Smart or sustainable, these youngsters have got it going

Dubai - Young Entrepreneur Competition features business projects by 1,000 UAE students

 The Young Entrepreneur Competition (YEC) 2016 began with a bang on Wednesday and will continue till April 2. The competition will feature more than 500 diverse business projects presented by about 1,000 students from schools and universities across the UAE.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, and organised by Dubai SME (the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED)), Khaleej Times checks out some of the participants.
 The innovator:
Name: Khalifa A. Al Romaithi, 15
School: Emirates National School (Boys) Abu Dhabi
Fifteen-year-old Khalifa Al Romaithi is used to life as an entrepreneur. He was one of the winners of last year's Young Entrepreneur Competition (YEC) and this year he is back with his 'eStudent' project - a smart student attendance system.
Though the product is not patented, it is registered under Romanithi's name in the UAE.
With a keen interest in hardware and software programing and developing, eStudent started out as a hobby.
"I made this hardware at home. I have a lot of experience designing circuit boards and I had no intention to showcase it this year."
Using a high speed server based processor, eStudent works using personalised student access cards to track attendance at school. Parents can also log on to the web-based server to check their child's attendance.
Rather than using a screen to capture information, eStudent uses instant scan cards which connect to the server - and it is this feature which keeps the cost down.
"Systems like this cost upwards of Dh2,000 but this costs just Dh300."
It can also be integrated with a School Bus Tracking system too. The eStudent system has currently been implemented and deployed at Al Romanithi's school and each reader can easily support 1,000 students.
 The Eco Warriors:
Name: Abdusalam M Zourab, 23; Anas Alladaa,22; Anas Duhair, 23; Raneen Suliman, 23
Organisation: Green Is Art, Dubai
Over the space of just five months, these four friends have turned other people's trash into treasure.
Zourab, Alladaa, Duhair and Suliman have two things in common - they have a love of all things recycling, and they are all deaf.
But their deafness does not get in the way of their voice when it comes to spreading the message of "love your planet".
Communicating with Khaleej Times through lip reading, Zourab says his team has one message - "Recycle."
With so many people drinking from soda cans and then tossing them in the bin, he says why not make art out of it?
Pointing to a picture on the wall made from an old Coca-Cola can, he said "rubbish really isn't rubbish" if you think beyond its primary use.
From old water bottles turned into new watering cans, and old books turned into chairs, this foursome of sustainable champions can turn anything into art.
"I wanted to show people we can make use of old things. I asked my friends to help, and over one month we made about 2,000 products."
But Zourab says he doesn't want money for the products.
"Forget the money, I want people to look at our products and get inspired. It might make them think twice about throwing things out."
This will be the group's first time participation in the Young Entrepreneur Competition (YEC).
 The Culture Vultures:
Name: Hitesh Dattwani, 15; Shubhankar T.K.E, 17; Abhinav Chaudhary, 17; Nazeel Nazar, 16
School: Gulf Indian High School, Dubai
The recent school exams haven't stopped Dattwani, Shubhankar, Chaudhary or Nazar from starting their own mini business.
In the space of just seven days, the artistic four created an array of Arabic-inspired art pieces with a hidden message.
"Each piece has been designed using the Arabic alphabet. We took help from our Arabic maam at school to come up with the designs," Shubhankar says.
Holding what appears to be a picture - scribed with a marker pen - of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Chaudhary urges Khaleej Times to look a little closer.
"It actually says 'Shaikh Mohammed' in the picture. It is written in Arabic."
The students choose to design traditional pictures, using letters of the Arabic alphabet as a way of paying homage to the country many of them have spent years in.
But why showcase them at the YEC?
"In the future we all want to be our own boss. Working for someone doesn't give you that same satisfaction, so being here, getting the experience to run our own business is great."
With prices starting from Dh25 up to Dh65, the four boys say if they win "it will be the ultimate feeling."
Participant breakup:
 > 45% Emirati
> 10%GCC
> 45% other nationalities
> 750aged 12-25 years
> 250aged 6-11 years
> 574 female students
> 426male students
> 10winners from overall competition
> 3 winners for innovative ideas
Where:
> Dubai Festival City Mall
 kelly@khaleejtimes.com