Mesk Abdusalam

-August 2024
LinkedIn

Mesk was only 13 years old when she was introduced to the Meshka training program, making her one of the youngest Meshka students. She was trained by Basil, another senior student from Meshka where he is continuing his journey with Meshka through teaching now. We follow her exquisite journey from being a high achiever to saving people’s lives.

“I was 13 years old when I joined the Meshka training program, now when I look back I see the huge transformation. My mindset completely transformed, and I became much more critical with my thinking, I wouldn't be the person I am right now if it wasn't for joining this program at such a young age”

In 2022, Mesk, an aspiring young lady, claimed 8th place in the Arab Future Programmers Contest by the University of Applied Science in Jordan. Hailing from Palestine, she showcased his exceptional coding skills and went on to secure first place in the IC coding contest in Nablus City.

Furthermore At the Arab Regional Girls Summit in 2022, Mesk, the first-prize winner, represented Palestine. "At the Arab Regional Girls Summit, I was honored to represent Palestine. My study project intended to use virtual reality (VR) technology to shock patients with their phobias, a tactic known as cognitive behavioral therapy. This concept has never been put out in this way before."

Mesk, who won the national tech talent competition with her project Quantum Revolution with the Al Nayzak organization, also represented Palestine at NASA in 2022.

At the ISEF international science fair, in Palestine. Mesk qualified alongside other students from Palestine in the year 2023, to participate in the science fair in Texas, US. Presenting the one-of-a-kind research project that claimed her 4th place over various competitors from all over the world.

When she was only 16, she came face to face with the painful experience of watching her brother struggle with itchy dry skin creases on his elbows. In Palestine, finding proper medical treatment is not always on the table. Being the brilliant mind she is, she decided to use the coding and problem-solving skills she got from her Meshka training and put her tech knowledge into practice. Using AI to come up with a software, she concluded months of delays to find doctor appointments, hundreds of patients in her country who suffer from the same conditions as her brother, into seconds of uploading some pictures of their disease, with an accurate diagnosis of 83%.

“It’s called Derma X, the smartphone app can identify 18 skin conditions. Besides eczema, these also include psoriasis and acne. I trained the software using more than 50,000 publicly available photos. Derma X now correctly diagnoses skin conditions 83 percent of the time. It is very easy to use.”

Many doctors showed interest in her app and wanted to use it in their diagnosis. “Everyone was impressed”, she says. “They’re grateful that there could soon be a way to diagnose skin conditions in the blink of an eye.”

Derma X earned Mesk fourth place in the systems-software division at ISEF and a $500 prize. She also won a Mawhiba Universal Enrichment Program award and $200 from the King Abdulaziz & his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity. That last group is an educational foundation in Saudi Arabia that cultivates creativity.

“Up until this moment, we are seeing tech and AI being taken into luxurious and innovative ways of entertainment. While people are still dying from the absence of basic human needs like access to proper medical treatments. We are missing the role of AI in actually saving people’s lives, not just making it more amusable; that is what I am aiming for.”

Mesk's achievements did not end with her groundbreaking app. She received scholarships to esteemed institutions, including a full scholarship to King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) and a partial scholarship to the University of Applied Sciences in Jordan. Additionally, she is invited to participate in the World Robotics Olympiad (WRO), where she plans to present her pioneering research on quantum robotics, focused on simulating boat transportation and connectivity over water.

Mesk is carrying out her independent research in cybersecurity. She is working on a project titled "A Novel Approach for analyzing the cipher algorithm of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and developing a new quantum algorithm in the era of quantum computing and cybersecurity." She also won first place in the Palestine Science and Engineering Fair, which qualifies her team for ISEF, but unfortunately the Palestinian team was unable to travel to Los Angeles, California, due to financial obstacles by the organizing committee.

Mesk is the head of the research team for the "feeding the future" theme and a senior researcher on Palestine's first robotics team, the national robotics team that will compete in the First Global Challenge in Athens, Greece.

“This is a really significant project; we are developing second-order cone programming, which is the same tool I will be using for my robot, to greatly increase the efficiency of the manufacturing phase.”

Mesk is currently a student and member of the largest non-governmental organization in Palestine (Al Nayzak) through Horizons Academy.

“Horizons Academy is not a place for talented students. It is a place where the best students in Palestine are willing to apply for the best universities. “As a student and ambassador, I have witnessed all different kinds of Palestinian students, and it feels like you are in a simulation of a liberal arts college, but as a high school student, which gave me the ability to have my own thoughts and opinions about the upcoming leaders and innovators.”

Meshka’s program played a pivotal role in shaping Mesk's journey. The program encourages students to consistently dominate problem-solving competitions across Palestine and the Middle East, positioning themselves as pioneers and high achievers in their fields. Mesk acknowledges the unmatched support and assistance she received from her fellow Meshka participants throughout her extraordinary journey.

“If you would see the students of Meshka, they are in every single competition in Palestine, they are pioneers in every problem-solving competition in Palestine and the Middle East, they are dominating the high achievers' sector, this sense of community helped me a lot, they are all extremely helpful and supported me throughout my journey. Since Meshka is a wonderful chapter in my life that I don't intend to close anytime soon, I hope that the students in the upcoming years will be just as well-rounded and unique as my generation. I gained a lot of wonderful friends, mentors, and networking connections during my journey”