298 projects... Young innovators excel at Expo Dubai

The talents and ideas of young innovators across the Emirates are reflected in inventions that are showcased at Expo 2020 Dubai, to contribute to making the world a better place.

From an alarm to keep dolphins at a safe distance from fishing nets, a device to help parents decode the language of infants, to a vegetable house covered with solar panels, a device to save water and many other innovations.

298 projects in the sustainability pavilion

Within the framework of an initiative for young innovators launched by Expo 2020 Dubai, and after receiving more than 6,000 applications, the "Expo School Program" selected 298 projects to display in the sustainability pavilion over the six months of the period. The holding of the international event, where 563 schools - 395 private and 167 public - applied for participation, from all over the country.

On the sidelines of this initiative, the Expo News Services team met with some exceptional young innovators at Expo 2020 Dubai, to highlight their innovations that contribute to shaping the future. Dolphins, a joint idea with her friend Zoe Kandil, repeats the dolphins' noises to keep them away from dangerous areas. The device has a light sensor, so if the dolphin is heading toward the hunters' territory, the device emits a loud noise, keeping the dolphin away.

The two young inventors, Lani and Zoe, expressed their great happiness and pride in seeing their idea, which began three years ago as a simple drawing on a napkin, being embodied through a 3D printer in a tangible prototype. "I think Expo 2020 Dubai is a great way to show how children's minds work, because we also want to talk and our ideas, and it's not just adults who can do amazing things," said Lani.

Among the many innovations beautifully displayed at the Sustainability Pavilion, aspiring sustainable fashion designer, Lani, liked the "Solar Plant House" design, which uses pink light to make vegetables grow inside.

Inspiring creative innovations

Nils Muthidhan presents a pioneering idea that he presents within the innovations, which is a language translator application that he was inspired by from his little brother. "What babies want when they cry, and there could be many reasons like being hungry, tired or wanting a certain game. I can put those sounds into the translator. It's a bit like Google Translate."

The young inventor, who is in the fifth grade of hospitality school, believes that this innovation can help parents around the world, but admits that it is complicated, which is why he enrolled in a series of application development courses. "I hope we can make the devices locally and send them around the world," he says.

Saif Faqihi, a seventh-grade student at GEMS International Academy in Dubai, and the owner of the "Hello Bot" innovation, said: "My idea is based on a robot that performs certain tasks to help the elderly, people of determination, and families with large members also at the airport, and among these tasks Carrying luggage and directing people to the places they need to go."

He added that he felt very proud and happy knowing that his innovation would be presented at Expo 2020 Dubai, stressing that it is an absolute honor that his participation may contribute to inspiring other people to make their own innovations themselves, and thus the United Arab Emirates can have a better future with more creative young minds.

Ronda Kotb, a Grade 5 teacher at GEMS Dubai American Academy, said: “Expo 2020 did a great job by creating compelling videos to encourage innovators and change-makers in the world to do so.” She adds: “The Expo for Schools Program encouraged students to To think about helping the world, and to come up with original ideas to bring these innovations to life.”

The children naturally love creativity and innovation, so they were very involved in presenting their ideas and exploring how they can help people, animals and the environment. This also gave them the opportunity to learn to code, and to work with coding teachers to make their ideas a reality. I was very impressed with their skills in thinking and problem solving.

Expo 2020 visitors of all ages and groups can have the opportunity to be part of the Young Innovators initiative when they visit the Sustainability Pavilion. They can draw their own ideas on napkins, which can then be scanned and displayed on a screen in the gallery on the ground floor of the pavilion, which is open from 10.00 to 22.00 UAE time.