A group of UAEU students made it to the Top 6 finalists at Swiss Pavilion’s youth centric insitiative called Swiss – Middle East Circular Economy for Youth Initiative (SMECEYI).
Mahra AlMaqbali, Shoug AlMazrouie, Maryam Naveed, and Mouza AlMansoori designed ‘Sustainable Builders’, a mobile application that acts as a platform for stakeholders to find raw and excess construction wastes which are reusable for recycling into a new construction material.
The students presented ‘Sustainable Builders’ from 2nd of November until the final pitch on 4th November where they discussed the rationale behind the project. With the country becoming an industrial hub, the students from UAEU recognized the impending and hidden issue of construction waste.
The purpose of the project aims to eliminate the increasing construction wastes, save valuable natural resources, lower the CO2 emissions, and minimize the risks of pollution incidents. Through the mobile app, governments, construction companies, CD waste production units, designers, contractors, material suppliers, recycling entities can re-use excess raw materials and help counter risk the disposal process.
SMECEYI commenced at the Swiss Pavilion in partnership with Swissnex. This initiative was facilitated by mentors from Swiss universities and companies where the best projects were exposed at the Swiss Pavilion, team members were invited to workshops and joint panels, and finalists were given the opportunities to further develop their project in guidance of the judges, mentors, and local incubators.