College of the North Atlantic–Qatar’s (CNA-Q) top students were rewarded for their academic achievements for last year, 2015-16, at the 14th annual awards ceremony.
The event was sponsored for the third year by Oryx GTL, which offered four very special awards to students who demonstrated academic excellence as well as a commitment to leadership, entrepreneurship, sport, and health and wellness.
Jabor Abdulla al-Kuwari, a Business Administration – Human Resource Management student, won the Oryx GTL Academic Excellence Award in Entrepreneurship. At 22, he started a franchise of healthy restaurants called the Diet House with his friend. Today they have four locations in Qatar and are looking to rapidly expand.
This year, 108 students who achieved a Grade Point Average of 4.0, were entered into the Honour Society. On average, the cumulative averages of award winners this year are higher than last year, which were higher than the year before.
Other awards presented during the ceremony included the Highest Achiever Scholarship, which was presented to Information Systems – Web Developer student Namreen Rabia Javlikar for her 97.32% weighted average.  
Highest Achievers from each of the College’s Schools – Engineering Technology, Business Studies, Information Technology and Health Sciences – were also recognised with scholarships. The awards ceremony opened with inspirational messages from CNA-Q president, Dr Ken MacLeod, and Oryx GTL chief administrative officer Mohamed al-Enazi.
Dr MacLeod said it is a delight to see so many students acknowledged for their hard work and dedication to their studies. “As educators, we feel a sense of fulfilment in knowing that we helped foster the success of our students so that they will have the skills to build bright futures for themselves.”
Al-Enazi observed that all of the students who received awards demonstrated the commitment, drive, desire and abilities to succeed.  
“These qualities will serve them as leaders of tomorrow, as each and every one has a crucial role in helping Qatar achieve the National Vision 2030.”
Oryx GTL is also the sponsor of the President’s Medal for Academic Excellence, which will be presented to top graduating students in May.