The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) concluded the 1st edition of its virtual winter innovation camp for UAE citizens and GCC citizens residing in the country, by honoring the winners and best projects owners, in the presence of H.E. Mohammad Al Kitbi, Acting Deputy Director General for the Support Service Sector, the winning students and their parents.
The winter camp aimed to prepare youth and leverage the winter break to master robotics skills and artificial intelligence techniques, with a focus on ICT.
This camp complemented the latest edition of TRA summer innovation camp, which was held virtually and in which students were introduced to the various electronic parts and tools that are essential in the electronics industry. They learned how to equip a home technical lab that contains many tools, including sensors, control and electronic circuits, in addition to understanding and installing the robot parts in the correct sequence, and learning the basics of programming and how to use it to control the robot, as well as other skills.
In his speech at the ceremony, H.E. Mohammad Al Kitbi, Acting Deputy Director General for the Support Service Sector, said: “We aimed, through the winter camp, to leverage time and introduce students to future sciences, enabling them to deal with the latest technologies, and learn about robotics and artificial intelligence professionally and scientifically. The exceptional circumstances that the world is witnessing did not prevent us from organizing this camp, as we overcame them by taking advantage of the advanced ICT infrastructure and technologies that the UAE provides for all its citizens.”
H.E. Al Kitbi added: “Today I meet with you with full pride of the enthusiasm we have witnessed among our children in acquiring new skills. With this winter camp, we add a new chapter to our continuous work in building a brighter future for our children, a future that will be managed by an educated generation capable of comprehending the vocabulary and concepts of science, dealing with it and leveraging it in the service of its homeland and society. Today, we stand just steps away from celebrating the golden jubilee of our glorious union, and as we live in the next fifty, we confirm that the success of our plans and strategies depends greatly on the people of this country. The next fifty start with you, you are the hope and the goal, you are the bet of our wise leadership and your honorable parents.”
1790 labs
The number of home labs distributed by TRA to students reached 1790. They were delivered to their homes in line with the precautionary measures adopted by the competent authorities. The students used the labs in building and programming electronics and robots, where tasks were divided over the days of the camp.
6 missions
throughout the camp, the participants accomplished the tasks assigned to them, which amounted to 5 practical tasks and one additional task. The students learned how to equip the home lab, ensure safety procedures, operate a simplified electronic circuit and build robots.
13 recorded hours
In order to accomplish these missions, TRA provided specialized training materials via TRA Virtual Academy website. The materials included 13 hours of recorded videos produced specifically to train the camp participants and provide them with all the needed information to perform the required tasks. The videos provide information about the robot and its parts, simple electronic circuits, servo motors, sensors and other technologies, in addition to safety and security measures when dealing with these technologies.
Daily live broadcast
During the camp, the supervisors and trainers communicated directly with the students through the live broadcast service, providing them with all the information and knowledge that would help them develop their skills in terms of building and programming robots, and how to identify problems and reach solutions. The trainers answered all the inquiries and questions of the participating students during the live broadcast.
Winning projects
TRA revealed that the students presented a wide range of distinguished projects. Winners have been selected based on the distinction of the idea and the performance of all the required tasks. Moreover, in order to encourage students and in view of the strength of competition, TRA honored the owners of the best six projects. The golden award went to Sara Mohamed Hassan Al-Hefeiti and Abdullah Ghareeb Al-Mansoori, the silver award went to Fatima Saeed Yousif Al-Mazmi and Ali Humaid Ali Al-Loughani, while the bronze award went to Shahd Hussain Mohamed Al-Yassi and Mansour Saleh Rashid Al-Shehhi.
TRA has organized the first edition of the winter innovation camp virtually, which reflects TRA’s commitment to its social responsibility towards Emirati students, by providing them with the necessary skills related to smart city, safe use of technology and social communication, design and arts, creativity and making the future, building positive skills, and others.