Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) have revealed the winners of the 2026 EGA Aluminium Design and Innovation Challenge, organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
The initiative is designed to encourage young people across the UAE to explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through innovation and creativity.
The EGA Aluminium Design and Innovation Challenge forms part of EGA’s long-running Engineer the Future programme, which aims to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators in the UAE.
Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO at Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “STEM fields are essential to shaping the future of industry and innovation in the UAE.
“Through initiatives such as Engineer the Future, we aim to inspire young people to explore STEM fields and develop the skills needed to contribute to the nation’s industrial growth and future competitiveness.”
Since the beginning of the current academic year, more than 7,000 students from schools across the UAE have participated in Engineer the Future activities.
The EGA Aluminium Design and Innovation Challenge invites students in grades nine to 12 to apply their STEM knowledge to develop aluminium-based solutions for real-world applications.
Throughout the four-month programme, participating teams received mentorship from EGA engineers and access to specialised resources and technical guidance to support the development of their projects.
This year, approximately 1,200 students in 352 teams from 105 schools across the UAE took part in the challenge.
Following the evaluation stage, 32 shortlisted teams were selected to present aluminium-focused concepts across four categories: architecture, product design, sustainable mobility, and space solutions.
This year’s first-place winning teams in each category were: Al Shwamekh School in the category of architecture, Fatima Al Zahraa Secondary School for Girls in the category of product design, Al Rushed American Private School in the category of space solutions, and Zayed Educational Complex - Al Saf in the category of future mobility.
Bin Kalban said: “We were impressed by the creativity, technical thinking, and ambition demonstrated by the participating students, whose ideas reflected the potential of the next generation of innovators and engineers in the UAE.”
Amna Al Saleh, Assistant Undersecretary of Curriculum and Assessment at the Ministry of Education, affirmed that the Aluminium Design Challenge represents a successful model of collaboration between the education sector and the national industrial sector, providing students with valuable opportunities to apply their knowledge to real-world challenges and develop solutions that address future needs.
She added that the Ministry places great importance on initiatives that promote applied learning and equip students with essential future-ready skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and innovation, which are essential foundations for preparing a generation capable of keeping pace with the rapidly evolving job market.
Since the Engineer the Future programme was launched in 2022, more than 29,046 students have benefited from its activities, with over 952 teams participating in the challenge from schools across the UAE.
EGA is a major employer of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics professionals, with more than 1,500 employees working in these fields across the company, including over 500 UAE Nationals.
