November 9, 2015

Partnership set to foster entrepreneurship in students in Qatar

DOHA, QATAR His Excellency Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, chairman of AlFaisal Without Borders (ALF) Foundation, and Ilker Baybars, dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, inaugurated the AlFaisal Carnegie Mellon Innovation Entrepreneurship Center aimed at fostering an entrepreneurial environment and inspiring innovation among Qatars university students.

The collaboration between Carnegie Mellon Qatar and AlFaisal Without Borders Foundation is a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote future collaborations in education, research and community development.

The main goal of the collaboration between AlFaisal Without Borders Foundation and Carnegie Mellon Qatar is to foster an environment and inspire a spirit of innovation entrepreneurship within Dohas university students. The center was launched in the fall of 2015, concurrent with the beginning of academic year 2015-2016, and offers courses on innovation entrepreneurship that are open to all partner universities within Education City throughout the whole year.

Through the development and implementation of various mentorship programs, the AlFaisal Carnegie Mellon Innovation Entrepreneurship Center will equip students with entrepreneurial skills while inspiring innovation. The center will support an incubation phase for graduates, which will function as crucial early-stage support for startups.

While the importance of entrepreneurial activity to economic growth has been emphasized by economists all over the world, the innovation factor was explored in more recent times, particularly by daring and creative minds who were presented with huge opportunities via the world wide web, the internet, smartphones and tablets, said His Excellency Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani. However, such innovative ideas are certainly not limited to just this platform but can very well be applied on a wide range of industries.

Accordingly, we have collaborated with CMU-Q in creating the Center for Innovation Entrepreneurship in order to stir, facilitate and provide further opportunities for young intellectual minds in Qatar to explore thoughts and concepts that may just turn out to be the next big global idea, Sheikh Faisal added. Not only will this contribute in a big way to the realization of Qatars knowledge-based economy but may also catapult brilliant minds from this country into the global economics of Innovation Entrepreneurship.

AlFaisal-Carnegie Mellon Innovation Entrepreneurship Center is one of Sheikh Faisals investments in the development of Qatari society, specifically in the human and social aspects. The partnership with Carnegie Mellon Qatar builds upon the vision that society will thrive through the development of human capital.

Through the AlFaisal-Carnegie Mellon Innovation Entrepreneurship Center, we will provide students with the opportunities, support, mentorship and resources that they need to realize their ambitions, said Baybars.

He added, Through our longstanding partnership with AlFaisal Without Borders Foundation, we hope to instill the entrepreneurial spirit in future innovators and business owners. Carnegie Mellon Qatar is uniquely positioned to bring this initiative to life for all university students in Qatar.

Under the agreement between ALF Foundation and Carnegie Mellon Qatar, the center will develop and launch initiatives across three different dimensions: education, programs and incubation. Within the education dimension, the center will coordinate with other universities to develop, offer and promote courses on lean startup launchpad, design thinking, product management, venture capital financing and startup organizational behavior. These courses will be open to students in all fields.

The programs dimension will develop and implement programs and activities that will expose students and faculty members to the various facets of innovation and entrepreneurship. Sample programs include Innovator Lecture Series, Innovation Field Trip and Summer Accelerator Bootcamp.

Lastly, the incubation dimension will focus on providing graduating students with an opportunity to spend up to one more year on campus developing, launching and marketing their innovations, while providing them with funding, mentorship and services needed to support the process.

The AlFaisal-Carnegie Mellon Innovation Entrepreneurship Center will leverage Carnegie Mellon Universitys global centers and resourcesincluding the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Silicon Valley global campusin order to showcase innovative start-ups in Qatar on the world stage.

For more information about ALF Foundation and Carnegie Mellon Qatar and their collaborations, please visit: www.alfaisalfoundation.org and www.qatar.cmu.edu

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About Al Faisal Without Borders Foundation
Al Faisal Without Borders (ALF) Foundation was established by HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani in 2011. As one of Qatars leading entrepreneurs and Chairman of the Qatari Business Association, Sheikh Faisal was among those responsible for introducing many opportunities and attracting a diverse portfolio of foreign investments into Qatar during the past 40 years. In addition, Sheikh Faisals companies play a significant role in the development of the Qatari economy and infrastructure as a whole.

The Alf Foundation works hand-in-hand with governments, charities and other NGOs internationally to run development programmes. Focusing on empowering people in need, regardless of race, color, culture, religion or social status, the Alf Foundation provides different types of social and educational support. It also aims to contribute in the establishment of social facilities such as universities, hospitals, medical centers and clinics, social and cultural centers, nurseries, kindergartens, knowledge centers and public libraries for research purposes. These are in addition to providing humanitarian aid and relief.

About Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
For more than a century, Carnegie Mellon University has been an innovator in education, with programs that inspire creativity, collaborate across disciplines and educate some of the worlds most influential thinkers. Consistently top ranked, Carnegie Mellon has more than 13,000 students, 100,000 alumni and 5,000 faculty and staff globally. Nineteen Nobel Laureates and 12 Turing Award winners have called CMU home.

At the invitation of Qatar Foundation, Carnegie Mellon joined Education City in 2004. Education City is a groundbreaking center for scholarship and research that is the ideal complement to Carnegie Mellons mission and vision.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar offers undergraduate programs in biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science, and information systems. Students from than 37 countries enroll at our world-class campus.

To learn more, visit www.qatar.cmu.edu and follow us on:
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Press Release 2015