Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the UAE Ministry of Education to launch a pilot programme for Rolls-Royce Technology Laboratories in the UAE.

The MoU was singed at a ceremony attended by Humaid Al Qatami, the UAE Minister of Education, and Rob Watson, regional director – Middle East, Rolls-Royce.

Designed to promote interest among UAE students in science and engineering and to give them practical engineering skills, the Rolls-Royce Tech Lab pilot programme will be set up at Hamdan bin Rashid School in Al Warqaa, Dubai.

The programme is designed to encourage students into engineering careers and will initially involve the participation of 22 students and four teachers over a period of 13 weeks. The Rolls-Royce Tech-Lab is due to open at the start of the second semester in January 2012 for the students in Grade 11, Science section.

Al Qatami said: “The leadership of the UAE is committed to giving our students the best employment opportunities possible. The first step on the road to achieving this is by nurturing their interest and providing them with the advanced practical skills they need to enter the job market.”

“Partnering with a world leader in engineering excellence like Rolls-Royce will provide our students access to the latest technologies and practical career insights, which will hopefully attract them to the kind of technical careers needed to support and sustain our economy in future,” Al Qatami said.

“Rolls-Royce has a long and proud history of delivering engineering excellence and innovation to support the UAE’s aerospace, marine and energy industries,” said Dr Watson

 “We are a company which is rich with world-class skills, technology and expertise and we are deeply committed to supporting the UAEs education goals.  We share a common vision and awareness of the need to encourage more UAE Nationals to take on engineering studies in universities. The Rolls-Royce Tech Labs programme is a practical step toward this goal, and we are very grateful to the UAE government for placing their trust in Rolls-Royce and allowing us this unique opportunity to partner with them.”

The company already has several educational development programmes already on the ground or in the pipeline for the Middle East, such as the Big Science Challenge with the British Council and having been a founding member of the British University in Dubai (BUiD). – TradeArabia News Service