Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has awarded an AED150,000 grant to three proposals put forth by Abu Dhabi University (ADU) Electrical, Computer, and Mechanical Engineering students.

The grant will support the winning proposals to build drones and robots powered by artificial intelligence (AI), in preparation for EGA’s third edition of the AI Robot competition, according to the university.

This follows ADU’s announcement of its students winning first and second place in the last EGA 2020 edition of the AI Robot competition, which challenged students from UAE universities and higher education institutes to design and build industrial robots to be used at EGA’s aluminium smelters.

In the third instalment of the competition, ADU’s students’ proposed intelligent systems are set to solve challenging industrial problems under extreme conditions and provide EGA with autonomous measurements of carbon baking furnaces.

Dr. Hamdi Sheibani, Dean of the College of Engineering at ADU, said, “I am filled with pride for our talented students and their accomplishments, maintaining success in the EGA AI Robot competition for two editions in a row. We are dedicated to providing a vibrant learning culture for our students and equipping them with advanced skills and expertise to give them a competitive edge complete with leadership opportunities.”

Prof. Mohammed Ghazal, Professor and Chair of the Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering Department at ADU, added, “We are committed to preparing our students to be leading independent thinkers, problem-solvers, and innovators in engineering, and providing them with a high-quality education, applied research, purpose-built academic facilities and state-of-the-art laboratories. We would like to thank the EGA for this opportunity, and I wish our students all the best in the third iteration of the competition.”

Abdalla Al Zarouni, Vice President of Technology Development and Transfer at EGA, said, “The EGA Al Robot competitions provide an ideal platform for the brightest young engineering minds in the country to meaningfully contribute to the UAE’s industries which are a vital part of our economy.”

ADU’s winning team was made up of Maha Yaghi, Tasnim Basmaji, Abdullah Rashed and Marah Al-Halabi, as part of the Electrical Engineering team, as well as the Computer Engineering team, Omar Marwan Elayyan, Hisham A. Ghazal, Mohammed Redha, and Yazeed Eldigair, both supervised by Prof. Mohammed Ghazal and Prof. Luay Fraiwan, Professor of Biomedical Engineering. The Mechanical Engineering team of Abdelrahman Mohamed Abduldaim, Ahmed Elkhawad Abdelrahman, Abdelrahman Hosny Gomma, and Aghyad Belal Al Tahhan was supervised by Dr. Mohammad Al-Khedher, Associate Professor and Chair of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at ADU.

The projects will be evaluated internally by ADU’s College of Engineering faculty members before being submitted to the competition during the 2021 spring semester.