(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM)) After months of hard work, anxious test flights, and fine tuning of aircraft, the winners of UAE Innovation Challenge 2015 have been announced at an official awards ceremony at the HCT-Dubai Men's College.
Following countless hours and untold pressure to complete airworthy unmanned aircraft, or drones, for the two days of competition at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the UAE Innovation Challenge 2015 concluded in grand style amid cheering and collegial support for all the teams.
The 2015 winning teams, in order, were: Fujairah Gladiators (Fujairah Colleges), Emirates Robotics (Dubai Men's College), and Aviators (Dubai Men's College). Other awards were presented as follows: The Best Technical Presentation: Aviators (Dubai Men's College), Most Innovative Design: Super 7 (Abu Dhabi Men's College), Longest Range Award: Falcotronics (Sharjah Women's College), Best Autonomous Landing: Falcon Eye (Al Ain Men's College), Team Sportsmanship Award: Eagles (Ruwais Men's College), Mentors' Choice Award: Yas Tech (Abu Dhabi Women's College), Judge's Choice Award: FreeFall (Abu Dhabi Men's College).
The winners from the HCT-Fujairah Colleges can now look forward to an all-expenses paid trip to California, courtesy of Northrop Grumman, where they will tour Northrop Grumman facilities and other educational institutions with specialties in robotics and other areas of interest.
Although it was the first time the Fujairah Gladiators team had entered the challenge, it was the second year a Fujairah team had won top prize, with Fujairah Dynamics winning in 2014. It will be the first trip to the USA for the team, made up of three male and three female Electronic Engineering students.
Dr. Abdullatif Al Shamsi, Vice-Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology, congratulated all the teams on a superb demonstration of their skills, knowledge, team work and sportsmanship.
"This Innovation Challenge offers young UAE nationals the opportunity to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths subjects, while gaining hands-on work experience with industry leaders and innovators," Dr. Al Shamsi said.
"It is a positive reinforcement of HCT's commitment to Learning by Doing in all of its programmes, where our students can use the knowledge they gain in their courses in such a practical, applied and hands-on manner," he added.
Mary Petryszyn, Vice President, International, of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, said the students exemplified the spirit of collaboration and innovation that the Innovation Challenge is designed to encourage, and had harnessed the power of their innovative thinking and enthusiasm.
"Every member of every team has accomplished something of immense value; in a matter of months you have designed, built and flown an unmanned aircraft, not an easy feat. These important experiences will help our students to become leaders of tomorrow," Petryszyn said.
Fujairah Gladiators team captain, Ahmed Darwish Al Qawadi, said that the win had not fully registered. "We have never been to the USA and we entered just for the experience. We can't believe we won," he said.
He gave credit to team mentor, and 2014 winner, Ahmed Saeed Almajnoun. "Ahmed really helped us a lot and told us what to expect and what we should be doing to do well in the competition," said.
In its fifth year, the 2015 competition is the largest of the challenges with 99 students competing in the 15 teams. In those five years, almost 400 students have competed, supported by faculty mentors and advisers, and teams of engineers from Northrop Grumman.
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