RISE Center at AUK Hosts Innovation Fair

In collaboration with the Sabah Al-Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity (SACGC), the Center for Research in Informatics Sciences and Engineering (RISE) at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) inaugurated its annual Innovation Fair. The event included a showcase of 15 state-of-the-art technological innovations at the University auditorium, followed by presentations from their respective innovators. The fair was open to members of the AUK community and the public.

In launching RISE Center’s first event of the semester, the Director of RISE, Dr. Amir Zeid reflected on the Center’s role in research and development, as well as being a platform for community engagement fostered through collaborations such as this event. He explained the importance of the event in informing the audience on the indispensability of today’s fast-evolving technology and the significance of innovation in solving societal problems. Dr. Zeid added that organizing such events creates opportunities for AUK students to know more about the process of getting a patent in Kuwait.

Commencing with an introduction of the SACGC, Engineer Mahmoud Zaman spoke of the Center’s mission, “To contribute to building a Kuwaiti society that fosters giftedness and creativity." One way to facilitate this is through its Inventors Support Program, which supports talented individuals with innovative and creative ideas. He then explained the process of application to the program to convert ideas from a concept to a reality, starting from the registration of ideas, creating a prototype and conducting a feasibility evaluation, to transferring it to the market and commercialization. Since then, the Center has fostered an environment of more than 400 inventors and 424 patent certificates that resulted from a sum of 1116 applications.

The first presentation was by Engineer Asma Al-Ateeq who introduced E-Farz, the smart container that automatically sorts waste into plastic, metal, or glass. Her idea was inspired after attending a seminar that showed the disaster of landfills in Kuwait, and further finding out that Kuwait’s waste was sorted only through inefficient traditional and manual methods. Since then, her invention has won her a silver medal at the 10th International Invention Fair in the Middle East 2018, as well as the Semi-Grand Prize in the Korea International Women’s Invention Exposition 2018.

The next speaker was Engineer Mohammad Al-Rifai, who introduced his steam-ironing robot, Kwili. A product of his student years, the invention has since won him 3rd place in the 3rd season of the Stars of Science TV show, the title of the GCC Medal of Honour in the Field of Sciences for the Youth, as well as inspired him to establish IdeaLink in 2015, which transfers inventions to the market. In his talk, he also highlighted the key components of any invention: novelty, usefulness, and applicability. He stressed that ideas can be generated simply by “seeing problems and creating solutions for them”, citing his invention as one such example inspired by personal observation. Similar to his idea, he maintained that inventions can be simple, citing samples like duct tape, zippers, and pens. In echoing the previous speakers’ messages, he encouraged students to innovate and persevere through the long innovation process.

In commenting on the event’s success, Dr. Zeid expressed his satisfaction with the event’s turnout as the auditorium was packed. He added that this event can lead to long-term collaborations with the SACGC.

The AUK Center for Research in Informatics, Sciences, and Engineering (RISE) serves as AUK's primary source for research and development activities, a bridge to industry, and an important venue for community outreach. RISE adapts an integrative model by forging connections between academic disciplines, local & international innovators, academia & industry, as well as technology & society.

Rise center at auk hosts innovation fair

Dr. Amir Zeid, Director of RISE Center

Rise center at auk hosts innovation fair