A team of 20 Engineering students participated in the Annual Innovation Competition organized, for a third year, by the College of Engineering and the Emirates Center Energy and Environment Research as part of UAEU Innovation Week.

The Director of the Emirates Centre for Energy and Environment Research, Mr. Abdulrahman Al-Raesi, was present. Students competed to explore innovative ideas in the fields of energy and the environment. The goal of the competition is to encourage UAEU students to think radically and motivate innovation and creativity. It should also inspire them to transform their ideas into achievable projects. Mr. Al-Raesi stressed that this can only be possible if these innovative ideas are built on a sound scientific basis that can be adapted by the Emirates Centre for Energy and Environment Research.  

Out of the box ideas

One of the ideas based on applicable scientific theory and was lauded by the jury was energy production from hair, whereby hair is collected from the hair salons and barbershops then manufacturing a device that works on the hair fixtures and converts it into energy capable of running lamps.

The Genius Generator

One of the projects that strongly competed was the "Genius Generator" which generates power through intelligent systems from four areas: solar energy, wind movement, steam and magnetic induction, so that each field is assigned to a specific category of energy exploitation. Some of these are used for storage for night use, Energy directly to provide free energy.

The team explained that the above areas will be linked to smartphones to be controlled, and access to free energy from sources from the environment that can be used for home and medical purposes, trips and emergency conditions, making the device easy to carry and low cost compared to generators.

It is noteworthy that there are ideas in the competition that were common like the production of solar energy and energy produced by hydrogen or nuclear explosions, the production of paper from the remnants of the palm, or the production of hydrogen from plants, or the idea of ​​a global train moving through underground tunnels through simple elements such as copper, magnets and some chemicals.

The jury included five arbitrators from Khalifa University, DEWA, Al Ain Water, Emirates Institute of Metrology, and Secondary Applied Technology School in Al Ain, as well as two faculty members from the Emirates Center Energy and Environment Research.

Winners and Prizes

There will be six awards for the winning teams, three of them for the best idea, and three for the best project pitch, and will be announced two days from the competition’s start date.