DUBAI // The world has opened up for Emirati inventor Adeeb Al Balooshi, who at the tender age of 10 is about to embark on a seven-country tour of science.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, has taken special interest in the young scientist, who has already invented a prosthetic limb for his father and a housework robot for his mother.
Adeeb said he was thrilled to be going on the tour organised by Sheikh Hamdan to give him more self-confidence and inspire other young Emirati talents.
The Year 5 pupil at Gems Wellington International School in Al Sufouh will visit the US – including Nasa – France, the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Germany and Italy, during school holidays.
The tour will let Adeeb, who developed his first medical aparatus at the age of 4, explore fields including prosthetics, medical apparatus and sustainability.
He is most looking forward to visiting Munich, in Germany, where his cousins live, and the US.
Sheikh Hamdan has assigned the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology to follow Adeeb’s development throughout his tour.
The schoolboy is already an ambassador for the Emirates Identity Authority and he counts his parents as his main inspiration.
“My mum influenced me by telling me to never give up,” he said.
Adeeb’s father, who uses a prosthetic leg, first inspired Adeeb to develop medical apparatus.
“We went to the beach and my father couldn’t swim in the water,” Adeeb said, explaining the prosthetic his father had was not waterproof, and it was too dangerous to go in the sea without one.
So the young boy decided to upgrade his father’s prosthetic leg.
When in Germany, Adeeb will be able to check the progress of his idea, where an orthopaedic doctor is helping him to build it. He will also be attending a crash course on prosthetics.
In addition to prosthetics, the youngster has delved into robotics, inventing a small cleaning device to assist his mother about the house.
“My mum was having difficulties when cleaning the couch so I told her, ‘go and I’ll do the job for you’,” he said.
“Instead of doing the job, I made a robot that can do the job for us.”
After creating the device in less than a day, Adeeb surprised his mother when she found him watching television and not cleaning.
“She checked under the chair and she was really proud of me. She was shocked and she hugged me after that,” he said.
The device resembles a broom that can vibrate and consists of a vibrating motor, batteries and feathers.
His father, a businessman, influenced another idea that Adeeb thought of.
“He asked me, ‘what if I was in the car one day and I died, you have no idea I’m driving a car, I’m in the middle of nowhere, and the cellphone is out of battery, what would you do?’” he recalled.
After contemplating the question his father presented to him, Adeeb said he would create a seat belt with a heart monitor.
“If you die or anything, cops and the ambulance will come towards you and your entire household will be informed,” he said.
His creations have led Adeeb to be the head of the Arab Youth Council for Integrated Development’s committee of young inventors and innovators. He is also a member of the Arab Robotics Association and is considered one of the youngest inventors in the world.
He has more than 100 certificates and awards to his name but he also has several other interests, besides science. “I like things in the air, like skydiving and planes and animals,” he said.
Adeeb’s mother said: “I’m really proud of him and he always surprises me with his behaviour and ideas. He is a gift from God to us.”
nbakhsh@thenational.ae
