The inaugural UAE Unmanned Aerial System Payload Design Challenge, a joint program by Lockheed Martin and Mubadala Investment Company, chose six finalists among 63 participants among the UAE-based university teams.
Launched in the spring, the year-long competition challenged university students to design, develop, and integrate civilian and industrial applications for Lockheed Martin’s unmanned aerial system Indago. The system is well-known for its endurance and adaptability across multiple industries and sectors among which national security, agriculture, and more.
The challenge took place at the Lockheed Martin’s Centre of Innovation and Security Studies in Masdar City. The participants had access to the company’s premises, including the manufacturing facility where they built their prototypes with the help of a 3D printer.
Robert S. Harward, Chief Executive at Lockheed Martin UAE commented that the initiative could bridge the gap between the industry and the universities. Harward confirmed that Lockheed Martin would nurture the selected students’ skills in science, technology, and math. The ultimate goal was to transform their ideas into working commercial and industrial applications.
One of the finalists was a team from the New York University at Abu Dhabi. It proposed a Light Detection and Ranging sensor payload. The sensor was able to gauge the impact of climate change by detecting glacier dynamics and sea levels.
An all-female team from the Higher Colleges of Technology Al Ain was among the finalists too. The girls came up with a utility application that involves a smart meter payload tracking electricity and water consumption in rural areas.
A team from Abu Dhabi Polytechnic invented a water sampling payload to analyze water supply in forests, mines, and oceans. Another team from the Petroleum Insititute in Abu Dhabi presented a corrosion inspector payload that can track and analyze metal pipes in oil and gas and water pipelines.
Another team from the Petroleum Institute introduced a lifeguard payload that could assist distressed swimmers at sea. An all-female team from the same institution presented a payload to inspect radiation levels for climate monitoring and incident response.
Fatima Al Marzouqi, Head of Education and Training, Aerospace, Renewables and ICT, Mubadala, commented:
Initiatives in STEM education and entrepreneurship matter, as they will help the UAE realize its goals of creating an agile, sustainable and knowledge-based economy.