Dubai Design Week announced today the inaugural MENA Grad Show, a new addition to its Global Grad Show initiative, a year-round programme for university graduates and professors working on solutions for a better future.

The event is being held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and member of Dubai Council.

The new programme, held in partnership with A.R.M. Holding, will see 50 of the Middle East and North Africa, MENA, region’s most exciting social impact innovation projects focused on solutions to improve and transform lives for the better. The exhibition, which is set to be a platform for discovery of impact innovation created by university graduates across the region, will be showcased in a physical exhibition during Dubai Design Week, commencing on 9th November, 2020.

The MENA Grad Show received more than 200 submissions from 36 universities based in the region, including Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation, DIDI, the German University in Cairo, GUC, the American University of Sharjah, AUS, and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, KAUST. To be held as part of Dubai Design Week, staged in partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), MENA Grad Show will spotlight projects in the fields of technology, science and design.

The event will enable graduates and professors to showcase their concepts to a regional and international audience through a physical exhibition for the first time in the Global Grad Show’s six-year history.

Sheikha Latifa said, “The inaugural MENA Grad Show is part of our efforts to realise the vision of Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to make Dubai a global hub for young talent. The new initiative will provide a voice for graduate talent in the region like never before.”

“A strong culture of progress and innovation is driven by ideas. New ideas have the potential not only to transform our lives for the better, but also to shape the future of our world. It is imperative that both the public and private sectors use such platforms to support ambitious young talent, engage with innovators and explore opportunities for collaboration and support that can turn promising prototypes into real world solutions. The MENA Grad Show also highlights Dubai’s role in fostering ideas, innovation and entrepreneurial initiatives that have the potential to open new horizons of development and growth.”

MENA Grad Show will show how students in diverse disciplines, from architecture to chemistry and electric engineering, approach complex social and environmental problems. Solutions that will be exhibited at the event include a personal positioning system to help the visually impaired navigate independently, a microwave-enabled monitor to reduce water loss in pipelines by 50%, an alternative to concrete using palm tree waste and a streamlined process to extract lithium from the ocean.

Tadeu Baldani Caravieri, Director of Global Grad Show, said, “The MENA Grad Show was developed specifically to support the regions’ most talented innovators in academia. It aims to be a catalyst for positive change by engaging with the future leaders of tomorrow early in their development route.

Through the initiative, MENA Grad Show goal will create opportunities for regional graduates to be discovered by global audiences, further putting Dubai on the map in terms of becoming an incubator and developer of innovation and entrepreneurship. The MENA Grad Show will mirror Global Grad Show’s core values of exhibiting graduate projects that make the world a better place, using both high-and low-tech innovation, with the aim to give a voice to the next generation of regional innovators.”

The physical exhibition will be complemented by the Entrepreneurship programme that seeks to advance selected projects towards market implementation. It will also allow visitors to have direct interaction with the graduates behind each one of the ideas and view prototypes, films and original research material visually curated for people to engage with.

Commenting on the importance of supporting regional talent, Mohammad Saeed Al Shehhi, CEO of A.R.M. Holding, said, “We are excited to extend our sponsorship to the Global Grad Show’s regional iteration, the MENA Global Grad Show. The initiative will be at the forefront of regional Social Impact Innovation as it highlights the importance of grassroot contributions to the world’s most pressing issues.”

The MENA Grad Show exhibition is free to attend and will take place from 9th to 14th November at d3 as a key programme of Dubai Design Week.