Detecting the impact of climate change, tracking electricity and water usage and inspecting corrosion in pipelines are some of the missions UAE students have come up with to use drones in.
Six local university teams made up the finalists for the UAE Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Payload Design Challenge - a joint programme run by Lockheed Martin and Mubadala Investment Company.
Launched in March, the year-long initiative challenges university students to design, develop and integrate civilian and industrial applications for Lockheed Martin's Indago - an unmanned aerial system renowned for its endurance and adaptability across different sectors including emergency response, national security, agriculture and commercial inspection.
"Drones are very mobile and user-friendly so anyone can use them for any personal purpose," said Tayammum Alkatheeri, a 20-year-old Abu Dhabi native, who is currently working on developing a drone for corrosion inspection. "There are a lot of fields that drones can be employed in in our daily life. They make things safer and faster for people."
He said safety was what any industry strives for. "It's safer for whoever is doing the inspection, instead of being personally in the area of inspection, he can manipulate the drone for up to 12km away from the area," said the graduate in petroleum geophysics from The Petroleum Institute. "We're focusing on the oil and gas industry but we can expand to wind turbines as well as bridges and dams, the possibilities are almost limitless."
He hopes to work in a related field in the future. "I'd like to develop a drone to perform magnetic surveying of the earth to detect hydrocarbon," Mr Alkatheeri said. "Instead of having people going on with the equipment on large remote areas in the desert, we can just send a drone with the equipment - it can be done faster and with less effort. My professor said it needs development but it's a good start."
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For Mariam Al Nuaimi, a 21-year-old from Al Ain, finding a viable service for the UAE community was key. "We plan to collect water and electricity data from metres in houses," said the graduate in aeronautical engineering from HCT. "Usually, a technician visits the place to get a reading but we're developing a payload that will collect the data without the need for a technician."
The idea stemmed from one of the team members whose father grew impatient waiting for a technician for the first 10 days of each month at his villa. "It was not practical," said Ms Al Nuaimi. "Drones are the upcoming technology in the United States and in Europe - they use it in so many applications, it's easier, you just send the drone and it gets the job done."
The system will take two to three months to be developed and Al Ain Distribution Company is already a potential customer.
"The only thing that matters on any UAV is the payload," said Shawn Racz, who heads up Lockheed Martin's Innovation Centre at Masdar City and runs the programme from their side. "In a market of air vehicles, there's a massive opportunity in the civil and private use on building the payload, which is why it's such an ideal time to focus on this."
He said the market was in need of such systems. "The purpose of a UAV is to carry something and do a mission," he said. "We provide the students with access to our lab in Masdar, an additive manufacturing machine, which is a 3-D printer and [the ability] to draw, design and print them out immediately. They also have access to our 40 engineers to get suggestions and advice and Lockheed's entire network. What we want to do is foster real innovation."
The students were shortlisted from 63 projects. "Once they build it, the final stage will be to activate it during the innovation month next February," said Fatima Al Marzouqi, Mubadala's head of education and training in aerospace, renewables and ICT. "We will try to find a partner from the Government, like the police, to be able to implement it on the challenges they face."
She said the initiative was part of the Abu Dhabi 2020 Vision to create a knowledge-based economy. "We saw a bit of a gap in the area of innovation so this project will lead in this," she said. "Maybe they can open their own small companies or build their capabilities in a creative way to [learn] more about the areas, to be ready for the future and to find jobs in this field."
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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6pm: The President’s Cup Listed (TB) Dh380,000 1,400m
6.30pm: The President’s Cup Group One (PA) Dh2,500,000 2,200m
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
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Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
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“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
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Name: Fruitful Day
Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2015
Number of employees: 30
Sector: F&B
Funding so far: Dh3 million
Future funding plans: None at present
Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries
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Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
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Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
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Sector: E-commerce
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Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Goodlands Riders: Jamshaid Butt, Ali Abid, JD Mahesh, Vibhor Shahi, Faizan Asif, Nadeem Rahim
Rose Hill Warriors: Faraz Sheikh, Ashok Kumar, Thabreez Ali, Janaka Chathuranga, Muzammil Afridi, Ameer Hamza
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Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
