Pupils' vision to end bus-related deaths

Dubai - The duo spearheaded the simple yet effective idea after seeing several stories where small children died as a result of being accidentally locked inside school buses.

Two innovative students in Dubai have caught the attention of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) after they presented their technology-driven plans to make news headlines surrounding child deaths in school buses a thing of the past.
Mythri Muralikannan and Ayra Ali - Grade 7 pupils at The Millennium School Dubai - want to make motion sensors a mandatory requirement inside school buses.
"We made a 3D-printed prototype of a motion sensor. It will sense any kind of movement inside the bus, and will only activate once the engine is switched off and the doors are locked," Mythri told Khaleej Times.
The duo spearheaded the simple yet effective idea after seeing several stories where small children died as a result of being accidentally locked inside school buses.
"Given that we are young students ourselves, this really hit a nerve with us so we wanted to offer a solution to the problem," Ali said.
Aside from impressing fellow students and teachers, the idea caught the attention of Dr Yousif Mohammed Al Ali, CEO of the Public Transport Authority.
So much so that after meeting with the girls last year to evaluate their project, he followed up with a letter headed: 'Pilot Project to Improve Safety in School Bus'
In it, Al Ali wrote: "With reference to the idea for improving school bus safety presented by the child Mythri Muralikannan.we kindly request for you to proceed with a pilot testing of the idea in at least five school buses."
Calling the duo's vision "highly creative", Al Ali said such talent must be nurtured as these are the students who will eventually benefit society as a whole.
The product is currently with the RTA to ensure it is ready to commence pilot testing (check box to find out how product works).
On Saturday, Mythri and Ayra presented their idea as part of the first Annual Global Innovation Challenge run by Gems Education and Silicon Valley's Singularity University.
Over 600 students groups mingled and learned from one another at the event which initially saw 80,000 students in the UAE submit their ideas.
The criteria for submission had to centre on an innovative approach to addressing the world's 12 most pressing challenges, including disaster resilience, food scarcity and environmental sustainability.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Christine Nasserghodsi, director of innovation at Gems, said students were tasked to put forward a myriad of solutions using future-focused technologies such as 3D printing, robotics and nanotechnology.
"We wanted these students to present technology that will impact millions and billions of lives, and we're seeing some great ideas."
Next week, 12 projects will be selected globally to get mentoring from Singularity University and Nasserghodsi said she is confident some teams from the UAE will be selected.
"There is an incredible quality of projects on show here and I am sure some of these prototypes will materialise into the real thing very soon."
How it works:
> One sensor fitted inside vehicle
> Once engine is off and doors are locked, it will detect any movement inside
> Even a slight detection will send out a loud beeping noise on the exterior of the vehicle along with flashing light
> It can also be connected to a control room or mobile phone which will send out an alert message
> Cost: Approximately Dh500 per bus
Other student innovations:
> Team: Athila Anil, Sneha Vidhyalakshmi Ramesh, Hridya Pradeep Kumar, Amak Varghese, Anjana Suni, Nicole Kaien
> School: Gems Our Own English High School
> Product: AL-ID - A system which instantly disables driving on detecting alcohol in driver's system
After team-based research proved that 25.4 per cent of car accidents in the UAE (and 40 per cent in Dubai) are drink-related, these students
put forward their idea for a sure-solution to prevent driving under intoxication. Using Iris recognition and a touch-based system, the results
will trigger an automatic disabling of the fuel supply to the engine, meaning the car will cut out. This will help reduce road accidents and will
allow police authorities to prioritise other workloads.
 
> Team: Abbas Murtuza, Abdul Waseeand Farhan Rashid
> School: Kindergarten Starters, Dubai
> Product: GIC Project Space Junk - a solution to clearing up floating debris in space
More than 500,000 pieces of space junk are tracked as they orbit Earth, and with some travelling up to speeds of 17,500mph,
it is enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or spacecraft. Using a robot, this team of students
aims to send it into space, and using electro-magnetic boosters, it will collect the debris.
It will then be transported back to Earth and tested in a lab for either recycling or destroying.
kelly@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai