GE and Mawhiba host ‘STEM Future GEnerations’ Innovation Camp to foster Saudi youth interest in STEM careers
More than 150 high school boys and girls participated in the three-day event at the GEMTEC campus, where they also toured the facility’s gas turbine service and repairs center
Dammam – Gulftech:
Reflecting its commitment to building local talent and fostering student interest in STEM fields, GE (NYSE:GE), in partnership with Saudi nonprofit Mawhiba, hosted a three-day “STEM Future GEnerations” Camp for more than 150 Saudi high school students.
Each day, approximately 50 students attended the program, which was held at the GE Manufacturing & Technology Center (GEMTEC) campus in Dammam. Participants were divided into teams to test their critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they worked to find innovative solutions to challenges around the energy transition.
With GE employee volunteers and Mawhiba facilitators providing information and support, the young women and men conducted analysis before making recommendations on the mix of energy sources required to help the Kingdom move toward its goal of net-zero emissions by 2060.
Held November 28-30, the camp provided ample opportunities for students to interact with and receive mentoring from senior GE leadership, as well as from GE engineers, technicians, and researchers.
Hisham Bahkali, President and CEO of GE Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, said, “GE supports Saudi Vision 2030 across all its operations in the Kingdom, especially through our many localization activities. This includes youth-focused events such as this one. By helping to build Saudi talent and encourage more young people to pursue STEM courses and careers, GE is helping to foster the most important resource the Kingdom has to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.”
“Mawhiba is committed to nurturing talented and gifted Saudi students in science fields,” said Dr. Basil AsSadhan, Deputy Secretary General, Gifted Services, for Mawhiba, a non-profit endowment organization supported by King Salman bin Abdulaziz. “Through our partnership with GE, we are helping to inspire future generations to embrace science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and reinforce the importance of STEM to the sustainable prosperity of the Kingdom.”
At the end of each day, the student-developed solutions were presented to a panel of judges that included senior GE executives from across industries. Winning submissions demonstrated an understanding of the scientific issues, and high-quality analysis and argumentation for their innovative solutions.
The more than 150 student participants were nominated by Mawhiba to attend and came from schools across the Kingdom. Members of the winning team have the opportunity to receive mentorship and career development opportunities from GE and Mawhiba. All participants received certificates of accomplishment.
Students were taken on a tour of the GEMTEC gas turbine service and repairs workshop, where they saw Saudi technicians and engineers applying their skills and putting their STEM education into action.
Bahkali added, “By hosting this event at GEMTEC, these students were able to see first-hand how the application of STEM knowledge is contributing to the reliable supply of electricity in Saudi Arabia, and around the world, that is so essential to modern life and to ongoing economic growth.”
The GEMTEC campus includes the GEMTEC Service and Repairs Center for gas turbines, which the students toured; the GE MENA Decarbonization Center of Excellence; a Monitoring & Diagnostics Center for the remote monitoring of power generation assets; as well as GE Saudi Advanced Turbines (GESAT), a joint investment by Dussur and GE to manufacture heavy duty gas turbines and components in the Kingdom.
The GEMTEC campus has served more than 70 customers in over 40 countries and plays an important role in helping to achieve the goals outlined under Saudi Vision 2030, in part by nurturing local talent, fostering a local Saudi supply chain, further diversifying Saudi Arabia’s economic base, and promoting exports.
