Emirati postgraduate student Talib Alhinai is, quite literally, flying high. He will shortly present his drone research to members of British parliament, has just been named one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 in Europe for this year and he still has another six years to retain his place on the prestigious list.
Mr Alhinai, 24, has been in the UK since 2010 when he joined University of Manchester to study mechatronic engineering. Then, just a week after finishing his first-class bachelor’s degree, he began a doctorate at London’s Imperial College.
Today he spends his time at Imperial’s aerial robotics laboratory, where he works on using flying robots for aerial construction.
He is due to finish his doctoral degree in June, but first he will present his research to around 100 parliamentarians at Stem for Britain, which supports early-career research scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians – what it calls the “engine room of UK plc”.
“When choosing a subject, I had set my mind on a field I was passionate about but also one that was cutting edge and relevant to the future needs of the UAE in becoming a knowledge-based economy,” says Mr Alhinai, who was born in Abu Dhabi, and adds that he started his doctorate just as consumer drones were gaining traction.
“Drones have immense potential to be used for good, to help with agriculture and farming, search and rescue and construction. My interest in them was piqued when I learnt how drone swarms can rapidly build shelters for survivors of natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes.”
The result has been the world’s first flying 3D-printing drone, which can take droplets of a lightweight builders’ foam, in liquid form, out to pipeline leaks. Expanding to 25 times its original size, the foam can then quickly plug the leak without any need for hands-on human intervention.
The aerial robot won him Dh1 million and the national prize at last year’s UAE Drones for Good awards – the “World Cup” for drones.
The award subsequently brought him to the attention of Forbes magazine, which has named him one of the 30 most promising people under 30 in its European science and healthcare category for 2017.
Mr Alhinai already holds two patents – one for the mechanism to create an aerial 3D-printing drone, and another for the design of a walking and flying drone, which could work across different zones in construction or in disaster relief.
His inspiration originally came from the 2011 Japanese Fukushima nuclear disaster, where wheeled robots were sent into the three nuclear reactor meltdowns and quickly failed amid all the debris and heat. Even four years on, a robot sent in to capture images stopped working after a few hours.
As a result of Mr Alhinai’s work – made in collaboration with his aerial robotics lecturer, Dr Mirko Kovac – awards and sponsorship money has been flooding in. Last year, they received £3.4 million (Dh15.3m) in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and other industrial partners.
The “science fiction”, he says, is to build teams of robots which can construct rooms and even buildings – “not something that is going to happen tomorrow or in the next year or two”.
It has very much been a case of right place and time for Mr Alhinai, who says the huge surge in the use of flying robots in the last few years has mostly been “recreational” rather than for “the benefit of humanity”.
The UAE has become an incubator for such “disruptive technology”, he says, being one of the first countries to legislate for the commercial use of drones, and it will “pay off immensely in the long term”.
The young scientist has been heavily involved in some of the government’s discussions on science, technology and entrepreneurship.
He is part of the Dubai team involved in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (Reap), a two-year project focused on converting the 90 per cent of Emiratis who do not work as entrepreneurs into 90 per cent who do.
He has also worked with the Dubai Future Foundation on creating a network of innovation centres for robotic technology, and is an ambassador for the Shorik initiative, which encourages overseas study for Emirati students.
More new Emirati graduates are “passionate” about the so-called Stem subjects, he has observed, “probably as a by-product in the government’s interest in science – the space programme, the hyperloop”. It all points to “a very bright future” for Stem in the Emirates.
Having been so deeply involved in policies on both drones and entrepreneurship, Mr Alhinai is keen to carry on with both streams of work when he returns to the UAE for good later this year. And he has his national service to do.
But first, the homecoming. After four years in which he has only been able to make two short breaks home a year, he is looking forward to a proper return.
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
