In line with the national strategy to empower young national cadres and prepare them for leadership positions in various areas of life, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), launched the Master’s programme in Future Energy Systems and Technology in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley.
The programme was launched at the DEWA Campus for Occupational and Academic Development in Al Hudaiba, Dubai during a ceremony attended by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, and a high-level delegation representing UC Berkeley, including Dean Tsu-Jae King Liu, Professor Wayne Lee Delker, Professor Gabriel Clemente Gomes, and Mr. Paul Lawrence Mason.
“We work to achieve the vision and directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who laid the foundations and important principles to consolidate Dubai’s position as a global model for futuristic cities, raise its quality of life, and achieve the happiness of its citizens and residents,” said Al Tayer during his opening speech.
“We set out to achieve these directives and include them in our mission, corporate values, motto, strategy, and strategic key performance indicators, in line with our vision to be a globally leading, sustainable, innovative corporation. We seek to achieve government strategies like the UAE Centennial 2071 that aims to prepare future generations for a better tomorrow by equipping them with the highest scientific and professional standards, moral values, and positivity, while ensuring a happy future and a better life, thereby raising the UAE’s status to become the best country in the world.”
“HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said in the Eight Principles of Governance, ‘Dubai has always relied on talented tradesmen, administrators, engineers, creatives, and dreamers for its success.’ DEWA prioritises the building of national capacities as we are no longer a conventional utility. National capacity building is one of our focal points in the promotion of sustainability and the implementation of clean energy strategies. DEWA signed several agreements with prestigious international centres and universities for research and development including ENEL, The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), and National Centre for Renewable Energy in Spain (CENER) among others.
“We welcome our partnership with UC Berkeley, whose engineering departments have consistently ranked first in Computer Sciences and Electrical Engineering, as we seek to benefit from the experience of this prestigious institution in developing technical talent. Through this partnership, DEWA will utilise the best faculty from UC Berkeley to offer Emirati youth the opportunity to study modern scientific subjects that will help in building the future, including Advanced Power System Analysis, Power Electronics, Methods of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Renewable Generation Systems & Integration, and IT-OT Interface & Cybersecurity System Control with Protection among others. When we designed the programme, we requested UC Berkeley that the programme be unique and futuristic. The first batch of registrants comprises 35 from DEWA emplyees who will take part in this programme.”
“I would like to congratulate the students for enrolling in this unique opportunity and encourage them to take advantage of the courses to gain skills that will help them become exceptional employees who abide by the highest scientific and professional standards, moral values, and positivity. We encourage the youth to love their country, be loyal to its wise leadership, respect people, and adhere to the good moral values they were raised on.”
Today, DEWA employs more than 11,000 employees. We generate 11,100 megawatts (MW) of electricity and 470 million gallons of water. DEWA also achieved competitive results in global benchmarking, and its extensive efforts resulted in the UAE maintaining its global premier ranking for the second consecutive year with scores of 100% in all Getting Electricity indicators in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report.
“We strive to promote the transition to renewable energy sources, maintain the sustainability of resources, reduce the carbon footprint, and rationalise the consumption of energy and water. Through our clean and renewable energy projects, we plan to meet the goals of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 that aims to provide 75% of Dubai’s energy from clean energy sources by 2050.”
“For DEWA to achieve this, we launched many initiatives and projects, including the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world that will have a generating capacity of 5,000MW by 2030. Through Digital DEWA, our digital arm, we are redefining the concept of utilities to create a new digital future for Dubai. DEWA will disrupt the entire business of public utilities by becoming the world’s first digital utility to use autonomous systems for renewable energy and storage while expanding the use of the new technologies from the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Dubai Future Accelerators projects by contributing to achieving the objectives of the Dubai 10X initiative launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to propel Dubai into the future, putting it 10 years ahead of other global cities through disruptive and innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence, drones, energy storage, blockchain technology, and the Internet of Things among others.”
“We need technically competent and technology-savvy future leaders who can drive DEWA’s current and future initiatives and Dubai as a whole. This is a unique opportunity for the current batch of 35 selected from DEWA emplyees who, we expect, will accomplish their targets with dedication and professionalism with foresight in their work area and transform their challenges into opportunities.
“DEWA’s efforts in preparing the youth to keep abreast of rapid developments are done, by creating the necessary resources and appropriate environment, preparing a new generation who effectively contribute to economic, social, and environmental development. DEWA has signed several agreements with prestigious international centres and universities for provides Emirati youth with programmes and grants in post-graduate master and doctorate degrees at the best international universities,” said Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA.
“Modern societies are dependent on critical infrastructures such as electricity and water supply systems. Sophisticated modeling, simulation, and control of such systems is necessary to ensure that they are reliable, secure, and efficient. Accordingly, engineering professors at the University of California, Berkeley have developed for the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) a custom set of eight courses to train technical professionals how to use cutting-edge technology towards fulfillment of DEWA’s Masters programme in Future Energy Systems and Technology. The curriculum focuses on modeling and simulation methods relevant to modern energy and water systems, and infrastructure in general, that the DEWA learners are likely to work with during the course of their careers. This educational program will help participants develop intuition for how complex systems work, and skill in applying the methods of simulation, machine learning algorithms, optimization, statistical modeling, sensitivity analysis, uncertainty quantification, etc. While the specific applications were selected because of their direct relevance to DEWA, the participants will be able to apply their learning in other industrial settings. We are honored to have been selected to deliver this innovative educational program, and look forward to developing a long-lasting partnership with DEWA,” said Dean Tsu-Jae King Liu.