Expo 2020’s Young Innovators changing the world one invention at a time

DUBAI: An alarm to keep dolphins at a safe distance from fishing nets, a device to help parents decrypt baby talk, a solar-panelled plant grower, a robot that eases the stress of travelling, and water-saving contraptions — all across the UAE, young minds are making huge strides in the fields of science and technology to help make the world a better place.

After receiving more than 6,000 submissions, the Expo School Programme selected 298 projects to exhibit in Terra — The Sustainability Pavilion — for the entire six months of Expo 2020 Dubai. A total of 563 schools from around the UAE made submissions.

Nisha Childs, Assistant Manager, Expo 2020 Young Innovators, said, “The Expo School Programme has been part of Expo 2020 Dubai from the very beginning. It was one of the first departments within Expo, and this project is one of our core initiatives. To have an entire exhibition, content-driven by students — there is nothing across the Expo 2020 site like this. It is an amazing place to be and it shows you the future of innovation. It shows you how there is untapped creativity and empathy there.”

As Expo 2020 marks Knowledge and Learning Week, running from December 12-18, here are some of Expo 2020’s Young Innovators — exceptional individuals who are helping to shape the future:

Lanee Effendi, originally from Iraq, studies at GEMS Dubai American Academy. The dolphin alarm, an idea created by Lanee and her friend Zoe Kandil, replicates dolphin noises to keep the aquatic mammals away from danger.

“We put our minds together and I came up with the design. The alarm has a light sensor, so if the dolphin is heading towards an area popular with fishermen, it goes off, which keeps the dolphin away,” Lanee said.

The pair are proud to see what started out three years ago as a simple sketch on a napkin materialise — via a 3-D printer – into a tangible prototype.

Lanee said: “When the school announced our entry had won, I was in shock. I think Expo 2020 Dubai is a great way to show the workings of children’s minds because we also want to speak up and share our ideas. It’s not just adults that can do amazing things.”

Looking at the other entries displayed inside Terra, Lanee, who aspires to become a sustainable fashion designer, is impressed by the Solar House Planter, which uses pink light to make vegetables grow indoors.

“I really like the idea of students being given the opportunity to bring their own innovations to life; without Expo’s help we wouldn’t have been able to make things like this,” she said.

Ten-year-old Neils Moothedan’s baby brother was the source of inspiration for his language translator app, which helps to decipher “gibberish”.

Neils, who is in Year 5 at Al Diyafah High School, said: “Parents don’t know exactly what babies want when they’re crying – there could be many reasons such as they’re hungry, tired or want a certain toy. I can insert these sounds into the translator, press the button, and — hey, presto — you’re ready to go. It’s a bit like Google Translate.”

He believes the innovation could help parents globally, although it was complicated to create so he enrolled himself in a series of app development courses. “I hope we can make the devices soon and send them across the world,” he said.

Saif Faghihy, a Grade 5 Emirati student at GEMS World Academy created a friendly MarhaBot that supports passengers at the airport. The name originated from the Arabic word Marhaba, which means welcome, offering travellers a warm greeting from the moment they arrive in Dubai.

Saif said: “It can be complicated to get around the airport especially for people of determination, elderly people, and large families. The MarhaBot performs innovative tasks through programming such as helping to carry luggage and directing people to where they need to go, thereby reducing some of the stress of travelling.”

The pioneering student has a bright future ahead. “When I grow up, I’d like to work in the fields of computer engineering, computer science, robotics, AI, and tech as a whole. I have been interested in computers from a young age and am enrolled in programming classes to help fulfil this dream.”

Teachers are also impressed with their students’ inventions and said Expo 2020 had done a fantastic job creating compelling videos to encourage the world’s next movers and innovators to get involved.

Rhonda Kotb, a Grade 5 teacher at GEMS Dubai American Academy, said: “Students had to brainstorm how they can help the world, and come up with original ideas to then bring them to life with the help of Expo 2020. Children naturally love to create and innovate, so they were very engaged in presenting their ideas, and in exploring how they could help people, animals, and the environment. This also gave them an opportunity to learn how to code, working with coding teachers to make their ideas a reality. I was very impressed by their thinking and problem-solving skills.”

With the next generation primed to lead the nation in innovation and creativity — and to prepare children in the future for careers that haven’t been invented yet – Expo 2020 Dubai’s Young Innovators programme is proving to be a transformative educational experience.

Source: Expo 2020 Website