NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) teamed up with Etihad cargo to offer an innovative summer course called Driving Genius, which examines aspects of robotics, programming and design principles that can help to generate solutions for the airline industry.
This collaborative effort is the result of the need for original and unconventional solutions aimed at the airline cargo industry. Experts and prominent figures presume the intensive, four-week course will help spark youthful minds and point them towards figuring out efficient ways to streamline the industry.
Students received unfiltered access to Etihad Cargo warehouse operations, so as to allow them to get a comprehensive understanding of the day-to-day routine and the norm with which airline cargo handling firms operate. They were then split into three groups and tasked with designing and developing feasible tailor-made solutions using virtual technology.
At the end of the four weeks, students presented four prototypes to Etihad Cargos senior vice president David Kerr and head of cargo handling, Robert Fordee. The prototypes were: Cargie, a load-carrying robot capable of machine learning; Paper Trail, an app to track airway bills and cargo documents; Viz360, a virtual training app; and HoloCargo, a 3D scanning and virtual reality system that can help loadmasters build pallets of boxes in a 3D environment.
Christian Grewell, who led the summer course at NYUAD, said: Its about establishing a partnership where students gain everything they would from a traditional course including the opportunity to test their models in the real-world laboratory of the organization. When Etihad engaged with us, they engaged across every function of their business and at various levels in the organization. We came up with ideas for people not just in executive positions, but in-line level operational roles. That’s an invaluable experience for students when combined with the work we do in the lab and classroom.