UAE students urged to participate in upcoming Falling Walls Lab contest

Dubai - Dubai has been selected among 50 international destinations to host the 2018 edition of the Falling Walls Lab on September 30.

The UAE students are being urged to take part in an upcoming global competition that is known to present breakthrough ideas in science and society and gives pupils an opportunity to present their ideas in front of hundreds of world-class experts.
Dubai has been selected among 50 international destinations to host the 2018 edition of the Falling Walls Lab on September 30 at the Canadian University Dubai (CUD).
Applications are open to all fields, such as sciences, technology, social development and creativity and the deadline is September 9.
Elisabetta Lampedecchia, the Incubator Coordinator at CUD, said it is becoming increasingly important to develop ideas in the fields that the competition aims to focus on.
"In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, ideas unfold to create innovation before we have the time to develop them," she said. "Indeed, we assist with what we call the exponential change. In these frenetic times it is more important than ever to reflect on ideas that will have a long-term beneficial effect on society - creating true progress and added value - because it is true that we have new innovation almost every day but the question is: how many last and persist?
"I believe that smart interaction between science and technology in pursuit of social development is what we particularly need in this specific moment. That's what we are promoting through our competition."
Grand finale in Berlin
CUD will host one of the qualifying stages and the winner of the Dubai Lab will head to the all-expense-paid grand finale in Berlin on November 8. Finalists of the competition will also win free access to Falling Walls' International Conference on Future Breakthrough in Science and Society, where they will take centre stage to present their projects to an audience of over 600 world-class experts, including delegates from prestigious institutions such as Harvard and MIT.
"It is not a cliche to affirm that youth provide hope of a better future. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, himself said that the future is in the hands of UAE youth, and they are the country's key to a brighter future. We share the same belief that young people when empowered are the catalyst for progress and they have a formidable ability to push boundaries because of their natural acceptance for change," Lampedecchia said.
Lampedecchia said the university wants to see ideas that have a long-term perspective and is capable of addressing global challenges and creating solutions to improve life conditions of disadvantaged people on a global scale.
The event at CUD will see shortlisted competitors pitch a three minute presentation on their research project, business plan or social innovation to a local jury of high-profile business and academic experts.
The Falling Walls Lab was created in 2014 as an initiative of the Falling Walls Foundation, a global platform established to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. The Foundation brings together leaders in the fields of science, business, politics, the arts and society to foster debate and promote innovation for the benefit of the global community.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com  

• Dubai