Emirati female engineers set role model for entrepreneurship

The UAE sets a role model for women’s empowerment across all fields, with gender equality being one of the key pillars of the UAE Vision 2021.

Within this context, Emirati women provide a model to be copied for women’s economic empowerment, sparing no efforts to significantly contribute to the developmental drive, including endeavours being tirelessly made by different ministries to diversify the economy and open up fresh income streams.

Towards this end, the colossal efforts made by H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, to intensify women’s contributions to the economy manifest themselves in the rising rate of literacy among females, an area where the UAE stands at the forefront in comparison to all countries of the region.

"There are some areas that are not any more monopolised by men as was the case before, primarily electronic, industrial and environmental engineering where Emirati women have occupied a prestigious position across the past years and they now hold eminent positions in several leading companies across the nation," said Engineer Salwa Saeed Al Shehhi, who holds B.A. in Electric Engineering from the United Arab Emirates University, 2003, to the Emirates News Agency, WAM.

"Emirati women now boast the full support of our wise leadership, atop of whom come President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, thanks to whom I decided to join a field where women used to be a rare currency out of a belief in our capabilities and potential that can tap a lot of prospects to the economy and to the comprehensive developmental drive championed by the government as part of the UAE Vision and its National Agenda."

"The ultimate motive behind my joining this field is my feeling of responsibility and conviction that we as women have to shoulder a significant role in fulfilling the vision of our leadership in the construction of our beloved homeland and rendering it among the best nations in the world," she enthused.

Al Shehhi boasts now around 13 years of experience in administrative and field posts and she currently represents the Regulation and Supervision Bureau in many committees concerned with the follow-up of the performance of electricity companies and the criteria and standards governing power generation sustainability.

In addition, Al Shehhi holds M.A. from the University of Wollongong, Australia, besides a number of esteemed professional certificates Engineer Khadija Bin Breik is another model for empowered Emirati women who have played a significant role in areas of energy saving in the country.

Bin Breik holds B.A. in Industrial Engineering from North Eastern University, Boston, US, in 2001 along with Masters in Environmental Engineering from Southern Methodist University, Texas, US. 2009.

Her role in the establishment of the ‘Waterwise Initiative" in 2011 is a testament to the Emirati women’s monumental contributions to the developmental drive as the initiative is considered the first of its kind in the country to tackle issues of energy saving and water rationalisation.

"The incentives provided by our wise leadership create a fertile environment conducive to investment and innovation. And therefore we feel obliged and grateful to our leadership for sparing no efforts to enable women with all tools and facilities to innovate and pioneer," she said.