Young ADIPEC 2023 showcases innovative energy sector career paths to 1,000+ high school and 400+ university students
Christopher Hudson, President of dmg events, the organiser of ADIPEC, said: "Young people are the future, and with the global energy sector transitioning to secure a more sustainable system, it is absolutely critical that we support their ability to play an active role in the sector. That is why ADIPEC has such a strong focus on youth, starting with our long-running Young ADIPEC programme, which this year connected with over 1,000 high school students and 400+ university students, and continuing on to our Future Leaders Programme and Global Youth Council."
The 11th edition of Young ADIPEC presented 1,000+ UAE high school students with an invaluable opportunity to visit some of the most innovative companies and research institutions in today's rapidly evolving energy sector. Students had 20 unique field trips to choose from, like the Schlumberger Middle East & Asia Learning Center, where they witnessed next-generation cementing technology innovations. The students also visited Abu Dhabi University, where they engaged in a hands-on creativity and design challenge to create a process flow diagram for a chemical engineering plant using a software simulation.
This year Young ADIPEC also introduced its University Programme, which engaged 400+ university students from five universities in ADIPEC's Innovation Sessions and specialised industry areas focused on decarbonisation, digitalisation, and manufacturing and industrialiation, to demonstrate how they can contribute to the energy sector's ongoing innovation and growth.
In one session titled 'Fifteen Minutes with a CEO', attending students heard from visionary leaders who are at the forefront of harnessing youth talent in the energy industry. Speaking in the session,
Proscovia Nabbanja, CEO of Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), highlighted an example of how Uganda approaches this challenge, saying: "Uganda has a very young population, and what we are doing is putting inclusive programs in place. We have a national content plan of how we bring youth and SMEs in to be part of the oil and gas industry. We have youths who are field-ready to take part in this industry, but it is important to train them with the right skillsets and deploy them into the right projects. We want them to have transformational skills, and those that can be transferred to other parts of the economy."
Hosting a total of 160 hands-on workshops and other interactive experiences, this year's Young ADIPEC was organised into 10 unique zones. These ranged from the well-known favourites of previous events, such as the Engineering Zone and Innovations Zone, to zones that were entirely new for 2023 – including the Electric Zone, Energy Transition Zone, Hydrogen Zone and 2023 Careers Zone.
Another newcomer this year was the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Zone, which aimed to demonstrate to young minds the potential of a career in sustainable engineering, firing their curiosity for the subject through games, live quiz competitions and interactive explanatory simulations. This setup allowed the attending students to clearly see what was on offer at a glance, making their preferred 'must-attend' workshops more accessible.
An equally important source of inspiration for the students in attendance was to see how young minds like theirs can play an active role in shaping the world's clean energy future. Across four Youth Innovation Talks, students engaged with in-depth presentations and Q&A sessions with Khalifa University students, detailing the process of how they invented, refined and delivered two highly impactive cleantech innovations. These included a novel nanomaterial-enhanced membrane capable of removing oil from wastewater in a sustainable manner, as well as a computational screening method for identifying the best photocatalysts for green hydrogen production – a crucial pillar of the UAE's clean energy production future.
At the Young ADIPEC Talks, students listened and learned from the real-life experiences of the next generation of energy leaders like Raifa Al Maamari, a PhD student in Energy Futures at the University of Cambridge, and Alyaziya Alseiari, an application engineer at Weatherford.
Young ADIPEC's wide range of exploratory experiences and industry showcases for high school students complements ADIPEC's other older youth-focused initiatives – the Global Youth Council and Future Leaders Programme.
The Global Youth Council was introduced this year to give young energy leaders a meaningful voice and a place at the table to drive clean energy transition trends in the UAE and globally. Made up of 20 extraordinary university students and young professionals under the age of 30, the council supports ADIPEC's event's larger goal of ensuring the inclusion of young people in the ongoing sustainable transformation of the energy sector.
The ADIPEC Global Youth Council works in tandem with ADIPEC's Future Leaders Programme, which was introduced last year to empower young energy leaders to drive clean energy transition by equipping them with relevant insights and skills. ADIPEC 2023 featured a dedicated Future Leaders Programme Conference that brought together energy industry leaders, policymakers, regulators, investors, and academic experts, together with the next generation of leaders to establish their role as stakeholders in the energy transition, drive entrepreneurship, and nurture the skillsets required for the realisation of a clean energy ecosystem.
About ADIPEC
Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, and hosted by ADNOC, ADIPEC will take place in Abu Dhabibetween October 2 and 5, 2023.
Built on a nearly 40-year legacy of innovation and evolution, ADIPEC brings together the ideas, ambition, technology and capital needed to decarbonise and create the energy system of the future, faster.
It unites industries and key stakeholders from across the energy ecosystem to accelerate urgent, collective and responsible action, produce credible, game-changing solutions, and foster the transformational progress indispensable for building an inclusive, future-proof energy system.
Across 350 unique sessions comprising strategic and technical conferences, ADIPEC 2023 will welcome more than 1,500 speakers – including government ministers, CEOs, policymakers, energy experts and innovators – to rally industries, sectors and individuals around a common cause.
As the UAE prepares to welcome global leaders to COP28 in November 2023, ADIPEC will help frame diverse conversations that complement the nation's goal of delivering a COP of collaborative action, while driving investment into the clean energies of the future.
For more information visit: www.adipec.com
About ADNOC
ADNOC is a leading diversified energy and petrochemicals group wholly owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. ADNOC's objective is to maximise the value of the Emirate's vast hydrocarbon reserves, through responsible and sustainable exploration and production to support the United Arab Emirates' economic growth and diversification. To find out more, visit: www.adnoc.ae
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