Sheikh Hamed viewed the University innovative projects showcased by faculty members – Dr. Fahad Al Maskari, Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering, Dr. Majed Khonji, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Dr. Hamad Karki, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering. The projects on display included an unmanned robot designed by the students led by Dr. Majid Khonji, that won top spot in the Ground Robots category at the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport 2021.
Another unmanned drone, designed by students led by Dr. Hamad Karki, which won second place in the Drones category at the Dubai World Challenge, was also on display. Also on display was the prototype of Al Nokhba’s Agile autonomous UAV project, led by Dr. Yahya Zweiri, Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering, and his team of Al Nokhba students.
Sheikh Hamed also viewed projects by EBTIC, led by Dr. Nawaf Al Moosa, EBTIC’s Acting Director, and witnessed the signing of the operating agreement totalling AED170-million. EBTIC Board members who were present included Dr Mohammed Ebrahim Al Mualla, Undersecretary of Education for Academic Affairs, Ministry of Education, Professor Dr. Tim Whitley, Managing Director, Applied Research, BT, Saleh Sayed Ahmed, Divisional Head of Digital Services and Customer Experience Division of Technology, Etisalat, and Dr. Steve Griffiths, Senior Vice-President, Research and Development, Khalifa University.
Saleh Sayed Ahmed, Vice-President, Digital Services and Customer Experience Division of Technology, Etisalat and a Senior Management Board member of EBTIC, said: “Etisalat is delighted to support EBTIC in driving advanced intelligent systems technologies’ innovation for the Next Generation Networks (NGNs) and NGN-enabled ICT applications and services. As a pioneer in 5G and a great enabler of technologies, Etisalat has always embraced the latest technologies through its strategy of ‘Driving the digital future to empower societies’. We look forward to strengthening our relations with EBTIC and contributing to the next level of development by playing a greater role in the digital lives of researchers, consumers and enterprises.”
Paul O’Brien, AI, Service, Security and Operations Research Director, Applied Research, BT, said: “We’re delighted to continue BT’s involvement in EBTIC for its third phase of operations. EBTIC has proved to be a very successful joint initiative with our close partners, Etisalat and Khalifa University. BT has a long-standing commitment to the Middle East and we’re pleased to continue to build the richness and diversity of BT’s research and innovation capabilities in the region. We look forward to another five years where we are sure EBTIC will continue to go from strength to strength.”
Since 2009, EBTIC has consistently driven innovation in advanced intelligent systems. In June 2021, SPL Solutions, a platform developed by EBTIC, won awards in the Best Cloud Automation Tool and Best Use of Automation categories at the prestigious 2021 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning Awards in the UK. The technology is currently undergoing commercialization as a start-up in collaboration with Khalifa Innovation Centre (KIC).
