University and industry join hands to innovate

Abu Dhabi: The interactive bin is a very good example of an innovation achieved through a collaboration between a university and local industry, notably an SME (Small and Medium Enterprise).

WMS, a steel fabrication company in Dubai conceived the concept of the interactive bin and approached Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi.

“The institute liked the concept and the potential in it, and made it part of its curriculum. The engineering students were assigned for designing and making business plans,” said Mustafa Nasser, Business Development Manager at WMS Metal Industries LLC, which developed the bin with Masdar Institute.

Students led by Professor Bruce Ferguson, Head of i-innovation at Masdar Institute, took the idea forward.

Omar Mezier, 22, a second year engineering systems and management student at Masdar, said the involvement of a local company helped translate a concept on paper into a real product.

Nasser said Masdar’s willingness to involve small companies in its research and development is an encouragement to SMEs.

This proves that it’s not just big corporates but small companies too that can play a pioneering role in innovations, he said.