Dubai: Forty-five Emirati university students worked together to create ideas for a ‘smart district’ and the exhibit is one of the smart initiatives showcased at ‘The Innovation Hub’ — the main event of UAE Innovation Week in Dubai.
The Innovation Hub, held under the guidance of the General Secretariat of the Executive Council of Dubai, is being held at Burj Park from November 23 to 26 in order to promote the concept and culture of innovation in the community.
Visitors can take part in exciting activities like ‘Race Against’, ‘Pedal to Guinness’, ‘VR Racer’ adventures, ‘Falcon 360’ or ‘Your Health Today”, in addition to taking in the innovative ideas that students have come up with for the ‘Smart District’.
Abdullah Al Shaibani, Secretary General of the Executive Council of Dubai and member of the Higher Committee for UAE Innovation Week, said, “The Innovation Hub is an example of the standards of His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, for this nation — and the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which aims to integrate and harness technology in order to devise ways that facilitate the lives of members of society in all aspects of their everyday activities.”
Hamdah Bin Kalban, Dubai Committee Coordinator for the UAE’s Innovation Week, said that the innovations on display at the event would convey to young visitors the direction and the kind of endeavours the government is working on so as to inspire them to think about innovations.
“It is a platform to link students with government departments and see what is being done in the field on innovation,” she said.
“To promote the process of innovation and development of an environment requires the stimulation of innovation to fit in with future generations along with the support of government sectors who are participating in the Innovation Hub and steadily adopting modern and innovative methods in various fields to contribute to the world class services of society,” she added.
The Innovation Hub is aimed at families, students and youths in general, as well as government and private sector employees. Its target audience are UAE nationals and expatriates as well as visitors interested in getting a closer look at the efforts of the emirate of Dubai in the realm of innovation, contributing to the enhancement of the UAE’s advanced position in all strategic sectors.
Dubai has been laying strong emphasis on the consolidation of innovation as an inseparable part of its strategy to fulfil UAE Vision 2021 and help achieve Dubai Plan 2021.
Visitors to ‘Smart District’ will have a chance to see a range of concepts that students from the Higher Colleges of Technology and The Abu Dhabi Vocational Education and Training Institute (Adveti) have outlined as part of their vision for a future smart city starting with the design of a smart city, 3D printing models for the city, and linking infrastructure using the ‘Internet of Things’ technology, which can be controlled through a virtual reality headset and controls.
Mohammad Al Awadi, IT consultant at the Executive Council, who is overseeing the Smart District project, said some of the smart solutions the student have come up with include a smart agriculture system, where sensors measure the amount of moisture in the soil and the humidity in the air so that water is pumped to crops accordingly.
Another innovation, he said, is a smart-cooling system that does not use gas, and uses cooling liquids instead, which too works by measuring ambient humidity and heat and cools accordingly.
A smart parking system that allows a driver to leave his car at a spot and a smart device moves the car and parks it later in a free spot, is also among concepts explored by students who put together the Smart District exhibit.
