The first female Emirati faculty member of the Masdar Institute reflects on her substantial achievements and sets her sights on being an example to other UAE nationals to drive them towards their own fulfilling career.
She graduated with a physics degree, travelled to the US to earn a PhD and gain "life experience" and while there went out of her way to build bridges in an uneasy post-September 11 climate.
It was an interest in technology that drew Dr Amal al Ghaferi to research science and led her to become the first female Emirati faculty member at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, the research arm of the carbon-neutral Masdar City.
Now she has an even bigger goal: to become an inspiration to other UAE nationals, proving by her own success that they too can have a fulfilling career that pushes the boundaries of knowledge.
Dr al Ghaferi, an assistant professor, says: "I think the Masdar Institute is a unique place in the world and I think people from the UAE need a role model. It is important to show them an example of a researcher."
After studying at UAE University in Al Ain, Dr al Ghaferi earned her PhD in materials science and engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
It was difficult at times, adjusting from the quiet charm of Al Ain to a foreign land, and the big city bustle - she found the sirens of ambulances particularly alarming - but the transition was made easier by Dr al Ghaferi's parents, who lived with her during the first year.
Indeed Dr al Ghaferi's parents have always been keen for their high-flying daughter to push academic boundaries.
"I come from an educated family and my father was the first to encourage me to get my PhD, and my mother pushed me the whole time to get my PhD before the age of 30," she says, with a smile.
Dr al Ghaferi had been in the US a year when the September 11 attacks happened. Afterwards, she made sure to connect with Americans, hoping with gentle persuasion she could defuse potential tensions.
"I did more outreach with people so they changed their ideas about Arab Muslims and the UAE," she says.
"I remember I was wearing my hijab there and just to show them our religion is respectful of other religions, I joined people in Sunday mass. It was a nice experience for me. I sat with them and talked about how people in the end are like each other and are not different from each other."
Indeed, Dr al Ghaferi found that her hijab made her more recognisable in Pittsburgh and this helped strengthen friendships.
"To people in Pittsburgh, I was a friend with my scarf, not a stranger," she says. "People knew me as a friend. And every year I made sure I got a Thanksgiving invitation."
Before getting too settled at Masdar, she will spend another year studying in the US, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and then return to set up her own research group.
She plans to investigate nanoparticles, and how the minuscule components can be used to make better-performing solar materials.
The importance of Masdar, Dr al Ghaferi believes, extends beyond the goal of energy savings by using alternative energy sources.
She says the project, which is being spearheaded by Mubadala, should be seen as a template for the UAE and beyond.
"I think Masdar is just the beginning of this thing in the UAE," she says. "I think Masdar will be able to drive renewable energy sources in the whole of the UAE and hopefully the whole of the Middle East and the world."
The Masdar Institute's outreach work, which connects it to the country's ministries, is crucial in driving this, she said.
With her second stint in America imminent, Dr al Ghaferi is looking to the future and what she hopes to achieve with her research group when she returns. Working alongside her will be a postdoctoral researcher and PhD and master's students. "I think I will have great benefits from establishing a research group," she says. "Once you have four or five minds working together, it's much better than having just your own work and projects. There will be great opportunities for all of us."
@Email:dbardsley@thenational.ae
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
