Electrical Power Engineering student set to showcase his research at the international Dubai Expo 2020
An MEng Electrical Power Engineering student has been invited to showcase his research at a major sustainability focused exhibition in Dubai, as part of the Dubai Expo 2020.
The Dubai Expo 2020, the first international exhibition to be held in the Middle East, is set to bring together experts from around the world to share their ideas on a more sustainable future.
MEng Electrical Power Engineering student Dale Colley has been invited to speak at the exhibition as part of the UK Pavillion panel discussion, where he will share his thoughts on “How will we live” specifically discussing the subject of "Will there be enough drinking water in the future?".
Dale couldn’t believe that he was asked to speak at such a major event. He said: “It is surreal to get an invitation to be part of a panel discussion 'Will there be enough drinking water in the future?' and a once in a lifetime opportunity.
My initial reaction to getting the invitation was “is this a joke? Am I being pranked here?” then once it started to sink in there a bit of shock, surprise, speechless moments then a lot of celebration. It'll be amazing just to go over with tickets and look around the different shows, exhibits etc, but to actually be a part of it is something completely different and I still don't know what that emotion is.
I'm extremely excited to go over and be part of the UK Pavillion, networking with different people and hopefully get my products expanding internationally.”
Dale has been working on developing solutions to create access to areas of water that are currently inaccessible due to different factors; such as financial, practical or technical barriers. He said: “One of the solutions that is coming to market is a project named Aquabot.
Aquabot involves the deployment of a suite of sensors on a radio-controlled/autonomous field-portable platform that is sufficiently agile to be deployed rapidly to address an immediate requirement, as well as be useful in day-to-day field survey for customers who need to look after their water quality for regulatory purposes.
Aquabot extends the physical reach of current water-side sensing equipment and submerged point-sensors, enabling the collection of data about water quality across the surface of an entire body of water wherever desired. The data that is collected is transmitted to the operator in real time, this is a great advantage because any anomalies that occur unexpectedly can be addressed quickly.
More recently I have been working on another solution to provide the water sector with a more efficient and productive way to collect water samples. This involves the use of 3 different methodologies: aerial, surface, and sub-surface part remote control/autonomous drones.
The big advantages with these approaches are the decrease in health and safety risks to personnel samplers, vastly increases the productivity rate and creates opportunity for water companies to gather data at a massive price reduction over current methods.”
Dale is proud to be able to give his insight on issues that affect the sector. He said: “This panel discussion will be using my knowledge to try and answer the questions around the some of the sectors biggest problems: water quality, pollution control, water transport, water availability, human health, and climate change.
These problems are not just going to go away on their own and what I want to do is contribute by providing potential solutions for these problems. No one person has all the answers, it's going to be a team effort and that is where I want to be in the mix to helping solve these issues.”
Dale will be making the most of his time at the Dubai Expo. He said: “There will so much to do out there, I look forward to networking with other companies and learning about their innovations regardless of the sector.
I will be mingling with companies that will be/are suppling the cutting-edge technology to their respective markets and are shaping the planet for the better. I can't wait to be inspired by what they are doing and most importantly learn from what they are doing. These are the people and companies I look up to and aspire to become.”
He added: “I will take this incredible once in a lifetime opportunity to expand my business, meet potential international clients and provide my products and services to other businesses who need to look after their water bodies.
Personally, I hope this opportunity will get me to innovator status and be recognised as someone that provides value to the sector and for companies, who don't necessarily know me now. I want them to see me as someone they need to work with because I'm never short of value or creativity in getting things done differently in favour of customers.”
Find out more about the Dubai Expo 2020 on their website
By Rachael McAlonan
Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media