Students brush up English on way to high-powered energy jobs

Twenty Emirati students have started a course at Zayed University that will prepare them to become "future energy leaders".

Powered by automated translation

ABU DHABI // Twenty Emirati students have started a course at Zayed University that will prepare them to become "future energy leaders". The course will qualify the students to begin a master's degree at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the alternative energy research centre linked to carbon-neutral Masdar City. The one-year programme is aimed at students who lack the English-language skills and test scores to directly enter the institute's highly competitive master of science courses.

John Perkins, the provost of the Masdar Institute, said qualified Emirati students who could become "future energy leaders" were key to the centre achieving its goals. "The arrival of students for the pre-master's programme, in collaboration with Zayed University, represents a landmark stage in Abu Dhabi's development towards a knowledge-based economy," he said. The Masdar Institute has started its first master's programme with 92 students selected from 1,200 applicants.

They are studying subjects such as engineering and systems management, information technology, materials, water and the environment and mechanical engineering. About half of their two-year course will be spent researching and writing a thesis. Rex Taylor, an associate provost at Zayed University, said: "This innovative programme is a prelude to more joint academic programmes between the two institutions that focus on building human capital in the energy sector."

Masdar City is designed to be the first zero-emissions city in the world, with renewable energy sources powering public transport and buildings. It is scheduled to house 50,000 people when it is completed in 2016. dbardsley@thenational.ae