The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), Strata Manufacturing PJSC (Strata) and BAE Systems announced today for the first time in its 10 year history “Make It” - the UK’s Manufacturing Institute’s engineering and manufacturing challenge - is coming to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Her Excellency Dr. Amal Al Qubaisi, Director General, ADEC commented: “ADEC believes in the importance of strengthening partnerships with government and private sectors in Abu Dhabi as well as benefiting from their expertise in various fields and industries, to implement new policies and initiatives in the field of education, with the aim of improving the teaching and learning process across Abu Dhabi educational institutions. ADEC adopts a number of initiatives that contribute to the development of student basic creative skills in areas such as research, problem solving, critical thinking and communication, with focus on innovation and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).”
The Make It competition, which is designed to attract the UAE’s best and brightest new talent into manufacturing and engineering, will be held at UAE University in Al Ain on Monday 2 November and at NYU Abu Dhabi on 4 November.
The competition will bring together 13 and 14 year old students from schools across Al Ain and Abu Dhabi to work in teams to create, cost and market a new product which they will then pitch to a panel of industry experts from Strata and BAE Systems. The students’ product will be inspected by BAE Systems graduates and apprentices before the final judging takes place at the end of the event.
Badr Al Olama, CEO of Strata commented: “We are proud to partner with ADEC and BAE Systems to bring such an esteemed event to Abu Dhabi. At Strata, we believe deeply in investing in local talent and developing the next generation of Emirati youth for careers in manufacturing.”
Students will compete in teams of eight selected from 12 schools from each city, for a grand prize of a 3D printer awarded to the winning school from each competition.
BAE Systems’ Manufacturing Operations Director, Dave Holmes, said: “BAE Systems has been involved with Make It for a number of years and I am looking forward to seeing how students in the UAE tackle the competition. Whilst the experience will be both challenging and exciting, we hope the participants will be inspired to think about their future careers, hopefully in the engineering or manufacturing industries in the UAE.”
