ADU Students to Participate in Stanford University Innovation Fellows Program
Abu Dhabi University (ADU), the largest private university in the UAE, announced that eight of its students have been accepted to participate in the University Innovation Fellows program by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school).
Abu Dhabi University (ADU), the largest private university in the UAE, announced that eight of its students have been accepted to participate in the University Innovation Fellows program by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school).
Through the program, the ADU students will become a part of an innovation thought leaders’ community of over 1000 students from 185 higher education institutions in 20 countries. The program is designed to connect innovators from all over the world to advocate disruptive innovations and empower students to become agents of change at their own educational institutions. The highly competitive program necessitates that eligible candidates hold a high GPA and undergo a rigorous application process. The students are being sponsored by the ADU innovation center, as part of its ongoing efforts to embed innovation in the fabric of education for the future generations.
The innovation fellows, who are currently enrolled at ADU completing undergraduate degrees across a variety of disciplines, were accepted as part of two teams which will be led by two ADU’s faculty mentors. The first team is comprised of Architecture students Ayesha Zahid and Basant Helal, Business Management major Betty Lucille Hillebrand as well as Aviation major Reyal Yousif Mohammed Osman. The second team includes BBA students Saleha Muhammad, Eman Ali, Haleema Mulla and Sarah Eladly.
Dr Petra Turkama, Director of Innovation at ADU, said: “We are incredibly proud of our students for being accepted into this highly demanding and prestigious program, which we believe will help drive a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship within the student and faculty communities here at ADU. This program will give our students an invaluable opportunity to learn from some of the brightest minds in academia, while also having access to a shared platform with hundreds of like-minded peers from across the world. We believe collaboration and the exchange of ideas are the soil and water that can sow the seeds of creativity, and have no doubt our students will succeed on their journey to becoming University Innovation Fellows.”
Throughout the course of the program, participants are set to undergo six weeks of online training, which equips them with design thinking methodologies and techniques. Stanford d.School faculty members will equip the students with the required skills and tools to be able excel as part of the program, by way of bi-weekly conference calls, assignments and projects. Locally, students will work with their faculty mentors and the key innovation stakeholders within ADU.
“At ADU, we make it a priority to provide our students with valuable opportunities to take part in initiatives that foster innovation and fuel creative thinking, as part of our contribution to the UAE’s higher education landscape and in line with the UAE National Innovation Strategy.” Dr. Turkama continued.
Students will take part in events and conferences, and have opportunities to learn from one another, Stanford mentors and leaders in academia and industry. The program will culminate in a final project and presentations of the student work in Stanford in the summer of 2019.