General Motors and RIT Dubai Come Together To Forge Path for Future STEM Leaders

Four students from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Dubai have recently secured internships with General Motors. This collaboration aims to provide these students with practical experience while they continue their studies.

The partnership between RIT Dubai and General Motors Africa and Middle East is designed to foster STEM skills among future professionals. Both organisations share a commitment to enhancing access to professional development in the field.

STEM Skills Development

Abdullah Adawi, Anas Nazzal, Tala Hassouna, and Shahd Salahat are the students who embarked on these internships. They worked on various projects across different departments during their summer break, gaining new skills in the process.

Hassouna initially aimed for a marketing role but later transitioned to business development. She stated, "I wanted to expand my experience and this role has allowed me to learn something completely new. I've conducted in-depth analyses for GM regionally. So far, the experience has enhanced my analytical, presentation, and communication skills, which will be valuable in my future career."

Exploring New Career Paths

Salahat also stepped out of her comfort zone by joining GM's marketing department. She said, "I've been able to apply my studies in psychology to consider consumer behaviour and persuasion, to develop a site map and user journey for a website project. I never thought about working in a corporate environment, but this opportunity has opened my eyes to different career options beyond clinical psychology."

Nazzal, a motor enthusiast, found his internship within the product development team particularly rewarding. He remarked, "GM provides a very positive and welcoming environment, where I've received valuable training and developed my soft skills as well as my technical knowledge. Working on the company's vehicle portfolio expansion has introduced me to new tools and techniques that I hope to take forward with a master's in data analytics."

Hands-On Industry Experience

Adawi's role as a service operations intern involved optimising parts delivery processes for GM's dealer network. He noted, "This hands-on application of my industrial engineering experience has improved my knowledge and allowed me to develop new skills in data software programs."

The internships are part of RIT Dubai's Cooperative Education program. This initiative ensures that every student spends six months gaining meaningful work experience during their degree.

Industry-Academia Collaboration

Jack Uppal, President & Managing Director of GM Africa and Middle East, expressed his enthusiasm for the internship program. He said, "Our summer internship program is one of my personal favourite times of the year at the General Motors offices. It gives us all an optimistic look at what our future talent pool looks like, and the talent we got this year has been nothing short of promising."

He added that the interns from RIT Dubai have brought dynamic ideas and shown commitment to their tasks. Uppal extended his best wishes for their futures and thanked RIT Dubai for their collaboration.

Dr. Yousef Al-Assaf, President of RIT Dubai, highlighted the importance of cooperative education. He commented, "The Co-op employment experience provides students with an opportunity to put their educational theory into practice, enabling RIT Dubai graduates to stand out as candidates in the job market."

Dr. Al-Assaf also emphasised that partnerships with global leaders like General Motors help students make meaningful contributions to businesses in the UAE ecosystem.

This collaboration between academia and industry not only benefits students but also contributes positively to the workforce development in STEM fields.