AUS student creates apps to calculate GPA and buy and sell books

University students across the UAE can enjoy two new apps directly targeted at them. My GPA Calculator and Bookswap have been created by American University of Sharjah (AUS) student Tarek Al Zubair and his friend and mentor Ali Khawaja, Instructor in Management.

My GPA Calculator can be used by university students across the world to calculate their GPA. The grading scale is adjustable by entering the university grading system in the settings option, making it a global app.

According to Al Zubair, "There are many GPA calculators in the App Store-we are by no means the first. But we wanted to make a GPA calculator simply to demonstrate our philosophy of design and development. We aim to make our apps user centric; we asked users what features they felt were missing and their wish list of features. For the GPA Calculator, students' feedback was that they wanted their grades to be saved, so they wouldn't have to enter them each time. Also, they wanted to be able to access the grades from other platforms. The app saves the grades and then you can see them on an iPhone, the web or an Android device."

Bookswap, targeted at UAE-based universities at present, allows students to select their university and buy and sell books. "Bookswap was a continuation of a project done by another AUS student last year. Posting a book has been made very easy. There is no need to type in the information as students can use our built-in barcode scanner to get the information for each book," said Al Zubair. "Bookswap in its first phase will be targeted at the UAE, and, in its second phase, it will go for a global launch. The system at the moment is targeting university students, based on university selection. We are currently working on another version that will be launched in three to four months that will be open to books of all genres."

"It is a pleasure to support students with vision and drive," said Khawaja. "An idea will forever remain an idea, but putting it into action makes all the difference."

The two apps can be downloaded as "My GPA Calc" and "Bookswap Edu" on the App Store and Google Play.

Previously, Al Zubair made headlines for Sayarti, a mobile app that assists users in locating petrol stations in the UAE. Al Zubair created the app due to the lack of aggregated information about the country's petrol stations. Sayarti, the Arabic term for "my car", combines data on Adnoc, Enoc and Emarat petrol stations across the seven emirates. A new version of Sayarti is also expected to launch in a few weeks, with many additional features including an option for direct car insurance purchase.