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ABU DHABI / WAM
In line with its commitment to fostering innovation and critical thinking among students, Abu Dhabi University (ADU) commenced the 11th Undergraduate Research and Innovation Competition (URIC) at the University’s main campus.
The annual competition serves as a platform for university students to showcase their research projects across 28 tracks in the fields of engineering, business, education, arts and social sciences, natural and health sciences, and innovation.
This year, the Competition received close to 600 submissions from 77 universities across more than 10 countries including the UAE, KSA, Oman, Egypt, and Kuwait as well as Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, India, North Macedonia, and the USA.
Additionally, this year URIC brought together around 800 on-campus attendees and 400 online participants, including students, judges, mentors, and VIP guests.
In addition to key speakers including Fahad Al Mheiri, Managing Director of Raytheon Emirates, an RTX business, Dr Dirk Richter, Senior Advisor, Director of Health Sector Innovation at the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), Innovator and Board-Certified Surgeon and Dr. Karim Houni, Head of Digital Innovation at Emirates Global Aluminium.
Professor Ghassan Aouad, Chancellor Abu Dhabi University (ADU), said, “For the 11th year, we are delighted to witness the great turnaround of university students partaking in the competition.”
“At ADU, we work closely with our strategic partners such as RTX, to further provide students and the community with state-of-the-art competitions to advance their research and innovation knowledge and skills while promoting critical thinking. Through this Competition, we aim to inspire GCC and MENA region universities to integrate scientific research into undergraduate education to cultivate lifelong learning and boost students’ career prospects.”
Prof Ghassan added, “We extend our gratitude to all participants for their dedication and eagerness to showcase their exceptional projects, as well as ADU’s committed faculty and staff members for their ongoing support towards the success of this event. We thank our esteemed partner, RTX, for their continuous support and sponsorship on this strategic initiative.”
Fahad Al Mheiri, Managing Director of Raytheon Emirates, an RTX business, said, “At RTX, we recognize the significance of fostering an inquiry-based culture that embraces a multidisciplinary innovation approach to drive sustainable growth and progress in the UAE and wider region. The ADU Undergraduate Research and Innovation Competition does just that and continues to provide an exceptional platform for students to transform their ideas into tangible research projects. The impressive submissions showcased at the competition were a testament to students’ inquiry-driven minds and passion to become future leaders and impactful research contributors. We are honored to be associated with this initiative and inspired by the level of innovation exhibited.”
The URIC is the largest undergraduate research event in the GCC and MENA region. Over the years, the Competition has witnessed remarkable growth, whereas last year, approximately 400 research papers were presented from 25 disciplines by teams from 64 universities across 14 countries.