Wollongong graduates win charity app contest

University of Wollongong students win competition to create user-friendly phone apps.

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DUBAI // Two graduates of the University of Wollongong in Dubai have won a competition to create user-friendly apps for children with special needs.

Computer-science graduates Shawn Frank and Ronak Dave were the overall winners in two categories of the app-development contest, part of Samsung's Hope for Children programme.

Their Groomar app helps students learn how to clean their teeth, bathe and wash, while the Matchalon app teaches them to match and sequence items. Children at the centre have been using them on a trial basis.

"We knew we couldn't assume anything about usability when developing these kinds of apps, so it was a great feeling when we saw the children interacting with the app and working through the exercises just as we'd envisaged," Mr Frank said.

The charity, which donated about 100 tablet computers to Al Noor Training Centre in Dubai, launched the competition to find apps that would help the students' development.

The graduates, who were chosen from more than 180 contestants, said they had wanted to use their technical expertise for a community-based project.

Mr Frank said: "If even just one child's life is positively affected by something we do, then that is a great motivation to carry on."