Two NYU Abu Dhabi Students Selected As 2020 UAE Rhodes Scholars

Two NYU Abu Dhabi students selected as 2020 UAE Rhodes Scholars

ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 19th Nov, 2019) Two NYU Abu Dhabi, NYUAD, seniors, Abdulla Alhashmi from the UAE and Munib Mesinovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, have been selected as the 2020 UAE Rhodes Scholars, a prestigious international award, which enables exceptional students to pursue postgraduate studies at The University of Oxford in England.

Alhashmi is a double major in Economics and Philosophy with work experience in both these areas. He is currently pursuing an internship at the UAE Education and Human Resources Council, where he supports research to streamline the journey from education to employment within the UAE.

"I applied for the Rhodes Scholarship because I want to continue my journey of knowledge acquisition, self-discovery, and service," said Alhashmi, adding, "As a Rhodes Scholar, I will expand my economic tool kit at one of the finest academic institutions in the world, while being surrounded by a motivated group of individuals who are excited to learn, to think seriously about their ethical commitments and responsibilities, and to make a positive change in our world."

Alhashmi's plans at Oxford include investigating the role that education plays in a country's transition towards becoming a knowledge-based economy. After that, he intends to continue his graduate studies and develop his interest in government policy work.

Mesinovic is majoring in Electrical Engineering. He has spent much of his time at NYUAD focused on determining how innovative technologies can be applied, ethically and responsibly, to help people with disabilities and those struggling with significant health challenges. His senior Capstone project is focused on developing a multi-sensor armband that can predict risk scores of heart attacks and provide personalised prognoses.

"We can transcend the social model of disabilities by using technology, but those technologies need to be developed considering disabilities," said Mesinovic, adding, "Artificial Intelligence, AI, cannot just be revolutionary in disability studies, but also healthcare. Our body creates tremendous amounts of data every second that mostly go to waste, and employing that resource for our benefit is at the core of my career ambitions."

At Oxford, he plans to explore new ways that AI can be applied to challenges affecting humanity, especially healthcare. Ultimately, he hopes to focus on developing transformative assistive and healthcare technology for the consumer market, collaborating with public and government agencies to realise and regulate innovation in this field.

NYUAD has produced 14 Rhodes Scholars in just seven years, the highest number of Rhodes Scholars per student of any university in the world.