‘Inventor mentor’ aims to help people of UAE get their ideas off the ground



Martin Croucher

DUBAI // The Islamic world is responsible for some of the world’s most treasured inventions, from coffee to the first cameras.

But the Middle East has fallen behind much of the world in recent times, according to Arshad Aziz, a self-styled “inventor mentor”.

His organisation is aiming to help scientists in the UAE and across the region transform their ideas into patented, saleable pitches to big businesses.

“This region had a golden age, which had some of the world’s greatest inventions,” said Mr Aziz, who lives in Germany.

“But there is a big gap from then until now. It seems like people are sleeping. My goal is to wake them up and help them to lift out the inventions they have in their minds.”

He has run Arabian Inventors for 10 years as a free mentoring service for potential inventors.

Mr Aziz, 63, is originally from Karachi and was based in Dubai in the late 1990s. While in the UAE he developed a service that would provide video information for tourists.

He launched Arabian Inventors in 2003 because he believed there was not enough support for potential inventors in the region.

Over the past 10 years, he has offered crucial advice to help scores of people get their ideas patented and has listed those patents on his website. There are inventors from the UAE, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.

From the UAE, there are 65 patents listed, including herbal antibiotics, a device for removing palm weevils and “a robot suitable for cleaning aircraft”.

Mr Aziz fields between five and 10 requests a day, and the number is growing.

He believes events such as the Abu Dhabi Science Festival, which aims to get young people interested in careers in science, have improved business.

He said he had discussions with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, but did not elaborate on any plans.

Mr Aziz has been in the UAE for the past week to discuss with inventors in Dubai whether there was the potential to offer a service to connect them with people interested in buying their ideas.

“We want to get these patents off paper and into production,” he said. “We would be targeting American and European companies but we’d ideally like them to be sold to businesses in the UAE or the region.

“It’s a goal to have a new invention be developed from scratch in the UAE, and manufactured here, too.”

For more information, visit www.arabianinventors.com.

mcroucher@thenational.ae

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Install an air filter in your home.

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Ain Dubai in numbers

126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure

1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch

16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.

9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.

5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place

192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Company profile

Name: Infinite8

Based: Dubai

Launch year: 2017

Number of employees: 90

Sector: Online gaming industry

Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor

How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now

Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.

The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.

1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):

a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33

b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.

2. For those who have worked more than five years

c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.

Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.

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Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Company profile

Name: Dukkantek 

Started: January 2021 

Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani 

Based: UAE 

Number of employees: 140 

Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service) 

Investment: $5.2 million 

Funding stage: Seed round 

Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office  

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How to wear a kandura

Dos

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  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
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Don’ts 

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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Scoreline

Real Madrid 1
Ronaldo (53')

Atletico Madrid 1
Griezmann (57')

The%20specs
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Hydrogen: Market potential

Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.

"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.

Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat