Aluminium giant’s internship programme provided basis for award-winning graduation project
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: As part of the company’s ongoing efforts to support the socio-economic development of Dubai through education, while simultaneously establishing itself as an employer of choice in the Emirate, Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (“DUBAL”) regularly enrols students from universities and colleges across the nation in its Work Placement Programme. The programme, which is implemented in close co-operation with the tertiary education institutes, provides opportunities for students to complete the practical and/or technical training components of their respective course curricula.
The value-add of the programme is immense: the students receive the opportunity to apply their knowledge while obtaining deeper insight into business applications while DUBAL benefits from the enthusiasm and innovative thinking of the young students. Evidence of this was re-affirmed recently by Ms Alia Burahima, a graduate from Zayed University College of Information Technology who participated in the DUBAL Work Placement Programme in 2009. Ms Alia successfully turned the practical experience she gained at DUBAL into her university graduation project; then entered her project — entitled "Multimedia Training Modules Developed for DUBAL Potlines" — in the Information Systems and Technology category of the 2010 TAMAIAZ Award programme, where it earned 5th place.
Launched by Mawarid Finance (a private joint stock company established in Dubai in 2006) to promote the spirit of innovation among young Emiratis from different universities and academic institutions, the TAMAIAZ & Falak Tayyeb Awards are held annually under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai. Since the awards target new graduates, Ms Alia was not only motivated to participate in the competition, but also equally proud to represent both Zayed University and DUBAL, where she has been employed as a Graduate Trainee since November 2009. “My Work Placement experience and graduation project, done through and for DUBAL, gave me the scope to reveal my potential and utilise my I.T. skills in developing an interactive training tool for DUBAL’s Technology Process Development team. The training modules I developed focus on the smelting technology used at DUBAL, and will help build the knowledge needed for future engineers in the company,” she says. “It was such an honour for me to represent the two major milestones in my life — the university and the company — which gave me the greatest opportunities to learn and innovate. My 2010 Tamaiaz Award is a tribute to everyone who has invested in me, especially Abdulla Al Zarouni and Nadia Ahli of DUBAL. The achievement is also an important milestone in my life, and marks the start of my future development into the field of interactive educational technologies, which I plan to do after receiving my postgraduate degree in the same field.”
Essentially an internship opportunity, the programme combines on-the-job, hands-on skills training with the invaluable experience of a real working environment. An individualized development programme is created for each Work Placement student to ensure optimal use of the time spent at DUBAL’s Jebel Ali site.
DUBAL’s Ibrahim Nassir (Executive Vice President, Director: Human Resources, Organisational Effectiveness & Corporate Services) comments that the Work Placement Programme is evidence of the partnership approach taken by DUBAL to all its stakeholder audiences. “DUBAL representatives visit the universities/colleges regularly and stay in close contact throughout the academic year. This equips the universities/colleges to identify potential candidates based on a deeper understanding of DUBAL and our capacity to accommodate Work Placement Programme students,” he says. “It also gives DUBAL the opportunity to select the cream of the crop and, in doing so, invest in the business leaders of tomorrow. We are extremely proud of Ms Alia and are confident that she will achieve even greater successes in future.”
