Texas A&M at Qatar, QBWA to partner to support women engineers and engineering students
Published May 27, 2015Texas A&M University at Qatar and the Qatari Businesswomen Association (QBWA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 24 May in the VIP Majlis in the Texas A&M Engineering Building in Education City.
Through this agreement, the branch campus and QBWA will partner to support female students, and to educate girls and their families about engineering to attract more girls to study engineering. QBWA will also work with current and former Texas A&M at Qatar female students through activities such as a speaker series, mentoring, internships, a self-development program, and other professional and social networking events.
Qatari Businesswomen Association is keen to support female current and former engineering students, and considers that women’s participation in different fields is very important; and therefore has been working to build strong partnerships with different organizations locally and internationally specially those who focus on women advancement.
Aisha Alfardan, vice chairwoman of the Qatari Businesswomen Association, praised the conclusion of this agreement, saying she considers it a new step taken by the association to achieve its goals.
Alfardan said, "The QBWA is still employing all their efforts and capabilities to enhance the role of women and to enable them to participate and compete in various fields, and for this purpose, the QBWA seeks to initiate partnerships and collaboration with all institutions that support women. We have found in Texas A&M University at Qatar an important and capable partner who can develop the new generation of women in Qatar and qualify them to play their key role in further developing the country.
“We are very happy to collaborate with Texas A&M University and we are confident that this partnership will greatly benefit both sides and will achieve our common goals and will have a positive impact on the Qatari women in particular, and the Qatari society in general," Alfardan added.
Through this MoU, the partners will deliver, a set of projects and programs that mainly focus on the empowerment of students by offering QBWA membership to the interested students which will give them access to various events organized by QBWA, as well as working to provide a number of internship opportunities for Texas A&M at Qatar female students through the network companies and institutions owned or run by members of the QBWA. It also enhances the possibility of cooperation between the two parties in many other areas, including educating and empowering women through the exchange of experiences and participation in conferences and events.
Dr. Mark H. Weichold, dean and CEO of Texas A&M at Qatar, said, "Texas A&M at Qatar is proud that nearly 40 percent of our enrolled students are female and of the contributions our current and former female students are making in Qatar. We look forward to working with the Qatar Businesswomen Association to attract even more girls to engineering, and to support and empower women once they’ve graduated from Texas A&M and entered the workplace. We are excited for our female students and the opportunities presented to them by this partnership with the Qatar Businesswomen Association, which, since its founding in 2000, has played a distinguished role in enhancing women’s contributions toward the astonishing growth Qatar is experiencing today."
QBWA had signed this year a number of MoUs with other entities in Qatar, such as Qatar National Bank and Qatar business incubation center to implement a range of projects related to women's economic and social empowerment.