New Ideas About New Businesses

Students from the College of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Sharjah (UoS) are reaching out to potential investors with new business ideas as they conduct research for their graduation projects.

The college has been closely working with two major entities in the city of Sharjah.

The first, Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD), is a state-funded organization established to assist young entrepreneurs with fresh business ideas to develop the UAE economy. It intends to mobilize new potentials to modernize and upgrade the country's infrastructure.

The second, Sheraa, is a business incubator, whose target is to empower and support young business entrepreneurs with new ideas.

“Collaborations with industry partners, we believe, are critical to developing students' employability skills and providing them with the necessary market exposure," said Dr. Rita Abou Haidar, a visiting lecturer.

The students became eager to have issues confronting these industries turned into research problems to be investigated in their graduation projects.

Following a series of workshops with Sheraa and SEDD, the students gathered enough information on how to identify problems and turn them into research topics with the aim of providing innovative opportunities on how to address them, said Fatimaalzahra Abuagla Ahmed Abusin of the College of Fine Arts and Design.

After the completion of their research projects, the students presented their out-of-the-box business ideas to potential investors.

Selected students are now enrolled with Sheraa's incubation programs to convert their projects to real businesses.

“I am confident that I am now prepared for opportunities. If the future allows me, I will not hesitate to take on the path of being an entrepreneur," said Asma Hafez Mohammed Harun, an Interior Design senior at the college.