An Emirati woman who invents her way to fame

Eida Butti Al Muhairbi, UAE inventor with 100 internationally accredited inventions.Supplied photo

Emirati inventor Eida Butti Al Muhairbi, who has 100 international inventions in her name, is definitely one woman the UAE will be proud of. Out of her 100 inventions, 46 are registered with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
Eida, who works as an operations financial manager with Zakum Development Company (ZADCO) in Abu Dhabi, is the winner of the 'Shaikha Shamsa bint Suhail Award for Creative Women'.
With determination and dedication, the self-funded chemist and accountant, who has a degree in chemistry and accountancy from the UAE University in Al Ain, has turned her house into a lab where tools and samples are everywhere.
Eida started her journey with inventions when she was in her elementary school, where she used to turn anything into a fantastic piece of art. "I still remember when I made a unique hand bag at that time, and also designed a dress at the secondary school that is widely worn these days."
The 100-invention journey of Eida and her team has never been a coincidence. "It is rather the fruit of organised and systematic work based on unlimited ambitions and commitment to dig and delve for more convenient life to all the society," Eida told Khaleej Times.
'Multi-purpose drones' is the latest invention of Eida and her three-member scientific team, which she initially formed with her Jordanian husband Engineer Wasfi Al Shedaifat whom she met in 2004, and later joined by another engineer Farah Afif Qassab.
"The first group of these drones is dedicated for police services whereas the second is specified for civil operations, particularly delivery and logistics services for different types of cargos."
Other inventions
Another remarkable invention of Eida is the 'universal car cover'. This easily-foldable cover covers and protects all parts of the car. "It is actually a development of the accordion car cover which I have initially invented with the help of my husband back in 2012 and got a Chinese patent on the same," she said.
Some other examples of Eida and her team's masterpieces are 3D phone, a semi-inflatable tyre, a washing machine with separate chambers for cleaning different colour and type clothes at one time, and a disk-operated iron that fixes the clothes on a cylinder that can be easily pressurised, stored, and moved to do the job in a shorter time and safer way. The first professional female golf player in the Gulf and also a pottery artist, believes in a strict work code of ethics. "To come up with 100 internationally accredited inventions need full determination, will, dedication, courage, sacrifice, learning, reading, careful meditation, experiment, as well as exchange of ideas and distribution of tasks."
Unlike inventors in the developed countries where they are spared for their scientific researches and paid very well, Eida and her team are self-funded and could not help taking loans to finance their inventions.
"I and my husband, who is also a brilliant inventor and author of many scientific books about the universe, had to do many of our experiments in very tough weather conditions in distant areas as we do not have any facilities here in the country to try our inventions," she said, noting that she had turned her house into a kind of workshop...There are tools and samples in every corner of the house."
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com
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