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Innovation month kicks off in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi - Over 100 innovators, 25 innovative projects and 27 science workshops are participating in the Abu Dhabi innovation event

The spirit of innovation and creativity were in full swing at the Abu Dhabi Corniche as the UAE Innovation Month kicked off on Thursday.
The Abu Dhabi Science Festival and Innovator 2018, held alongside the Innovation month, are an annual exhibition and competition open to local inventors of all ages wishing to showcase their unique projects. Both activities have been organised by the Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK).
Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, member of the executive council, inaugurated the month-long celebration of innovation meant to promote a culture of inventiveness and creative thinking among Emiratis and residents across the UAE.
"The UAE Innovation month has become one of the most important global initiatives supporting creativity and innovation, highlighting the UAE's position on the global map. All efforts made in the global indices will help the UAE to be among the top ten countries in the Global Innovation Index, as we celebrate the golden jubilee of the Emirates Union, which comes in line with the UAE's vision," said Sheikh Sultan.
Over 100 innovators, 25 innovative projects from government and private organisations and 27 science workshops are participating in the Abu Dhabi innovation event which will go on until February 7.
Organisers said the innovation projects have five categories including automotive, robotic, airspace, green energy and art and that the five winning projects will be given awards.
Among the innovative devices exhibited at the fair is an advanced smart system for civil defence (smart robot) that can help control fire, created by three Grade 10 students from the Secondary Technical School, RAK. "We have seen many fire incidents occurring in our localities and decided to come up with an idea of helping the community and the civil defence. We created a smart robot that will alert authorities in case of smoke or fire so as to reduce incidents of fire," said 15-year-old Saeed Abdullah, one of the three Emirati students who created the civil defence robot.
Hamed Mohannad, 15, explained that the project consists of three robots - the 'inspector' which uses a sensor to detect smoke, fire or gas leak; a smart gadget that sends an SMS to the civil defence team or owner of the house; and a robot that sprinkles water on the fire before the firefighters arrive. The teens spent Dh3,000 buying materials used in the project and it took them a month to put together everything.
The Grade 10 pupils from Cambridge High School in Musaffah, Abu Dhabi - Gerard George, Shashank Pinnamaneni and Alan Jaison - created a hydraulic crane that can be used to pick garbage from compounds or used as a play tool by children.
"This machine works on the basic concept that liquid can be compressed. We are using water instead of hydraulic machinery. By pressing the syringe, the force is transmitted from down and pushes upwards making the crane move down. It acts as a force multiplier on one side and multiplies the force on the other side to hold an object," said George. 
"This is like the real life hydraulic crane which can pick up heavy objects." The students used Styrofoam, wooden skewers, syringes and tubes to create the crane robot. 
In choosing the final winners, the judges will look at the creativity, uniqueness, efficiency in energy use, importance to the community among others.
Many of the Abu Dhabi Science festival's popular past workshops, such as the operating room surgery, robot inventor, mini-mechanics, laser planes and others are also being showcased at the Innovation Month festival.
Innovator 2018 is available for school students from 9am to 1pm and will be open to the general public from 4pm to 10pm on weekdays and 2pm to 10pm on weekends at the Abu Dhabi Corniche and three shopping malls at Al Ain until February 7, with free admissions for all.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com