One of the largest student science fairs that is set to take place across all seven emirates kicked off in Dubai on Sunday with 350 student inventions and solutions on display.
This year's Think Science Fair by Emirates Foundation includes a total of 700 projects by 1,850 school and university students.
Participants are required to display their own inventions or present ideas in areas like transportation and road safety, health and bio-informatics, applied sciences, food security and water sustainability, robots, systems for determined ones, and smart systems and artificial intelligence, among others.
Being held under the theme 'Seven Fairs for Seven Emirates', the next fair will be held in Abu Dhabi on February 24, followed by Sharjah on March 3, Ras Al Khaimah on March 10, Fujairah on March 17, and Ajman and Umm Al Quwain on March 21.
Maytha Al Habsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation, said: "Our Think Science Programme aims to provide youth with a platform to deploy new technologies and unlock their creativity in science, technology and innovation.
"With the digital revolution taking over, we have a greater responsibility to support the youth in navigating the complexities of the 21st century. Building a pool of young talents is a fundamental part of that."
Khaleej Times was at the fair and picked some stand-out science projects that were on display:
Smart shopping trolley
A student at the Haya Bint Alhussein School has created a shopping solution for residents with her 'smart trolley' invention. The trolley is equipped with a tablet, where a person's shopping list can be transferred.
Then, it guides the customer around the store using the list.
"Before going grocery shopping, we all write a list of things we need. With the smart trolley, there is a phone holder which automatically transfers your shopping list to a tablet installed in the trolley. Then, the trolley guides you to the location in the store where each item is stored," said Fatma Alyassi. "The trolley also has a scanner, where you can scan the bar code of the item. The total bill calculates itself in the tab, making payments easier and more convenient."
Video games for the blind
After hearing their visually impaired friend's wish to play video games, two students invented a digital solution that could enable him to do so.
Shaikha Abdul Rahman Al Hammadi and Ghaya Shuhab Alameeri were displaying a braille keyboard and an idea of a video game that would have sound notifications instead of text.
"This is like a normal video game, but instead of a text popping up on the screen, a voice will tell you what to do next. If you think about it, we can make several classic games that are suitable for visually impaired people," Al Hammadi said.
"We were playing video games and we were thinking about people who couldn't play them. My friend is visually impaired and he is really excited about it.
2 drones for deliveries
If you've already run out of patience for delivery services that take ages to bring you your item, a student at the Emirates Aviation University may have found a solution.
Fatima Alyousuf was presenting a drone that can capture small objects mid-air and deliver them to the right person.
"Instead of using cars, buses and airplanes to deliver small objects, you can use drones. The only negative thing about drones is that each can fly for only 15 to 20 minutes at a distance of 1km to 2km.
As a solution to that, we are using two drones. The first drone can travel up to 2km and then stop mid-air to meet another drone that can catch the object, continue the flight and deliver the object," she said.
Renewable space shuttle fuel
If there is one major obstacle that has put limitations to deep space exploration, it's the lack of fuel. However, two students from Al Mawakeb School believe renewable space shuttle fuel can be made if methanol fuel is oxidised. The project, by Mariam Alketbi and Reem Hazim, also aims to help reduce carbon emissions. "One of the biggest concerns today is global warming and it's happening because of human beings. They release too much CO2 in the air by using vehicles and running factories," Hazim said.
"Our project will absorb the CO2 by direct air capture methods and actually turn it into methanol fuel. It will go through several chemical reactions and produce methanol. This fuel can be used in all kinds of vehicles, but if we add in an oxidiser, it can be used for space shuttles."
Water-powered ground vehicle
An engineering student at the Emirates Aviation University presented the idea of using hydrogen as a source of fuel to reduce our carbon footprint and shorten refueling time. "In this model, it takes hydrogen gas as a fuel, converts it into electricity, and powers the motors, which will make the vehicle to move forward and backward. To do that, we would need water because we cannot get hydrogen without it. As time progresses, we are now focusing on products that are fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly," Syed Hassan said.
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