Al Ain: Today H.E. Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh honoured recipients of university awards to faculty, researchers, and students whose innovations have been registered by the international patents office. Addressing the award winners he said, “Patents are the signature of original knowledge and technique. They tell us that the work being registered has unique purpose and distinctive value globally. Your success in gaining a patent demonstrates the international standard of your expertise, research, and innovations. You have been selected to receive an award for your work on a competitive basis, from 24 nominations across the university. The competitive award aims to motivate the efforts and motivation of our faculty, researchers, and students. You now serve as a role model to others, demonstrating the possibility that the outcome of creative research work can have practical value, national and international significance, and great worth to the university”.
Chancellor Nusseibeh placed the achievements in the context of national preparations for the next 50 years. He said, “You stand amongst members of UAEU faculty who together hold 200 patents in fields including medicine, information technology, renewable energy, space science, and water resources. I place emphasis on these disciplines because they are of vital significance to the sustainable development and technological advance of our planet. Innovation in these fields on a global scale is essential to secure our collective wellbeing, as a planet, into the future. These disciplines are at the forefront of the UAE’s agenda for the next 50 years for this reason. As a nation we recognise that our own national progress is interconnected with economic, environmental, and societal wellbeing on a global scale”.
Explaining the significance of patents to the role and purpose of the UAEU the Chancellor said, “Your success delivers a profound service to the university. It demonstrates the vibrancy, capacity, and capability of the university on an international stage. It advances our reputation for producing academic work that is useful to society and industry and is of the international standard and inventiveness represented by a patent. Furthermore it confirms the fundamental role the UAEU plays in the national vision.”
Professor Ahmed Murad, Associate Provost for Research outlined the great leaps made by the UAEU in supporting the development of patented research and innovation by faculty, researchers, and students in recent years. He noted that 40 of the 200 patents mentioned by the Chancellor had been registered in 2021. Chiming those remarks he said, “The UAEU research and innovation strategy is aligned with the UAE Centennial vision and we take great strides to advance research in the disciplines of priority and significance to the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as artificial intelligence, advanced technologies, and interdisciplinary applied sciences”.
