Students from the University of Petra won second place in the North Amman Entrepreneurship Hackathon 2026 for their innovative project, "PalmGuard." The competition was organized by the Erada Initiative in cooperation with the Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship Center at Amman Arab University, with the aim of selecting and developing the best technology projects.
The VCoders programming team, comprising students Zaid Abu Al-Shaer, Abdulrahman Al-Haimouni, and Abdulrahman Al-Kurdi, under the supervision of Dr. Abdul Karim Al-Banna, received the award for developing a smart system for the early detection of the Red Palm Weevil. The innovation uses artificial intelligence and sensor technologies to monitor palm trees and detect infestations at an early stage, helping to reduce agricultural losses.
The judging panels selected 30 participants from 169 applicants to advance through the training and project-development stages before reaching the final presentation. This achievement adds to the distinguished record of the VCoders team and the PalmGuard project, which has previously won awards in local and international competitions, demonstrating its potential as a practical technological solution to real-world agricultural challenges.