, “It takes years of continuous hard work to make an idea a reality. Understanding the market is a long process, but it can be done with the right drive. It took Bassam Jalgha (Stars of Science Season 1 winner) almost eight years to take his innovation to consumers, which gives me hope. I have time on my side.”
Personal Reflection
“Stars of Science boosted my self-confidence and gave me a greater push to work on my creativity and innovations,” Ghassan reflected on his experience on the show. If he could go back in time, Ghassan would be calmer and more centered. “SOS is a challenge. But it is a sweet one. If you have an innovative thought, it means that you’ve considered someone’s struggle, and taken a big first step to resolve it. All you have to do now is focus on making it a reality.”
Follow Ghassan
Instagram: ghassanyusuf
YouTube: GhassanYousif
