ABU DHABI– A young Emirati scientist, on a world tour to help build on his ever growing list of inventions including a prosthetic limb for his father and a housework robot for his mother, is planning to design a weatherproof umbrella, of a different shape and made of two layers and stronger metal.
The 10-year-old inventor, Adeeb Al Blooshi, got inspired for his new invention by the rainy British weather, when he was in London as part of the tour.
“They didn’t sell umbrellas that have protection against the wind,” he said. “I’m actually working on that. But then again, in Dubai it’s not going to make much sense. We barely have any rain. We have too much sun,” he was quoted by the Abu Dhabi-based daily, The National.
Adeeb is partway through a tour of seven countries to visit various science and research centres, which has been sponsored by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
The boy, who holds seven scientific patents and has received more than 100 certificates and awards, is a member of the Arab Robotics Association and an ambassador of the Emirates Identity Authority, where his father Sulaiman works.
Because of his work, he was named by CNN as one of the world’s most impressive young medical pioneers.
He has already visited Germany, Italy, France and the United States, and is due to travel to Vietnam this year, where he will pick up an honour from Interpol, the international police agency, for his work.
“I’ve found out a lot. The tour is currently helping me a lot with information. I think when I’m done with the tour, I’m going to be able to offer my country a lot more,” he said.
In the US he attended space camp at the Space and Rocket Centre in Alabama. “The camp in general was really useful. I learnt a lot about space. It was also a lot of fun. We built rockets. Not firework rockets – manually launched rockets,” he said.
While the needs of his parents inspired his first two inventions, Adeeb is looking at broader problems to solve in the future. He is looking at a smart fireman’s helmet with a built-in camera, inspired by a tragic story from his homeland.
But while he is only 10, Adeeb is too savvy to give away all his ideas to journalists. “I can tell you about a few of my inventions, but I can’t really say too much to the media because of copyright issues,” he said.
The U.A.E. ambassador to the UK, Abdulrahman Almutaiwee, presented Adeeb with a sand sculpture-framed image when he met the Al Blooshi family on Wednesday.
“I am very proud of having such a genius child who comes from my country,” Mr. Almutaiwee said, adding, “There’s no doubt that his skills are incomparable with other boys of his age. Thank God that we have someone like Adeeb.”-WAM