An Arabic learning platform for visual reasoning and pattern discovery, explored through puzzles and story-led journeys.
AI researcher · Engineer · Educator
From possibility.
To real impact.
I’m Ali Salhi. I build intelligent tools, advance Arabic language technology, and create learning experiences that make room for discovery.
Mohammed bin Rashid Arabic Language Award winner · 2025#10Best worldwide Kaggle competition rank
11Global awards
20+Years across research & engineering
Kaggle profile01 / Recognition for Arabic language technology
Winner · Ninth edition · 2025
Mohammed bin Rashid
Arabic Language Award
Technology category
Best Initiative in Arabic Language Processing
Recognition for ArabiTools: free Python and Java libraries that help developers and researchers build applications that understand and process Arabic.
Award-winning projectArabiTools
A journey of research, experimentation, and results.
Explore the award photographs02 / Selected work
Ideas with a life beyond the screen.
From Arabic language tools to platforms for coding and visual reasoning. Every project begins with a question worth exploring.
07 / projects
Learn Java in Arabic: write real code, run it in the browser, and understand the results one step at a time.
Free libraries and practical tools that make Arabic language processing more accessible to developers and researchers.
An Arabic search engine for discovering quotations and proverbs extracted from public social posts.
Hands-on learning that brings robotics, programming, and electronics into the classroom.
Applying computer vision to identify visual pollution in street imagery and video streams.
Where images meet language: connecting photographs with Arabic poetry and proverbs through deep learning.
03 / Behind the workA researcher’s curiosity.
A researcher’s curiosity.
An educator’s purpose.
My work starts with a question. It comes to life when it becomes useful.
From Arabic NLP and information retrieval research at Birzeit University to building AI tools and competing on Kaggle, I have always been drawn to the space between knowledge and application.
I founded ArabiTools and co-founded STEAM for Innovation & Education, where I lead R&D. Today, that journey also takes shape in Arabic learning experiences like Uhjiya and arabee.
Arabic language processing
Machine learning & computer vision
Information retrieval
Robotics & learning technology
Birzeit University
Explore my full experienceComputer Systems Engineering · MBA
04 / Awards & milestones
Ideas that earned recognition.
From Arabic search tools to applied AI and global competitions: selected milestones along the way.
1st place worldwide
View result on KaggleMake Data Count
Finding data references in scientific papers on Kaggle, as team Ali | Kea.
3rd place worldwide
View result on KaggleSanta 2024
The Perplexity Permutation Puzzle with team Santamizers. Results announced in 2025.
1st in the visual-pollution track
View sourceBaseer · SDAIA Smartathon
Computer vision for detecting visual pollution in urban scenes. A team achievement by Baseer.
Moments along the way
Every award has a story.
Mohammed bin Rashid Arabic Language Award
First place in the visual-pollution track
The Arabic poetry challenge winner announcement, shared in my Facebook post
A group photograph of the challenge winners
Recognition for Arabic mobile applications
Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah Informatics Award
Earlier recognitionYorwa, Alrawiyah, Wojood, and Arabic language research2008–2022
1st in the Arabic poetry challenge
View sourceAlrawiyah · Arabicthon
Connecting photographs with Arabic poetry through deep learning, with an additional user-experience award.
2nd place · KAUST
View result on KaggleArabic Sentiment Analysis
An Arabic sentiment-analysis solution, with the winning code shared on Kaggle.
Joint winner · Science category
View sourceYorwa · ALECSO Award
Recognition for Yorwa’s Arabic quotation search app at the ALECSO Arabic Mobile Apps Award.
Winner for Yorwa · Ceremony in 2014
View sourceSheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah Informatics Award
Yorwa won the 2013 edition, with the award presented in June 2014.
Best Mobile App Idea
View sourceYorwa · Mobily Competition
Yorwa’s Android application idea won Mobily’s mobile-app competition category.
Research support for Arabic search
View sourceGoogle Research Award
Research into Arabic document management and search, supervised by Prof. Adnan Yahya and connected to the Wojood project.
Best graduation project · 1st place
View sourceWojood · ITSAF
An Arabic search engine and supporting tools, recognized at the IT student activity fair at Petra University, Jordan.
Awards & recognition archive2008–2025
Selected posts & conversations
The journey, in my own words.
Award announcements, competition reflections, and a conversation about putting research into practice.
LinkedIn
ArabiTools: from sustained work to recognition
My announcement of the Mohammed bin Rashid Arabic Language Award, and the journey of building tools for Arabic.
Ali SalhiRead original post
LinkedIn
Third worldwide in Santa 2024
My post about the Kaggle optimization challenge result and working with team Santamizers.
Ali SalhiRead original post
Facebook
Alrawiyah: persistence, teamwork, and a win
How I joined the Alrawiyah team after my first idea was rejected, and helped build a photo-to-poetry prototype in one week that won first place.
Ali SalhiRead original post
Interview
Baseer: from Jerusalem to the smart-cities challenge
An Al Jazeera interview about Baseer, the team, and winning the visual-pollution track.
Al Jazeera · InterviewRead interview
05 / Research & publications
Ideas grounded in research.
Selected publications on Arabic language processing, content quality, and information retrieval.
01
Full publication listBIS / QOD · Springer
202002Models for Arabic Document Quality Assessment
Arabic Language Processing: From Theory to Practice · Springer
201803Document Similarity for Arabic and Cross-Lingual Web Content
ACM Transactions on Asian Language Information Processing
2014Arabic Text Categorization Based on Arabic Wikipedia
06 / Let’s build something meaningful
Let’s connect about AI research, Arabic language technology, education, or the next idea worth building.