An application developed by the University of Sharjah, designed to promote sustainable water management and smart agriculture, has won the Excellence and Creative Engineering Award from the UAE’s Society of Engineers. The project, My FarmWell, was recognized in the “Best Small Project” category for its innovative use of artificial intelligence in the agricultural sector.
Quick Facts
- Award: 4th Excellence and Creative Engineering Award.
- Winner: My FarmWell in the “Best Small Project” category.
- Core Tech: AI-driven sustainable water and farm management.
AI-Powered Farming for MENA’s Water Scarcity
The My FarmWell application was developed to directly support farmers in the UAE and the broader MENA region by tackling groundwater sustainability. The platform provides a suite of tools including well water level monitoring, irrigation management, and data-driven insights to inform agricultural decisions.
The app integrates a chatbot for specialized queries, links to water regulations, real-time crop prices, and detailed weather information. This combination of features aims to help farmers improve resource efficiency, a critical challenge in the region’s arid climate.
A University-Industry Collaboration Model
The project highlights a successful collaboration between academia and industry, led by Dr. Adewale Giwa, Assistant Professor at the University of Sharjah. The initiative brought together researchers from the University of Sharjah and Khalifa University with tech giant IBM.
IBM’s participation came through its IBM Impact Accelerator initiative, contributing expertise in artificial intelligence, data analytics, and digital technologies to build out the platform’s capabilities. Government agencies and technical teams also provided support, aligning the project with national goals for water security and tech adoption in agriculture.
The award, presented by the 40,000-member Society of Engineers UAE, is highly competitive. My FarmWell was selected from a pool of 1,268 submissions made since the award’s inception, which has seen 79 winners across various engineering fields.
About My FarmWell
My FarmWell is a mobile application developed by the University of Sharjah in collaboration with IBM and Khalifa University. It uses artificial intelligence and environmental monitoring to provide farmers with digital decision-support tools for improving groundwater sustainability and agricultural practices. The application is available on both the App Store and Google Play.
Source: MEA Tech Watch
