SHARJAH- Transportation department at Dubai Municipality has recently organized an exhibition of innovation in the Sharjah University for students with the aim at strengthening relationship with educational institutions in order to spread the culture of innovation and conservation of environment among students and new generation.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Dr. Salah Taher Al Haj, deputy director of Sharjah University for community affairs in the presence of Humaid Al Marri, director of transportation department at DM and a number of officials from the civic body and Sharjah University.
The exhibition brought the eco-friendly innovations of Humaid Saeed Al Marri and his support team in the transportation department which is highly admired by the students and other visitors.
Al Marri said that we have total 120 products in different categories which are manufactured by myself and with the help of my employees using used spare parts of vehicles, parts of damaged vehicles and other recyclable items from wood, glass, bottle, cable…etc.
This is the 16th exhibition we are conducting. Previously similar exhibitions were conducted in different places including Zabeel Park, Childrens’ City, Dubai Airport, Dubai Mall, Department of Tourism and a number of government schools.
The most attractive product was the base of a medium-sized glass table. The shiny silver-coloured car engine is just one of the many innovative things he has created out of passion for inventing items out of recyclables.
Al Marri is very enthusiastic to find out solutions to make the city a better place, and he spends his time creating useful pieces of art in his workshop at home or the one on office grounds. It is his routine to visit the workers and technicians daily in the work place to share his new ideas and know their opinions in making new products.
‘The car engine is from an old RV caravan that I used for travelling and camping. The engine stopped working one day so I brought it to Dubai Municipality workshop, and got an idea to make a table. We cleaned it, put aluminium paint on it and added wheels so we can move it around since it’s a big engine. We put the pistons as they are to hold the glass,’ he said.
His products include items ranging from home furniture and kitchen cabinets to a mini-play area for children complete with clocks, trophies, slides, swings and a tree house. He said the workshop is like his second home as he spends most of his time making things.
Almarri’s office is decorated with objects made by his own hands including the name board, wall clock, double face clock in the meeting room, a multi-purpose stationary holder carved out of wood and a paper weight made from used paper compressed into a solid block.
‘I believe in preserving the environment. There is a lot of material thrown away and not used. For example, the date tree is part of our (Emirati) history and culture. In olden days, people used to make almost everything from a single tree, even houses and boats, but now they throw away this material. I would like to say to everybody that it is possible to re-use most material we throw away,’ he said.
He praised the support of DM and its leadership for his initiatives and hoped to get more opportunities to spread the message of protecting environment through such endeavors. He also welcomed educational institutions to visit the department to know more about the activities of the department.
‘We get a lot of offers to purchase our products , but unfortunately now we don’t have plan to sell it. Still we have been trying to set up a plant to manufacture the products on commercial basis after necessary approvals as our products are highly demanded by tourists and people who love different things at their home and office,’ he added.