Abu Dhabi University Wins Prestigious ASPIRE Awards for Research Excellence
Research teams at Abu Dhabi University’s College of Engineering have won four prestigious ASPIRE Awards from the Advanced Technology Research Council.
Research teams at Abu Dhabi University’s College of Engineering have won four prestigious ASPIRE Awards from the Advanced Technology Research Council. This funding stream supports research that leads to pioneering advances with the aim of developing technology for practical application. It is only awarded to outstanding research proposals which support innovation in strategically important sectors of the UAE economy, with the wider economic goal of contributing to further development of the UAE’s knowledge-based economy.
The funded projects cover a range of disciplines in engineering with principal investigators encompassing Professors in Chemical Engineering, Ioannis Zuburtikudis, Computer Science and Information Technology, Adel Khelifi, Civil Engineering, Samer Al Martini, and Professor of Mechanical Engineering Mohammad Alkhedher. The research teams reflect the international connections of ADU with co-investigators from leading universities in France, Greece, and the United States complemented by Abu Dhabi University faculty, and colleagues from Khalifa, NYU Abu Dhabi and Zayed University. The funded projects investigate a number of fascinating areas including how graphene, a Nobel Prize winning discovery in Physics in its own right in 2010 which has been described as the wonder material of the 21st century, can be used to improve water filtration; using artificial intelligence to predict Li-ion battery failures in the UAE environment; improving early detection of lung cancer, and the applicability of 3D printing concrete mixtures to promote sustainability.
Professor Philip Hamill, Associate Provost for Research and Academic Development at Abu Dhabi University, said “I congratulate my colleagues and their teams on this outstanding achievement. It reflects a vote of confidence by the Advanced Technology Research Council in their ability to investigate important problems and provide solutions which will support innovation in the UAE”.
Professor Hamill went on to says “the Covid-19 pandemic reminded us of how closely we are all connected globally and the need for collective action to solve humanity’s most pressing problems. Each of these projects in invaluable in its own right and also contributes to achieving the United Nations sustainable development goals which seek to ensure availability and sustainable management of water (SDG 6), good health and wellbeing (SDG 3), affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), and the need to build resilient infrastructure and promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization (SDG 9)”.