'Hey that's cool'

Students' high-tech projects impress visitors at a technology fair at the Dubai American Academy. Maysam Ali takes a look.

New technologies and educational and gaming software were among the exhibits at Tech Connections held at the Dubai American Academy (DAA) last week. The event brought together students from GEMS schools, who displayed their high-tech projects to junior students. Visitors walked into a hall full of students rushing from one project to another, asking questions and marvelling at the technology behind it. The students who had worked on the projects were happy to explain their work, displaying the best of their academic knowledge, and impressive interpersonal skills.

A popular attraction — judging by the number of students around the stand — was the 'Wonder Bus' that can run on road as well float on water. Three grade 11 students from Our Own High School, Vignesh Karthikeyan, Saigokul Kannan and Atif Saleem, said they had been inspired by the Dubai Wonder Bus. The project helped them win the National Robotics competition and earn fourth place in the World Robotics Competition.

"With the help of our coach, we learned how to put this together in such a way that it works on land and water. We balanced its weight and introduced several functions to it," said Kannan. The robot can be controlled via Bluetooth technology.

Students gathered around the Wonder Bus to see a live demonstration. "We got a very good response from the kids," Kannan said.

While Karthikeyan and Saleem plan to study software engineering in India after graduation, Kannan is hoping to become an automobile engineer in the US.

Variety of projects

The projects required knowledge of sciences, mathematics and other skills. A group from DAA, Vivek Radhakrishnan, Patrick Boueri and Ameer Jahanpour, had a physics project on display. "We are measuring the heat capacity of water by heating up water and examining this process," Radhakrishnan said.

A device attached to the water in the tube showed numerical data. "This data log simplifies the way data is shown. It is a revolutionary tool and we wanted to highlight that," he said.

Another group, consisting of Rishabh Kabta, Shyam Rangarajan and Karthik Ayyagari of Our Own High School, explained to visitors the functions of the robot in their project, titled The Train of Alishan.

"We were able to create this robot which moves in opposite directions, has light sensors that help it move and is working well," Kabta said.

With regard to the technology fair, he said: "We get to show younger students our work and see other students' projects at the same time."

Projects reflect interest

Considering his interest in music, Jonathan Legat, a grade 11 student at DAA, decided on sharing his knowledge of the high-tech tools used in music. "I love music and so I'm showing software that is found free online and is easy to use. It records sound when you play an instrument," he told Notes.

He urged fellow students to strum his electric guitar and showed them how the software works. "Anyone can learn how to do it," he added.

Investing in technology

Manoj Varghese, information technology director at GEMS Schools, told Notes that the school invests in such events in order to raise technology standards in the school. "We give students a chance to participate and exhibit their work," he said.

"Students are interested in technology and in exhibiting their own work," he added.