Fun through experiments

Science workshops where kids between the ages of 7 and 11 years of age can have fun through experiments and get a playful introduction to science, are now open at the German Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Researchers’ World or ‘Forscherwelt’ in German, is located at CAMPUS GERMANY and is part of an international initiative launched by Henkel, the German FMCG company, over 10 years ago to get children excited about science and awaken their researcher’s spirit.

During the free science classes at Forscherwelt, children can get involved in experiments and discover how to develop their own glue formula, how toothpaste works or the process to make clothes become clean again. Tailor-made sessions have been designed especially for the cultural programme at the German Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai that will teach children how to save energy, recycle paper and use renewable raw materials. The workshops are conducted by dedicated trainers from Children’s City, an edutainment entity of Dubai Municipality.

At the official opening of Forscherwelt at the German Pavilion earlier today, Ashraf ElAfifi, Henkel President India Middle East & Africa said, “Expo 2020 Dubai is bringing the world together and inspiring us all to reunite and act for the good of future generations. To be part of a global event of this magnitude and bring our love of science to so many children is an honour for our team.”

The science lab for children at the German Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai follows the opening two years ago of the largest Forscherwelt facility anywhere in the world and the first of its kind in the Middle East, at Children’s City, Dubai Creek Park.

Csaba Szendrei, Henkel President GCC added, “We are looking forward to welcoming hundreds of children to Forscherwelt at the German Pavilion to have fun and enjoy being young researchers. Our team has designed a series of new experiments based around sustainability for the kids to get involved in. Building a more sustainable future is ingrained in the way we do business, support communities, approach innovation and develop new technologies and we want to pass on this knowledge through the enjoyment of science.”

Forscherwelt Science Lab for children is located at the German Pavilion – CAMPUS GERMANY –and sessions are free and available for children aged between 7 and 11 years of age. The Forscherwelt team will be offering 45-minute modules, for up to six children per module. The sessions are available to book in advance or depending on availability, walk-ins on the day.

A template for smart cities: Expo 2020 Dubai has opened to the world, with Siemens providing technology to ensure the site’s buildings and other infrastructure become part of a lasting legacy.

The first Expo to be held in the Middle East, Asia, or Africa gives visitors a chance to experience how digitally-connected smart cities can help overcome some of humanity’s most pressing challenges. As the Premier Partner for Infrastructure Digitalization at Expo 2020 Dubai, Siemens has digitally linked more than 130 buildings at a purpose-built site twice the size of Monaco. About 80 per cent of Expo’s infrastructure will remain after the six-month event ends in March 2022, forming the core of a sustainable new urban district of Dubai, known as District 2020. The Expo site itself is designed as a blueprint for future smart cities everywhere.

“We set out to make the Expo site the basis for a sustainable, human-centric smart city long after the event is over,” said Mohammed Alhashmi, Chief Technology Officer, Expo 2020 Dubai. “We’re proud to work together with Siemens to create the nucleus of District 2020, which will be an integrated, mixed-use community that carries on and fulfils Expo’s founding vision to be an ecosystem to connect, create and innovate.”

At the Expo site, Siemens is demonstrating how a city’s buildings, machines and facilities can be connected using MindSphere, the company’s industrial IoT (Internet of things) as a service solution. MindSphere is Expo’s central nervous system; an IoT operating system for Expo’s infrastructure. It runs in the background, almost invisibly, but everyone who visits Expo will benefit from it.

Siemens’ technology enables Expo’s managers to optimise operations, reduce carbon emissions, conserve water and energy and enhance visitors’ comfort and security. It gives them access to data and analytics in real time so they can make better decisions, for example, about how to increase energy efficiency in buildings or how to improve water usage in irrigation systems. This is especially important in the Middle East, where buildings can consume up to 80 per cent of the energy supply.

Siemens has even designed a web-based smart city app expressly for the site’s operators and management teams. It shows a digital twin of the Expo site, and helps to provide actionable insights based on data from both Siemens and non-siemens systems across the site.

“We are proud to have developed the technology that has helped make the site of Expo 2020 Dubai a milestone for Siemens and the world,” said Helmut von Struve, the Chief Executive Officer of Siemens in the Middle East.

“As we’ve witnessed from the opening ceremony until today, this is a very special edition of the World Exhibition. Siemens will demonstrate how we can make cities more efficient, sustainable, safe and convenient places to live and work. We are committed to not just the event, but we will also move our Dubai headquarters to District 2020.”

Specific technologies deployed at Expo include Siemens Navigator, a cloud-based platform to optimise building performance; Desigo CC, which supports the site’s smart-building infrastructure; and Siveillance Control Pro to manage security at Expo’s gates and throughout the area.

Siemens’ guests at the Expo site can get a personal taste of this technology at the company’s customer experience centre, immersing themselves in an interactive audio and visual digitalization display on smart infrastructure, the future of manufacturing and sustainable transportation.

Siemens will also host the MindSphere Future World Series from its experience centre at Expo 2020 Dubai. The series brings together people who are interested in the technologies that make our world smarter, more livable, and sustainable. The event will feature hackathon challenges that address pressing sustainability issues in one of five dimensions – buildings, energy, mobility, industry, and water.

The company has participated in World Fairs since the inaugural one in London, in 1851, where company founder Werner Von Siemens unveiled his pointer telegraph for the first time.

Expo 2020 Dubai, which opened to the public on Oct. 1, takes place in the desert city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and focuses on the themes of sustainability, mobility and opportunity.

Siemens Smart Infrastructure (SI) is shaping the market for intelligent, adaptive infrastructure for today and the future. It addresses the pressing challenges of urbanization and climate change by connecting energy systems, buildings and industries. SI provides customers with a comprehensive end-to-end portfolio from a single source – with products, systems, solutions and services from the point of power generation all the way to consumption.

With an increasingly digitalized ecosystem, it helps customers thrive and communities progress while contributing toward protecting the planet. SI creates environments that care. Siemens Smart Infrastructure has its global headquarters in Zug, Switzerland.