UOWD engineering students show star potential

Thursday, 19 December, 2013

Students at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) have demonstrated their creative skills with a remarkable range of engineering innovations, developed as part of a newly introduced course that guides students through the stages of a successful product innovation.Presenting their unique inventions to a panel of industry and academic experts, the students of the Master of Engineering Management program revealed their designs and prototypes for a range of unique engineering products, including a device that can be affixed to a flat tire so that the user can continue to drive until they are able to reach appropriate assistance.Speaking about the students’ innovations, Dr Mohamed Watfa, Associate Professors at UOWD and runner-up in the 2012 Stars of Science competition said, “These students have demonstrated immense creativity and technical skills in their designs; many of them show great commercial feasibility and will actually be submitted for patents very soon. We have even identified a number of projects that demonstrate the potential to progress in the televised international inventors contest, ‘Stars of Science’ and we have made a commitment to mentor the students through the process.”Dr Watfa added, “From the outset, this course was designed to offer the students a unique, unprecedented experience in innovative thinking, which no other university in the country offers. The course opens students’ minds to creative thinking, and with Dubai hosting Expo 2020, I have no doubt that some of our UAE national students will not only attend the Expo, but also participate in it with their patentable products.”The inventions were born out of the new Master of Engineering Management course ‘Innovation and Design’, which supports students to explore the lifecycle of design in an engineering context. Dr Kamal Jaafar, Associate Professor at UOWD explained, “We have evolved the way we teach engineering management from conventional methods to include more practical, real-world lessons and challenges. This changes the mentality of the students and makes their learning more industry-relevant.”The culmination of this year’s course involved students presenting their prototypes to the expert panel consisting of Dr Watfa, Dr Jaafar, and industry representatives, Mr Samer Mahdi, Program Manager, Global Operations, General Electric; and Mr Ali Taha, Senior Project Manager, Fujitsu. All of the panel members were impressed by the innovative concepts, amongst which were a tin opening appliance that works with suction and laser technology, and a tool that combines multiple keys into one simple gadget.Student of the Master of Engineering Management program Ibrahim Al Tartoor, who works as a Project Engineerwith ART Consultants said, “The program had driven me to constantly look for innovative solutions in the workplace, which is appreciated by both the managers and clients I work with. I have been challenged and learnt a great deal from this course, which has opened up a whole range of exciting possibilities for my future career.”