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Weekly Newsletter

University Entrepreneurs Face Industry Experts

Innovations from sustainable oil extraction to an AI powered valet parking app were among those showcased this week at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) incubation hub, the UAEU Science and Innovation Park. From aerospace to health, nine groups showcased six months of work, the result of an intensive program to nurture their potential projects.

Students are shortlisted from dozens through competitions and pre-incubation projects, before being given opportunities to attend trainings and workshops and attend off-site visits at major global companies such as Linkedin and Cisco. Industry experts from diverse backgrounds including health and banking, gave feedback to the students from how to market and brand their products to ways to improve their concepts.

Open up on the Education System Fishbowl

Education of the future was the theme of a special panel hosted at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) on Tuesday. Panelists members included representatives from industry, academia, students and parents. The event was held in preparation of Expo 2020 Dubai, where the university will be hosting a pavilion themed around the future of education, using the world fair as a test bed for the education of the future through its student-led ‘Pathfinders Program’. The university’s pavilion will tackle issues including overcoming unemployment and skills and curriculums of the future, engaging the country’s youth and parents as key contributors to this new model.

Speaking at the event as guest panellist, Prof Christoph Meinel, Dean of Hasso Platter Institute, Germany, said digital transformation means there is no way the education system cannot transform with it. “Digital transformation needs to address the education system, not only the gap which exists, but the speed of change. With IT the change is so fast,” he said. Its system in German is an open platform, bringing students together to collaborate and offering its content free (openhpi.de). “This means the role of the teacher is changing. When there are 10,000 people participating in a course you can be sure among those, someone knows more than the professor. This invites others to contribute.”

ED talk & Orchestra

Students must broaden their soft skills and gain experience across as many fields as possible in preparation for working life, according to leadership experts speaking at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) in Al Ain. In a series of lectures on the future of education held at the university’s Science and Innovation Park, Sallyann Della Casa of Gleac, which specialises in matching skills to jobs, urged students to do as much as possible to broaden soft skills and work experience before committing to a career path, in an age where adaptability is becoming even more vital than academics in a rapidly changing workplace.

She was joined by Alexander Scheirle, executive director for NYC’s Orpheus Chamber Orchestra - which with its conductor-less orchestra, has become a business model for Harvard Business School. Scheirle spoke of its relevance in the workplace, where top-down leadership can be oppressive and stifle creativity and character.

The event was part of the Ed Talk lecture series which aims to spark inspiration in students as to the education and career paths of the future, the theme of the UAEU pavilion at the upcoming Expo 2020 Dubai.

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Science and Innovation Park · Al Ain, United Arabic Emirates University · Al Ain · United Arab Emirates