Undergraduate Students Abdulaziz AlZurahi and Reem Al Hashemi Won AED10,000 Each and Recognition of their Outstanding Performance
The prodigious achievements of two KU undergraduate students were recognized earlier this month during the virtual closing ceremony of the Future Makers Award – 2nd Cycle 2020.
The Future Makers Award is organized by the UAE University. Its aim is to support educational excellence and nurture a creative and innovative environment in the UAE. The award is also concerned with enabling students to set a vision for their future and work diligently to achieve it by consolidating the values and skills required by the work environment and future professions to be a well-established behavior before entering the labor market.
Now in its second cycle, the award was launched earlier this year in January, and accepted applications from students attending either Khalifa University, Higher Colleges of Technology or UAE University.
There were seven award categories: Honor Roll Students, Inspiring Students (People of Determination), Leading Students, Outstanding Freshmen, Innovative Students, Innovative Student Athletes, and Persevering Students. A total of 14 KU students registered for the award across the different categories.
Abdulaziz AlZurahi, BSc in Mechanical Engineering student, won the ‘Honor Roll Student’ category, while Reem Al Hashemi, BSc in Aerospace Engineering student, won the ‘Innovative Student Athletes’ category. As winners, they each were awarded AED10,000 along with opportunities to enroll in educational programs and specialized workshops inside and outside UAE University.
“It has been a great honor for me to compete in this award with the country’s top performing students from across the best universities,” Abdulaziz remarked. “I am extremely grateful for the relentless support of my mother, and for the support from my country, the UAE, and my University, which gave me the tools, resources and guidance I need to excel as a scientist. That is why I am proud to represent Khalifa University in this competition, and at the same time, I am proud to elevate KU’s position as a university that attracts and retains hard working and high achieving students.”
Abdulaziz spent a semester studying abroad in Italy collaborating on international research projects that involved developing medical robotics at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. He also became a certified lab safety researcher at the same institute. Additionally, he performed clinical research studies at Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi Onlus in Florence. He also served as the Ministry of Higher Education’s ambassador to Dalhousie University in Canada. While there, he worked with an Associate Professor on a graduate level research project performing mathematical modeling studies for thermal-fluid projects. Back in the UAE, Abdulaziz successfully manufactured a lower limb for disabled people and presented his invention at the Science Festival in Abu Dhabi 2020.
Abdulaziz has a number of accolades under his belt already: He is a member of the Golden Key Honor Society; he won the ADNOC High Achievers Award, the H.E. Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed’s Award for High Achievers, the H.E. Khalid Bin Tannaf Almenhali’s Award for High Achievers, and the Obaid Alhelo’s Award for High Achievers. He also scored second place in the BP Young Adventures Competitions and has been placed on the KU President’s List each year during his undergraduate degree journey.
Reem, who won the Innovative Student Athlete award, has performed outstanding work in both academia and in sports. She became the first female Emirati to win the Jiu Jitsu World Pro, and the first Jiu Jitsu athlete to study aerospace engineering. She won the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center – Zero Gravity competition, and traveled to Florida, USA to conduct research with professionals from NASA.
Reem is grateful for the support of her family and everyone that has helped and supported her in her sports and academic life.
“The main reason that I work hard is to make my country proud, and to make Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed proud, as I have promised him to keep working and achieving new things always,” Reem shared.
Erica Solomon
Senior Publication Specialist
19 November 2020
