True to its mantra of “Promoting Science for Human Development,” Bindura University of Science Education’s Dubai Expo 2020 delegate, Marvelous Goredema returned with inspired ideas which she intends to develop into innovations that can drastically impact the socio-economic landscape of ordinary Zimbabweans.Marvelous recently returned to BUSE after a week-long exhibition at the Dubai Expo 2020 Innovation Publicity Atlas Tour. The Innovation Publicity Atlas Tour is running from the 1st of October 2021 to the 22nd of March 2022. It was initially set to be held in 2020 but was postponed due to Covid-19.
Marvelous is a Micro Biology PhD student with BUSE, in partnership with University of Pretoria and also an Ambassador of the American Institute of Micro Biology. She holds a Masters degree with BUSE and an undergraduate degree with the National University of Science and Technology. For her this experience was an eye opener.
“The whole trip, starting with the flight was amazing. The hospitality and excellence of Fly Emirates was spectacular. The food was well prepared and exotic and I really enjoyed myself.
“Landing in Dubai and the airport experience was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Most things are automated and despite thousands of people arriving and departing, the process was very smooth and quick,” she recalled.“On the first day we had a tour of the entire city. Dubai is beautiful and to imagine that most of it was constructed in the last 20 years. The made everyone tour the city so that we can appreciate the technology and innovation that make Dubai such a world class attraction.
“From the shopping malls to the amusement parks, the city is indeed a cosmopolitan as showcased by its ingenuity. They have smart water reticulation and conservation systems. Despite it being in a desert, it is very green. All the trees are watered automatically at set intervals. They desalinise water from the sea and use it for drinking and irrigation.
She added: “When we finally visited the expo, it was a breathtaking from the architecture, technology, exhibitions by various countries and the general atmosphere there. I enjoyed the Swiss stand mostly because it showed that traditional, ancient technologies still have a place in modern science. They had a structure inspired by the African and Arabic cultures made of clay with a natural ventilation system.”
The technology and innovations she experienced in Dubai has inspired her to think outside the box and focus on natural and traditional technologies to solve modern day problems.
“After the expo, I have started to think of ways we can use microorganisms and bacteria in the water purification process. How these can extract impurities and drastically reduce the number of chemicals needed to purify council drinking water,” she said
The essence of the trio was of expose BUSE’s student to the possibilities that science, technology and innovation can bring to human development. It would seem that this expo has left an indelible mark of Marvelous and opened her mind to new perspectives in which science can be used to promote human development.
