News

UAE National Student from Masdar Institute on Six-Week Internship at University of Edinburgh

September 21, 2018

Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced Iman Ustadi, one of its First Year UAE national students, has started her six-week internship at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland as part of a student exchange and internship program for the summer.

At the same time, Paul Tait, a PhD student from the University of Edinburgh, will join the Masdar Institute group for his summer internship. The student exchange/internship program also marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration between Masdar Institute and University of Edinburgh in CO2 capture.

Dr Steve Griffith, Executive Director for Institute Initiatives, Masdar Institute, said: “The student exchange program between Masdar Institute and University of Edinburgh is the first step in a long-term collaboration and the work that the students will achieve this summer will be the starting point for larger collaboration projects. We see long-term potentials and believe these opportunities will materialize into real collaboration projects, bringing durable benefits to Abu Dhabi and the emirate’s knowledge and human capital building efforts.”

Supervised by Dr. Mohammed Abu Zahra, Chemical Engineering Program, Masdar Institute, Iman will work on the evaluation of the integrated Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) power plants with CO2 Capture. Iman will work closely with the team from the University of Edinburgh to study the Natural Gas market in Scotland, comparing it with the UAE market, and evaluate the effect of the CCS deployment on the demands in the NG market.

Iman’s project will study the effect of the implementation of CO2 capture processes on the NGCC power plant including the direct technical effect on the power plant efficiency, availability, gross electricity output and operational conditions. In addition, Iman will evaluate the effect of the CO2 capture implementation on the NG market and future demand. The internship will be part of her thesis work and she will be utilizing it to learn more from the interaction with the team from the University of Edinburgh.

On the other hand, Paul will carry out experimental work on CO2 capture solvent characterization. The findings of this student exchange/internship program will be jointly published and presented at a joint workshop that will be held later this year.

Dr. Mohammed Abu Zahra said: “Our aim is to have these strong connections with both academic and R&D institutions to give the chance for our students to spend some time at these institutions, learn and widen their knowledge and experience. Following Iman, we foresee more students to become part of this exchange/internship program in the coming months.”

Dr. Abu Zahra, who spearheaded the collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, is also exploring the option for more research and internship collaborations for carbon capture with other leading European and Asia-Pacific institutions.

Iman Ustadi said: “I am extremely pleased with the opportunity for doing an internship in the University of Edinburgh. Although it is my first days in Edinburgh, I have a strong belief in the valuable outcomes of this internship, which will widen my knowledge in carbon capture and storage, especially because currently, I am at the beginning stages of my research.

“While in Edinburgh, I am also keen to know more about what Scotland and other countries, similar to the UAE, think about the CCS technology and the significance of the measures they are implementing. During my internship here, I would like to get the most from the expertise that will offer valuable content for my research and help me register further progress.”

Established as an on-going collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow. With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change through education and research.