AGU Students to propose clean power tech in US energy conference
Al Ghurair University, one of UAE-based diversified conglomerate Al Ghurair’s education ventures, is sponsoring the participation of three of its Electrical & Electronics Engineering Students in the IEEE Green Energy and Smart Systems Conference 2017 in California, USA this month.
The EEE major students, Siham Ibrahim, Shaima Mustafa, and AlaaHalawani, are submitting a paper that explores the Performance of Human Energy Harvesting Technology as their official entry into the summit.Their work discussesa proposed power harvesting approach based on applying piezoelectric tiles on the university ground and combining it with a wireless power transfer technique to generate energy derived from student foot traffic throughout the campus. Thus, the embedded piezoelectric material converts the kinetic energy exerted by the students’ movement into electricity, which is then transmitted wirelessly and safely to power various facilities within the university.
The research comes as a result of an engineering project that required students to investigate innovative ways to generate clean energy.Al Ghurair University students examined the energy harnessing via the Piezoelectric effect. The technologyworks by gathering energyfrom individuals’ strolling vibration generated from trails, stairs, and plate frames.It works by developing anelectrical charge from the weight and strain connected to itssurface. This created energy is usually discharged in air, however Al Ghurair University students developed a mechanism for harvesting and transmitting this power generated by using Piezoelectric technology wirelessly.
The practical applications of the technology can serve a myriad of purposes to generate zero-carbon energy, and can be used in highly populated locations with high traffic like the Expo2020 venue, schools, shopping centers, and airports across the world. This pioneering concept aligns with the UAE Vision 2021, which aims to build a green economy for sustainable development.
Al Ghurair University is also sponsoring another Electrical and Electronics Engineering student, Israa Y I Abushawish,to give a presentation on Textile Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Antennas at The Millimeter-Wave Band (mmW) in the Fourth IEEE International Conference of Engineering technologies and applied sciences (ICETAS 2017) that will be held in Al Manama, Al Bahrain. The technology explores the textile antenna’s application for “on body communications”, with a focus on the integration of a Wireless Body-Area Network (WBAN) system to be deployed in medical applications.
Thisidea is based on implanting textile sensors in the human body to collect various physiological changes in order to monitor patients’ health status wherever their location is. This device will instantly transmit wirelessly all information in real time to doctors through an external processing unit.
If an emergency is detected, the physician will immediately inform the patient through a computer system by sending appropriate messages or alarms. This wireless technology will not only give patients an advantage of being remotely monitored by health practitioners, but may also reduce the costs by decreasing the need to have medical personnel in close proximity to patients at all time.
Al Ghurair University President, Prof. Basem Alzahabi, commented, “We are proud of the tremendous amount of work that our students have undertaken to explore such a technology with great practical potential to the university and the UAE. This is the kind of creative and innovative environment that we foster for our students in Al Ghurair University, allows for out-of-the-box thinking that enables them to make meaningful contributions not only to their chosen industrial disciplines, but also to society as a whole.”