Alumni Focus: Hessa Al-Quwaiee - M.S. '13, Ph.D. '16 in electrical engineering

Becoming a female engineer in Saudi Arabia was not a common path to take, but Hessa AlQuwaiee's interest in engineering had a breakthrough when a small announcement printed in a local newspaper called for students to apply for a scholarship at a yet-to-be-built university. Al-Quwaiee applied and was accepted, and her path to becoming an engineer began.

Hessa Al-Quwaiee's interest in engineering started young, but in the early 2000s when Al-Quwaiee was attending high school, the path to becoming a female engineer in Saudi Arabia was not a commonly taken one. Instead, Al-Quwaiee pursued computer engineering at Prince Mohammed University in Al-Khobar.

One year into her bachelor's degree, a small announcement printed in a local newspaper that was keenly spotted by her sister called for students to apply for a scholarship at a yet-to-be-built university. Al-Quwaiee applied and was accepted, and her path to becoming an engineer began.

Made possible through the KAUST Discovery Scholarship, Al-Quwaiee graduated from KAUST in 2013 with a master's degree in electrical engineering followed three years later with a doctoral degree in the same field.

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