Homaid al Shemmari is the executive director of Mubadala Aerospace. He hopes the industry will have an Emiratisation level of between 50 and 75 per cent within the next 15 years.
Homaid al Shemmari is the executive director of Mubadala Aerospace. He hopes the industry will have an Emiratisation level of between 50 and 75 per cent within the next 15 years.

Challenge for new stars of aerospace



ABU DHABI // The UAE is aiming high with its burgeoning aerospace industry, but there's a serious obstacle - a lack of qualified people to work in it.

Now, a scheme that saw three Emirati students train at Nasa could act as a blueprint in efforts to train enough nationals to run the industry. "One of the biggest challenges we have in Abu Dhabi in particular and the UAE in general is the human capital," said Homaid al Shemmari, the executive director of Mubadala Aerospace. "These plans cannot be diverted. We need to diversify the economy, so we need to push this through. This is a must."

That is why Mubadala, the strategic development company owned by the Abu Dhabi Government, sponsored the students who left in June for a six-week training programme at the US space agency's Ames Research Center. It is also why Mubadala plans to sponsor nine more students who will train at Nasa this autumn, and Mr al Shemmari said they will try to secure additional spots for Emirati interns at the space agency.

He added that the company was in talks with other industry partners to set up similar training programmes. The project falls within Mubadala's investment focus, which is on capital and energy-intensive industries that have high barriers to entry. The company and its subsidiary, Strata Manufacturing, are due to complete a composite parts manufacturing plant for aircraft this summer. Since 2008, Strata has won parts delivery orders from a number of aircraft companies that total more than US$2 billion (Dh7.3bn), and earlier this month announced an $800 million (Dh2.9bn) deal to build a military aircraft maintenance centre in Al Ain.

But Mubadala's other focus is on technology-intensive projects that have a high degree of automation, to address the shortage in qualified labour as the capital diversifies away from oil. "We are trying to address the weakness and shortfalls in the supply of not enough qualified human capital," said Mr al Shemmari. "So we say there is a minority of nationals in the UAE, then we take it down and say we want specific UAE nationals that are qualified in aerospace for example, in nuclear, in semiconductors. The challenges and the lack is even bigger there."

Training programmes such as the Nasa project would allow skilled Emirati engineers to thrive as well as highlight potential role models that could lure more nationals into engineering jobs. The students are working on three different projects. Shamma al Qassim is analysing data from Modis satellite sensors that show stress patterns in the Earth's surface before and after earthquakes. Hamad Rajab is designing a system that would recycle its water and cut its consumption on future space missions, and Hazza Bani Malek is working on automation systems and their programming to monitor temperature and pressure.

All three students are studying in universities in the UAE. They say their theoretical education has allowed them to stay toe-to-toe with American students, but they found practical training in the UAE to be lacking. "If you don't have the practical training you won't have engineers," said Mr Rajab. According to Ministry of Education figures, twice the number of students graduate from the arts and social sciences tracks than the science one in high school.

"Those [Nasa interns] are special individuals who require special support from their government and private sector. They have the motivation and the drive," said Mr al Shemmari. "These are the efforts we want to highlight, and how to bring those role models out is by sending them to the prestigious places like Nasa." Supporters of Emiratisation often complain that there is a lack of role models in the private sector compared with the prevalence of respected figureheads in the government.

Having more interns at an agency such as Nasa would raise the level of prestige for the students. This would in turn make engineering a more appealing career for college and high school students and raise that career path's profile among parents. "I want parents whose kids are in 11th or 12th grade to think, 'Wouldn't I love for my kids to go to Nasa in three years?'" said Mr al Shemmari. But that could expose the UAE to other challenges of retaining talent and avoiding the brain drain that has afflicted other Arab countries, or preferring to stay at a place that has a more advanced aerospace industry.

Mr al Shemmari believes the comfort level and loyalty to the country of Emiratis and long-serving expatriates could help alleviate that issue. The goal, he said, is to reach an Emiratisation level of between 50 and 75 per cent in the next 10 to 15 years, in an aerospace industry that is currently less than 10 per cent Emirati. There is a recognition that cannot happen overnight, which is why Mubadala is working with local education providers on crafting an aerospace education system that would produce graduates who can compete worldwide, said Mr al Shemmari.

It involves working with schools to attract students from an early stage into science and engineering disciplines, develop research initiatives and advanced university programmes that would train the necessary staff and provide a clear career path to interested nationals. @Email:kshaheen@thenational.ae

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar

The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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THE BIO

Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old

Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai

Favourite Book: The Alchemist

Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail

Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna

Favourite cuisine: Italian food

Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman

 

 

Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

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Turkish Ladies

Various artists, Sony Music Turkey 

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
TEST SQUADS

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.

Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

Cry Macho

Director: Clint Eastwood

Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam

Rating:**

MATCH INFO

What: Brazil v South Korea
When: Tonight, 5.30pm
Where: Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae

Getting%20there%20
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PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES

Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)

Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)

Wednesday

Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)

Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)

Norwich City v Everton (9pm)

Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)

Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)

Thursday

Burnley v Watford (9pm)

Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)

Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)

The team

Videographer: Jear Velasquez 

Photography: Romeo Perez 

Fashion director: Sarah Maisey 

Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory 

Models: Meti and Clinton at MMG 

Video assistant: Zanong Maget 

Social media: Fatima Al Mahmoud  

'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'

Rating: 1 out of 4

Running time: 81 minutes

Director: David Blue Garcia

Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham


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