Innovators 2014 to showcase local inventors next month

Xavier is one of nearly 200 innovators who will display their contraptions in the Abu Dhabi Technology Development Committee’s latest event.

Xavier Goby improvised his flame-thrower using cheap household materials. He thinks the Innovator 2014 event is a great idea. Delores Johnson / The National

ABU DHABI // Want to see a real-life teenage flame-thrower?

Then pay a visit to young inventor Xavier Goby at the first Innovator 2014 event at Abu Dhabi’s First Gulf Bank Arena next month – but don’t get too close.

Xavier, 17, is one of nearly 200 innovators who will show off their contraptions as part of the Abu Dhabi Technology Development Committee’s latest event.

“Our goal is to start building the community of DIYers, of innovators, of people who are enthusiastic about building, making and designing,” said Majid Al Mail, senior manager at TDC who is heading the Innovator initiative.

“It is building this community to get them to the next level. This is part of a bigger trend around the world in terms of what is known as the maker movement, we wanted to bring it to Abu Dhabi in a very exciting and innovative way.

“We wanted to create our own brand, our own event basically.”

The free event’s interactive programme will feature workshops and a number of presentations by industry speakers including Mohammed Hareb, director of Freej & Freej folklore; Marcin Jakubwoski, technologist and founder of Open Source Ecology; and Cameron Robertson, a past TEDx speaker and inventor of the “human-powered helicopter”.

Hollaphonic, the first UAE-based group to be signed by EMI, will be there, as will a human-powered giant spider called the Arachnobot.

For Xavier, the chance to show off his homemade flame-thrower to the public and network with other creative tinkerers is “the best thing that’s happened to any DIY creator, programmer, hacker, guru kind of guy who lives in the UAE”.

Xavier compared the event to Hackerspace, which brings together creative thinkers in Europe and North America to share ideas and display innovative technological projects.

“They’re very good for the industry. For example, many renowned applications all came out of Hackerspaces. People just came up with ideas and said, ‘OK, let’s code it together’,” said Xavier, who studies at Deira International School in Dubai.

“If it is beneficial in all other countries, it has to be beneficial here.”

Xavier built his flame-thrower, which allows him to spray fire into the air from a contraption attached to his arm, in his bedroom using household materials including a Coke bottle, string and a shin pad.

Other items such as a piece of brass, a construction glove and a butane canister he was able to buy at a local hardware shop for less than Dh50. His invention was inspired by the film Iron Man 3.

“While I was watching the movie you could see some of the weaponry that Iron Man was using and I looked at my hand and I thought, it would be cool if I could do the same thing, if I could shoot something out of my palm as well,” Xavier said.

“I said, ‘I’ll make a flame-thrower coming out of my palm’. And then I just decided to since I can’t make the same thing as in Iron Man, I just decided to improvise with just the materials that I’ve got, like household materials.”

All DIYers who take part in Innovator 2014 will be eligible to win the Dh40,000 Innovator of the Year award for the best idea, as selected by a team of judges consisting of industry mentors.

TDC is also presenting a Dh20,000 People’s Choice Award to the inventor whose project is most popular with visitors.

Omar Al Rifai, a Syrian electronic engineer from Abu Dhabi, is one of the mentors who will be offering expert guidance to young inventors taking part in the initiative.

“This is a chance for us to encourage creativity and from creativity you will make new products, new products have higher prices in market and higher prices in market gives you better margins,” said Mr Al Rifai.

“Better margins give you better economy, gives you better image, it gives you everything. Creativity is a winner. It’s an ace. So this is a chance for young minds to create. I’m proud to be a part of this.”

The event runs from noon to 8pm on March 8.

There is still room for inventors aged 15 and older to sign up to participate in Innovator 2014. To apply, visit innovator.ae.