Masdar’s big recruitment drive started at the UAE embassy in Washington D.C.
The success of Masdar City and future cities like Masdar depends in part on steering our budding youth away from aspirations to become the next bajillionaire Wall Street banker. Instead, we need to get them interested in the other green-lined path, in good clean energy. Masdar wants to incubate the world’s finest minds at its Institute of Science and Technology, which is steadily growing. In order to achieve that goal, it has launched a recruitment drive in the United States.While Emirati students will receive first dibs, the University is willing to bring on board any student who shows exceptional promise, The National reports. Among the seven schools targeted are Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Princeton and Yale.
Recently at the United Arab Emirates Embassy in Washington D.C., 50 students, mostly Emirati, attended a sort of college fair, where they learned about various degree programs offered at MIST. They were also briefed on potential career opportunities.
“You are our future,” Lamya Fawwaz, Masdar’s executive director of public affairs, told attendees last Saturday. “And Masdar Institute provides UAE national students with the opportunity to create a better future for Abu Dhabi and the UAE, by making it more sustainable and more energy efficient.”
The business of becoming savvy in all things sustainability does not come cheap, but Masdar is not stingy. All MIST students receive full scholarships, housing, travel expenses, and a living allowance. Once accepted, students will eat, breathe, and live sustainability.
One George Mason University student told the paper that it is crucial to get ahead in the green energy field, to become a market leader. But he is careful to note that we are taking beginning steps, that Abu Dhabi is almost completely reliant on fossil fuels, and that we have a long road ahead of us.
:: The National
More on Masdar City:
Masdar City Desert Delivery: Organic Food And Sushi
Masdar City: Small Hiccups Or Total System Failure?
Masdar City’s More Transparent Zero Carbon Plan
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
