WAM Abu Dhabi, UAE, May 24th, 2012 (WAM) : Masdar, Abu Dhabi's multi-faceted renewable energy company, is engaging students from schools across the UAE as part of its outreach programme. Over the past two years, Masdar has put in concerted efforts towards spreading the message of sustainable development among the youth. During the last six months, Masdar has hosted more than 2,000 students from over 50 schools to acquaint the younger generation with its sustainability efforts.

Earlier this year, Masdar had invited over 4,500 students to visit its pavilion at the World Future Energy Summit (WEFS). The Young Future Energy Leaders (YFEL) programme - an initiative lead by Masdar Institute for Science and Technology - has been made an integral part of WEFS in a bid to attract brightest young talents interested in applying their skills to the renewable energy sector. This brought the number of students that visited Masdar to over 6,500 since November, 2011.

The outreach programme's visits can accommodate up to 50 students per visit. Post-registration, a slot is provided to the school, during which it can visit the Masdar campus.

Khalid Hadi, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Masdar, said: "Masdar believes that being the future of a nation, students in the UAE should learn about the benefits of developing and deploying sustainable sources of energy from an elementary level. With this vision, Masdar kick-started its outreach programme by welcoming schools to visit its campus throughout the year".

The bi-weekly outreach programme takes place every Tuesday and Thursday at the Masdar Institute (MI). The programme commences with a presentation, held at the MI Knowledge Centre, explaining the concept and benefits of renewable energy. This is followed by a highly interactive discussion and a quiz on sustainable sources of energy.

The students are given a tour of the campus with stops at the 10MW photovoltaic (PV) plant, material recycling centre, wind tower and finally comes to a halt at the Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) station. The students are also explained the architectural nuances of MI in keeping with Masdar's sustainability efforts.

Through the outreach programme, Masdar encourages the development of a spirit of enquiry among the youth towards innovative future energy solutions. It also reaffirms the company's commitment to engage the youth to create a clean and safe environment by harnessing sustainable sources of energy, thus countervailing threats posed by climate change and global warming.

WAM/AB