Marwan and Hadi Radwan Aladdin, aged 17 and 16 respectively, were captivated by the computer and its various hardware and software aspects since they were little boys.

Being a witness to the worldwide revolution in information technology, Marwan who is a first year Computer Engineering student at the American University of Sharjah has already won the Chancellor's Scholarship for his achievements. He, along with his brother Hadi, a grade 11 student, displays an impressive mastery over a computer and can easily dismantle and reassemble a unit without any problems.

The two brothers started by playing and getting addicted to games at the age of 10, and then moved to programming and web development at the age of 11.

"We started with the aim of excelling in this field," said Marwan, adding: "We taught ourselves by searching the web and reading every bit of information about this field. Later, once we had the confidence, we started developing our own programmes."

Their father, a pianist, an engineer and a music teacher with the National Charity Schools of Juma Al Majid, taught both the brothers how to play the piano after noticing their musical talent — when they were barely five years old. The two brothers also gained much from the support of their mother, an electrical engineer who always strove to inspire her sons.

The young children, as a result, could play complex pieces of music on the piano — as well as compose their own musical scores. Marwan and Radhwan studied music and piano rigorously and also got their certificates from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London.

The two brothers have scored the top position in the UAE in a piano competition for their solo performance for the year 2001-2002 — a distinction which was much appreciated by the Ministry of Education and Youth. To add to their merit, they were also the first rankers in the Superior & Talented Students Competition organised by the ministry.

Interestingly, inspired by both music and information technology, Marwan and Hadi linked their two passions by doing IT works for their piano concerts.

"We have made some 3D works for presentations and concerts for the Young Talents Group formed by our father," said Marwan.

Aware of the worldwide concerns about the rise in computer hacking crimes, the two brothers have also been inspired to develop a secure computer system which can be used by security agencies, government departments, banks and others who deal in secure confidential information. Their secure banking computer programme, they claim, has 99.99 per cent security level.

"We have visited top executives and managers in MasterCard and Network International and discussed with them our secure Credit Cards project. Commenting on our invention they said that this technology can revolutionise the eCommerce world and consumer shopping patterns in shopping malls," said Hadi.

The new secure system they have developed is called SecuDT short for Secure Data Transfer.

"It is a system which keeps clients' and owners' copyrights data fully registered, and can stop any hacking attempt with a 99.99 per cent rate of success. The system secures data authentication, video and audio capturing," said Marwan, describing the invention.

They have also developed the first and biggest Arabic interactive learning encyclopedia for Macromedia Flash MX. It contains a video and audio programme: 26 lessons streamed directly without any need for any supporting software.

It also includes more than 1,000 examples ready for being modified directly using Macromedia Flash. As well, it contains many useful Flash web sites' URLs for learning and supporting Macromedia Flash Users. A demo of the encyclopedia was published in a specialised American IT magazine and was tested by thousands of users.

Marwan and Hadi have established and are managing a new project: "Lunatics Game Project", a Strategy Turn-Based Shooting Game which works under Windows for PC's OS in addition to Windows CE for PDA's. The project team consists of 36 workers most of them professionals from different countries, including: Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, the US, the UK, Russia, Germany, Brazil, and many other countries. Lunatics Game Project Official Web site could be accessed at: www.lunaticsgame.com.

The two youths have developed a new technology to intercept the widespread spam menace which bugs many computer users when they go online.

They have lately found wide recognition for their technological achievements from reputed companies like Microsoft MSN Messenger, Skype and Yahoo, and have got official certificates from these companies to prove that several of their solutions have been implemented.

In addition to their own web site www.alaedin.com which was initiated in 2003 and which won the Golden Web Award from the International Association of Webmasters & Designers, IAWMD, the two brothers have developed some web sites including the Syrian Ophthalmology Society, Syrian Business Council in Dubai and Abou Laban Est. for Ophthalmic Equipment Official Web site.

The two brothers have delivered a series of presentations and attended professional IT-related seminars within the UAE and abroad.

"Parental encouragement and care, as was the case in our family, is essential for every talent sparkle or prodigy to shine," says Hadi who, a few days ago, received the prestigious Shaikh Hamdan Award for Educational Distinction in the Best Student category this year. He has the unique distinction of winning this award twice.

"Being a winner for the second time underlines the level of his excellence in this field," said his father Radwan, adding: "I am really proud of my son's achievements and intend to adapt and promote their innovations for professional industrial purposes."

INCREDIBLE ACHIEVERS

• The two brothers have developed a secure computer system which can stop any hacking attempt with a 99.99 per cent success rate.
• They have developed the first and the biggest Arabic interactive learning encyclopedia for Macromedia Flash MX.
• They have introduced a new technology to intercept the widespread spam menace which bugs many computer users when they go online.
• hey have delivered a series of presentations and attended professional IT-related seminars within the UAE and abroad.