FLYING HIGH: Alaa Abdulraheem, right, and her teammate with their prize at the Imagine Cup World Championships in Seattle.     Photos by Aamir Attaa

 INSET: DETERMINED: Alaa says she wants to set up her own factory eventually.

 

By Kamran Rehmat

SEATTLE — Team Butterfly from Bahrain did more than fly at the Imagine Cup World Championships 2014; they created a flutter with their nail polish mixer app, drawing in not only female judges, but also the vast majority of excited female participants across all categories, hosts and the media.

That the bubbly Alaa Abdulraheem managed to win a third position in the Innovation category — she later told me she would have found it hard to countenance going back home “empty-handed” — has spawned wide interest and will have done no harm to her aspirations to set up a “factory” of her own.

In a ‘polished’ interview with Gulf Times, she remained modest when asked if her feat had broken a mould in the Arab world; she was just content proudly carrying her country’s flag on the world stage.

 

What inspired the idea of a nail polish mixer app?

I was searching for a unique “girly” idea for my graduation project. One day, on my return home from an outing I found my sister sitting near a table with 127 bottles of nail polish, searching for a specific colour.

I told her to use a certain colour, but she said it was too dark; I then told her to use another colour, but she said that was too light.

I joked to her that she needed a machine that could give her the exact colour she was looking for!

Just then I thought to myself what if there indeed was a machine that could give any colour of nail polish. That’s what inspired me to “invent” the mixer!

 

What does winning the third position in the Innovation category mean to you?

Hearing my project’s name, running to the stage with my country’s flag, representing all Arab countries generally, and my country, particularly, standing on the world stage literally, and being rewarded for the effort I made to get this indigenous project off the ground is something that words cannot describe. It can only be felt in the heart.

It meant a lot to go back home with a prize in my country’s name. I’m elated to bring home something to cherish from Imagine Cup, the most prestigious global student technology competition going around.

 

I saw you in deep prayer before the announcement was made for the list of winners. What were you praying for?

(Smiles) I was praying to win one of the prizes so that I didn’t have to go back home empty-handed. I so very much wanted to raise the Bahraini flag onstage, and to make my family and the whole country proud.

What kind of support did you get from your family and others for your project?

I just want to thank them all for supporting me; my family for unreservedly helping me chase my dream with their time and money as well as friends and other organizations, who all backed me wholeheartedly.

 

What do you hope to do next after securing the third position? Do you have a business model to sell the idea?

I will be working now to turn this project into a feasible business plan, and to eventually set up my own factory in Bahrain. I hope you can buy the product after few a months (smiles).

 

The Bahraini and Qatari teams were made up of females. Is it a coincidence or does this signal a sort of paradigm shift in the Arab world (the Egyptian team also had a female member)?

I don’t know if this signals a paradigm shift, but one thing is clear: I think any girl can go on to achieve whatever she sets her mind to if she works hard enough. I’d like to think my story is proof that this can happen, and it is within our reach to aspire for glory.

 

WHAT IS NAIL
 POLISH MIXER?

Combining hardware and software, Nail Polish Mixer is an application that controls a new machine to create custom nail polish colours in less than 50 seconds. The user can choose from colour swatches or specify their own custom colour and then select a glossy, matte, or glitter finish. The hardware then mixes the pigments and the finish and delivers just enough nail polish for a single application. The application also doubles as a social media app where users can create an account, upload photos and videos, share articles and more.

Technologies: Windows, Windows Server, Visual Studio.