Welcome Speech by Chancellor Zaki Nusseibeh at the UAEU “Idea to Protocol” Demo Day in the UAEU Science & Innovation Park

Al Ain 16th June 2025

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Distinguished Guests, Colleagues, Students, and Innovators,

Good morning.

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to UAEU’s ‘Idea to Protocol’ Demo Day.

Today we gather to witness the outcomes of many remarkable entrepreneurial journeys. Over the course of these journeys participants have transformed ideas into innovation, imagination into impact, and vision into viable ventures. The prototypes that will be presented demonstrate the potential to shape the future.

At UAEU, our educational mission is to cultivate understanding and skills with a focus on capability and empowerment. We create leaders and changemakers who possess the tools, confidence, and determination needed to shape the future. In addition, programs like ‘Idea to Protocol’ serve to embed an entrepreneurial spirit deep within our academic and research culture, and to foster this in students and the wider community.

The I2P offers a dynamic and immersive journey that fast-tracks innovation. Over the course of just six weeks, young entrepreneurs have worked intensively to validate their ideas, to engage with customers, and to develop working prototypes. Participants have learned to pitch with clarity and purpose, to test and refine, and to lead with resilience.

The value of I2P lies both in the business concepts it produces and the mindset it instills. This is a mindset that is agile, experimental and collaborative. The mindset empowers our youth to turn challenges into opportunities and to bring solutions into the world that are thoughtful, necessary, and human-centered.

This year’s cohort of projects reflect great diversity, ingenuity, and useful purpose. Among the innovations you will see today:

·      A mobile wellness app that addresses screen-time burnout and mental health challenges in young people.

·      Smart glasses for the hearing impaired, bringing accessibility and independence.

·      An AI-powered sign language coach tailored for Arabic dialects, bridging communication gaps across our region.

·      A wearable system for monitoring maternal and fetal well-being in pregnancy.

·      Technologies converting humidity into potable water, to address sustainability and scarcity.

·      Smart sleep systems using natural methods that lead to better rest and recovery.

·      A waste-to-value startup that turns organic waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer and clean energy.

·      An AI image-processing solution for satellites that filters out noise, saves data, and improves analytics.

·      A smart medication system that supports the health and dignity of elderly patients.

·      A 3D immersive platform that transforms real estate discovery through drones and digital twins.

These are not just startup ideas. They are solutions. They are solutions to human challenges across the fields of health, sustainability, accessibility, education, and space technology. They are the seeds of future industries, and some of them may well become tomorrow’s global success stories.

But regardless of which venture goes on to secure funding or to grow to commercial scale, each of these teams has already achieved something profound. They have embraced uncertainty, learned through action, and grown as innovators and leaders. This is the ultimate outcome of the ‘Idea to Protocol’ program, and it is to be celebrated.

I wish to thank all the mentors, coaches, and faculty who have supported this initiative. I deeply appreciate the work of our partners, investors, and judges who have invested time, expertise, and belief in these young entrepreneurs.

Most importantly, I thank the teams themselves for their courage, commitment, and creativity.

Today is a celebration of what is possible. It reminds us that innovation is not a distant dream, but a practice. Innovation starts with an idea and the determination to bring that idea to reality.

Ladies and gentlemen – let us enjoy the UAEU ‘Ideas to Protocol’ Demo Day and help shape the future together.

Thank you.