Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, and President of Zayed University, presented the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Middle East Fellowship 2016 award to Dr. Hanifa Taher Al Blooshi, Assistant Professor, Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.

Dr. Hanifa Easa Taher Al Blooshi won the award for her research in designing a new novel system for enzymatic biodiesel production. Chosen from a pool of 55 scientists from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Dr. Hanifa Al Blooshi has become one of the four recipients of the Fellowship that carries a cash prize of €20,000 (over AED80,500).

This is the second year that Masdar Institute is honored with the L'Oreal-UNESCO FWIS Middle East Fellowship. The program recognizes, honors and empowers Arab female scientists from the GCC countries whose findings have contributed to the advancement of scientific knowledge and helped change the world for the better.

Dr Behjat Al Yousuf, Interim Provost, Masdar Institute, said, “Congratulations to our faculty member Dr Hanifa Al Blooshi for winning the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Middle East Fellowship 2016 award. This is the second time Masdar Institute has won this prominent recognition. This acknowledgement further illustrates Masdar Institute’s renowned faculty experts and we believe Dr Hanifa’s students and others will feel even more motivated to intensify their efforts in achieving sustainable technology innovations.”

Dr. Hanifa Easa Taher Al Blooshi said: “Being selected among a pool of 55 qualified applicants is a great achievement for me. I am sure that won’t happen without the support I do always receive from my lovely parents, as well as from both Masdar Institute and UAE University teams. The L’OrealL-UNESCO FWIS has also honored three additional distinguished researchers; from Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, aiming to empower Arab women in science. The symbolic fund I received today will be mainly utilized in developing new green, sustainable and cost-effective biodiesel production. The Emirati Faculty Research Mobility Award, received in 2015 helped me to start working in biodiesel project at Masdar Institute. This additional award will give m e the chance to present my research finding in one of the well-known conferences in the field. In addition, this will motivate our graduate students to persist in their research.”

The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Middle East Fellowships has recognized and honored over 2,170 women scientists in 112 countries in the past 18 years. The program is offered to promising young women researchers at crucial junctures in their careers when stereotypes and preconceived notions could be most detrimental.

This program rewards talented young female scientists in the field of Life Sciences including biology, biochemistry, biophysics, genetics, physiology, neurosciences, biotechnologies, ecology and ethology, as well as Physical Sciences such as physics, chemistry, petroleum engineering, mathematics, engineering sciences, information sciences, earth and universe sciences.

The pan-Arab jury panel of eminent scientists for the 2016 awards was chaired by Professor Mouin Hamzé, Secretary General, National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) - Lebanon. The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Middle East Fellowship was launched in 2014 in partnership with Zayed University under the Patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi.

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