We Will Miss Mohammad Atary
MEET mourns the passing of one of its beloved students, Mohammad Atary, who died on October 14th, 2005 after he was hit by a car. The MEET team would like to extend our deep condolences to the Atary family. Mohammad's endless and captivating energy and smiles will be sorely missed by all of us at MEET. Several members of the MEET family choose to leave some words about him, and those can be seen on our blog.

Volunteers Spearhead European Operations
In recent months MEET has expanded its operations in Europe with special emphasis on France & England. In France, Amir Ofek, former head of the MEET mentor program and a current MBA student at INSEAD, has begun work on fundraising, raising awareness and PR for MEET's upcoming 2006 program. On the other side of the channel, a team of young enthusiastic professionals from the high tech sector, led by Brandon Coppel, founder and CEO of PC-Correct (www.pcc-online.co.uk) and Boaz Hecht have begun cooperating with existing and new UK supporters to expand MEET's business and academic network.

MIT Student Group Founded
Determined to ensure MEET's sustainability and to continue to allow MIT students to gain from the unique MEET summer experience, members of the MIT Instructor team from both 2004 and 2005 created the MEET MIT Student Organization. The Organization will be responsible for recruiting future instructor teams, expanding MEET's network at MIT, and spreading the word about MEET all over the campus. The Student Organization will be an integral part of the MEET organization working closely with the Middle East team to develop and ensure each summer's success.

MEET Recognized by MIT Leadership Center
On Thursday October 7, 2005 MEET received an honorarium from the newly launched MIT Leadership Center in recognition of its leadership role and the example MEET sets as a student-led organization. The launch of the new Center celebrated MIT leaders who unite their management, science, and engineering skills to improve the world. MEET was proud to be a part of this exiting and special occasion (Photo).

MEET and The International Development Forum!
Aiming to create future interest in MEET and present the organizations achievements, MEET MIT instructors represented the organization through an informational booth at MIT's 2005 International Development Forum this fall. The fair, a central event which brings together the leading development organizations at MIT, focused on new and innovative approaches to International Development. The MEET booth received much attention standing out in its innovative use of technology as a conflict resolution mechanism.

On August 4th 2005, 49 excelling Palestinian and Israeli high school students took part in MEET's graduation 2005, marking the completion of the second MEET summer program (Student Page). 18 of the students had returned for their second year to take part in the MEET Advanced Summer Course, while 31 had arrived for their first MEET summer, having been chosen from a very selective admissions process. It was an intense five weeks: every day from 9am to 5pm the students found themselves submerged in a very challenging curriculum of computer programming, business and entrepreneurship. Eight MIT instructors who volunteered their summer for MEET taught the program's curriculum. In addition, there were a variety of lectures by leading Palestinian and Israeli businessmen who discussed their experiences in the high tech sector, and the challenges of building companies and developing IT in the region. Couple that with plenty of exciting extracurricular activities such as an outdoors training day to develop leadership and teamwork. As they parted from their MIT instructors, the students finished their last day at MEET with hugs and tears but also with renewed energy to embark on the next stage of the program - the yearly MEET projects.

See the MEET summer in action now! Visit our photo gallery.

This past July 18 MEET students returned for their second summer in MEET. After working together throughout the 2004-2005 year in small project teams which focused on advanced Java programming skills, the students were now ready to face a new challenge: create, design, and market a real software product. Five weeks later, each of the three teams had created a working prototype, a competitive business plan, and a convincing and professional presentation. Here is a brief description of each project:

MEET Math In Space - A computer game for making math fun. The goal of Math In Space is to teach basic math skills while holding the student’s interest. Players control the main character, an astronaut named Boojie, battling aliens through multipl e levels, while answering math questions along the way.

MEET Navigator - A welcome system for visitors and new students at university campuses. The software runs on touch-screen kiosks physically installed around the campus. MEET Navigator is a complete solution for university campuses interested in improving the experience of visitors to an unfamiliar location.

MEET Jersualem - A tourist website for people to learn about the various attractions in the Old City in Jerusalem. The content of the site is controlled entirely by those who live there or have recently visited, as the user has the ability to make suggestions and upload photos and video.

In 2004, representatives of the Japanese government visited the MEET summer program. Meeting the students, and seeing them work together on programming projects, the representatives identified the competitive advantage of MEET of using technology and education to bridge between the two sides. The innovative model, focus on a professional common language and excellence performance all appealed to the representatives which pledged their support. Following the initial visit, the Japanese Government decided to invest financially in s 2005 program (Photo).

"By using computer technology as a tool, the MEET program has directly brought together the hearts of Israeli and Palestinian juveniles." said Mr. Ryuta Mizuuchi, Minister of the Embassy of Japan. "MEET contributes to the enhancement of confidence and friendship between each other. Not only participants but also their families and all those who endeavor to make the program possible share in its significance, and achieve excellent results."

Over the years the Japanese Government has been a vital and steadfast supporter of developing the Middle East and promoting a peaceful resolution between Palestinians and Israelis. In supporting MEET, the government's representatives have emphasized that they were investing in the future of the region and its people.

MEET Starts Its New Mentor Program

With the MEET 2005 summer program completed, the students have moved on to the year-long part of their involvement in MEET. These 49 high school students are taking the projects they started during the summer and developing them further under the guidance of 8 mentors - computer science professionals from the area who wish to share their expertise with the younger generation. Arriving at MEET with a diverse set of backgrounds, they are united by a high degree of professionalism, a love of the subject matter and a desire to encourage cooperation in the area. Wael Salam from the Golan Heights studied in the Technion where he majored in both Computer Science and in Electrical Engineering. A successful engineer who has worked in Samsung Electronics - Samsung Telecom Research Israel for the past 5 years, he came to MEET, he says, "to give as much as [he] can to the best students" and to be part of the type of project to which he has always dreamed of contributing. Iddo Arie a Software Engineer whose hobbies include "sports, cars and Irish beers," echoes Wael. Though sharing his expertise and knowledge - gained in years of study at the Technion and work experience at Sun Microsystems Israel - is part of what he seeks to do at MEET, he also hopes "to show the young generation how beautiful cooperation is."

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