Dubai, UAE, May 2013

Three key industry speakers headlined Heriot-Watt University's 2013 edition of the Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus Inter-School Business challenge.

The annual event, which has steadily grown in popularity, is targeted at high school students from across the UAE and this year featured competitors from 11 different schools who competed in four activities.

The guest speakers this year included Ms. Liz Martin - Chief Economist with HSBC bank who spoke about the Eurozone crisis and the common currency.

Clifford Kirk - CEO of Palace films and Rajendra Rajan - CEO of The Thought Factory were also part of the event where both the experts discussed about creating effective advertisements and advertisement films.

The three speakers dealt with the topics relevant to the case studies in the morning session. The students then worked in teams of three to come up with creative solutions within two hours and were judged by a panel of 30 judges drawn from a wide and varied industry background.

The case studies revolved around the relevance of a common Gulf Currency and about creating an effective advertisement about Dubai and its bid for the Expo 2020.

The teams also participated in general knowledge, numerical and logical challenges. The experience not only tested the academic knowledge and understanding of the students, but also challenged their ability to work within a tight timeline and their ability to work in teams. The competition aimed at giving the students a glimpse of life after school.

The team from Emirates International School, Meadows won the competition each member of the team was awarded a laptop.

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About Heriot-Watt University
With an international history dating back to 1821, Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and applied, leading-edge research. In Dubai, the university offers various undergraduate, postgraduate and foundation programmes in Fashion Design, Fashion Marketing & Retailing and Interior Design, Engineering, Business Management, Built Environment, Information Technology, and Petroleum Engineering as well as MBA.

The School of Textiles and Design has a long standing industrial presence in the UK, being voted number two in Scotland for Art and design and number six in the UK and offers both foundation & undergraduate courses for students wishing to enter Fashion Design, Fashion Marketing & Retail or Interior Design. The Dubai campus has strong industrial partners who offer internships to our much sought after students. The programmes are developed to ensure students graduate with strong comprehensive skills that are essential for entering the working world of their chosen discipline.

Heriot-Watt was named number one in its home country of Scotland by the Sunday Times Newspaper's University Guide and has an unsurpassed global in-country presence. Degree programmes are delivered to 11,800 students from 150 countries around the world. Heriot-Watt University, Dubai Campus started in Dubai International Academic City in 2005.

Heriot-Watt's new AED200m, 28,000 sqm (300,000 sq. ft) state-of-the-art Dubai campus was opened in November 2011 by Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond.

For more information, please visit: www.hw.ac.uk/dubai.htm

Media Contact:
Ancy Alexander
Fifth Ring for Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus
ancy@fifthring.com / +971 50 347 1391

© Press Release 2013