A group of 65 students from high schools, colleges and universities across the UAE have acquired new skills this summer, courtesy of the annual two-month Summer Training programme offered by Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (DUBAL) – the world’s seventh largest producer of primary aluminium and the UAE’s industrial flagship.
The programme, which ran for the months of July and August this year, serves two primary purposes:
• It helps realise the vision of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Chairman of DUBAL, to raise the standards of professionalism among young UAE Nationals as a means to accelerate the prosperity of the entire nation; and
• It contributes to DUBAL’s ongoing corporate Emiratisation strategy by raising awareness and understanding of DUBAL’s business.
Marwan Al Sawaleh, General Manager: Human Resources and Organisation Effectiveness at DUBAL, reports that the participating students were selected from several educational institutions throughout the UAE, including various schools, UAE University, the Higher College of Technology, and the American University of Sharjah, Sharjah University, NIVE and IAT. Each of the 65 trainees was assigned to one of DUBAL’s diverse divisions according to their respective qualifications, educational standards and relevant skills. During the two-month period, the students were given comprehensive and in-depth insights into DUBAL’s major operations and facilities, plus instruction on technical functions and administrative tasks.
"Each year, DUBAL uses the Summer Training programme to identify the students with the most potential, with a view to offering employment,” says Mr Marwan. “The success of this approach is such that many students who have attended the programme in the past currently hold senior positions within the company: some 74 percent of executive management positions are filled by UAE Nationals at present. Through this and other initiatives, we aim to recruit a total of 240 Emirati people to DUBAL during 2008."
The programme culminated in a ceremony on 21st August 2008 at which participation certificates and gifts were presented. “The students enjoyed the experience, saying that the skills they acquired will benefit them as they continue their studies as well as in their working careers,” says Mr Marwan. “From a corporate perspective, they left with a better understanding and enhanced perceptions of DUBAL, which we believe will encourage more UAE Nationals to consider heavy industry as a promising career option.”
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About Dubai Aluminium Company – DUBAL
DUBAL is ranked as the seventh largest producer of primary aluminium in the world, and currently ranks as the largest single-site aluminium smelter complex in the Western world and is also the single largest non-oil contributor to the economy of Dubai. Built on a 480-hectare site in Jebel Ali, Dubai, UAE, DUBAL’s major facilities comprise an 950,000 mtpa primary aluminium smelter, a 2,400 megawatt power station, a large carbon plant, three casthouses, a 30-million-gallon-per-day water desalination plant, laboratories, port and storage facilities.
The company has the capacity to produce approximately one million metric tonnes of high quality finished aluminium products a year, in three main forms: foundry alloy for automotive applications, extrusion billet for construction purposes and high purity aluminium for the electronics industry.
DUBAL serves 290 customers in 46 countries predominantly in the Far East, Europe, the ASEAN region, the Middle East and Mediterranean region, and North America. The company holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification; and has twice won the Dubai Quality Award in the Production and Manufacturing sector (1996 and 2000). Furthermore, the company has won several international and local awards for its Safety and Environment performance.
