American University of Sharjah Faculty, Students...

FROM TRANSPORT SYSTEM AND PUBLIC HEALTH TO DRONES AND ENERGY EFFICIENT DESALINATION, INNOVATIVE IDEAS GALORE

The UAE Innovation Week in Sharjah, being celebrated from November 20 to 26, 2016 at Expo Centre Sharjah, has in attendance eminent experts, innovators, academics and students from top universities and colleges in Sharjah, including American University of Sharjah (AUS) and University of Sharjah, in addition to representatives of various public and private entities.

The UAE Innovation Week in Sharjah is being held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah. As part of the UAE leadership's initiative to promote scientific temperament in the country and encourage innovative scientific ideas and applications, the faculty and students from American University of Sharjah (AUS) are presenting a number of case studies during the week-long festival.

Case Study on Transportation System and Public Health

One of the major AUS case studies is being presented by Dr Ghassan Abu-Lebdeh of AUS-ENG-CVE Department. Titled Transportation System Changes to Promote Public Health, the project demonstrates how transportation changes can be utilized to promote public health. Specifically, the project proposes an alternate parking system and modes of travel. The AUS campus is used as a demonstration case.

As part of the study, Metabolic Equivalents (METs), the energy spent performing an activity in comparison to rest, are used to collect quantifiable data on public health. Using average travel time on campus by walking or bicycling, the MET values are obtained. Comparing the values of the existing and the proposed transportation system, an increase of 119 % to 177 % in MET values was observed. According to the proposed system, users get up to 1.77 times the amount of physical activity they currently get in the existing parking system and transport mode (private auto). Travelers would be able to incorporate 46.2 to 102.5% of their recommended daily physical activity by choosing active modes of transport (i.e., walking or cycling).

Design and Manufacturing of an Innovative Hybrid Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-AUS

Dr. Mohamed Gadalla of AUS-ENG-MCE Department presents the case study titled Design & Manufacturing of an Innovative Hybrid Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) AUS. The main objective of this project was to design, manufacture, and test an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that operates on a hydrogen fuel cell. A hydrogen propulsion system was used as a primary power source to substitute for the exclusively used battery system and enhance the endurance of the UAV flight.

As part of the study, a UAV with take-off weight of 300 N was designed, manufactured and tested. The UAV was constructed using lightweight Basla wood and composite material with PV-fuel cell. This involved detailed aerodynamic analysis, designing of operating parameters of a suitable fuel cell, and a micro-controller unit to switch the modes of operation during take-off, cruising and landing. Final laboratory results and test flights suggest that the UAV is capable of achieving long endurance of 470 min, using renewable energy sources for mobile applications and of reaching 970 min of endurance using a hybrid fuel cell-PV power system.

Multi-Rotors Hydrogen Design and Manufacturing of an Innovative Multi-Rotors Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Drone Delivery System - AUS

The main objective of this project is designing and manufacturing of an innovative Hydrogen fuel cell powered drone-delivery system for humanitarian and industrial purposes. The drone vertically takes off and lands during the flight. It has a capability of flying for more than 2-3 hours depending on the capacity of the installed hydrogen tank. The drone is designed to have an autonomous control system with an auto pilot to direct the flight to a certain destination and fly back to its original destination through a ground station without any human interference. The drone can be used for many applications and purposes such as civil defense, media, inspection of infrastructure, delivering first aid and healthcare, inspecting high-voltage transmission lines and patrolling borders, in oil and gas explorations and for parcel deliveries such as national IDs and passports etc.

Desalination of Seawater by Means of a Microbial Fuel Cell (DMFC)

This is another landmark case study by Dr. Ahmed Aidan and Dr. Sameer Al-Asheh of AUS-ENG-CHE Department that explores the crucial science of desalination of water. Water is known to be the most basic element of life on earth, covering 70% of the surface of the Earth. Yet 97.5% of that water is salty and cannot be used directly. Current techniques for the desalination of water use a large amount of energy and need to operate at high pressures.

To tackle both issues, production of energy and water production, a desalination microbial fuel cell has proven to be a promising topic of research. The aim of this project is to accomplish water desalination without the need of external energy source. Instead, a source of organic matter with the aid of microorganisms is to be used in a modified microbial fuel cell.

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a fuel cell that consists of two chambers; one with an anode and another with a cathode. The anode and cathode are separated by a semi-permeable membrane that allows for the exchange of certain ions. The goal of MFC is to treat wastewater while simultaneously producing energy. AUS scientists hope that their findings will lead to a cost-effective method of desalination whilst producing energy at the same time.

Removal of Heavy Metals from Contaminated Water Using Chemically-Modified Natural Fibers: The Case of Cotton

AUS student Mohammed Seif Adawla Mohammed presents this case study titled Removal of Heavy Metal

LINK:	http://www.sharjahmedia.ae/en/media-centre/news/22/11/2016/american-un...
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