From a young age, Mohammed Ahmed Bin Haidar had a fascination with dismantling electronic devices. Recognizing his aptitude, his parents encouraged him to continue, driven by his desire to explore the inner workings of these gadgets.
Today, Bin Haidar is a Senior Network Engineer at Etihad Water and Electricity Company (EtihadWE). A graduate of Ajman University of Science and Technology, he holds degrees in Business Administration as well. Currently, he is pursuing studies in Artificial Intelligence to further contribute to his field.
Bin Haidar's journey has been marked by recognition for his exceptional contributions. He was awarded the title of Distinguished Field Employee during the second round of the Excellence Awards and was named Innovative Employee in 2018. He secured third place in the company's internal competition for innovative ideas. He has to his credit 7 diverse innovations, with 3 of them receiving intellectual property rights certificates.
As a key member of the company's Innovation Team and an internal assessor for the Excellence Awards, Bin Haidar is currently planning several new initiatives set to launch soon. These initiatives include an electronic pedestrian walkway, a wrongfully parked vehicle alert system, electric vehicle charging without stopping, a fully solar-powered innovation lab, and a system to charge electronic devices using human energy, among others.
When asked about his most cherished innovations and how they've impacted his work, Bin Haidar highlighted his 2015 creation, a robot that greets employees upon entering company premises, interacts with them, and records their responses.
Among his other innovations is the transformation of small golf carts into fully solar-powered ones, a concept implemented in various locations within the company. He also devised self-sanitizing gates powered by renewable energy, known for their high efficiency and robust sanitization capabilities. During the spread of the COVID-19 virus, this innovation was transferred to Abu Dhabi Police and Saif bin Zayed Academy for Security & Policing Sciences.
Bin Haidar considers one of his most heartfelt innovations to be a smart application he designed and executed in 2018. It showcases an interactive 3D map displaying the charitable contributions and global humanitarian work of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Users can click on different countries to learn about Sheikh Zayed's initiatives, complete with written explanations and supporting images. This application evolved through several phases, including sign language interpretation for users with hearing impairments and a feature tailored for the visually impaired, mirroring the accessibility options found in smartphones. It also incorporated a virtual reality feature for students, enabling them to add comments and use the materials as research references.
Bin Haidar expressed his sincere gratitude to the top management of Etihad Water and Electricity Company for their unwavering support, not only for him but also for other employees. He credited the company's conducive environment for nurturing innovation and implementing ideas. Furthermore, he noted that all these innovations, among others, are entirely planned, designed, and executed using the company's in-house resources, be they human or material.