Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has announced the launch of the seventh round of its annual research programme with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

This year’s edition welcomes seven MIT PhD and master's student engineers at EGA, to work with EGA teams on innovative solutions to some of the most pressing technical challenges facing the aluminium industry.

Over eight weeks, MIT students will be embedded into departments at EGA to combine the latest academic thinking with EGA’s practical industrial expertise. EGA and MIT will focus on addressing industrial challenges in areas including Reduction, Technology Development, Carbon, and Power.

Initiated in 2015, EGA’s partnership with MIT has led to over a million dollars in annual cost savings through performance and efficiency improvements. The programme has since seen EGA's Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah facilities hosting over 54 student engineers from MIT’s David H. Koch School of Chemical Engineering Practice.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said, “Our long-standing partnership with MIT reflects EGA’s commitment to innovate the future of aluminium production globally. By leveraging the knowledge of academia and industry, we can make further progress in addressing complex industrial problems to achieve more effective and sustainable solutions. We anticipate valuable outcomes from this year’s collaboration.”

MIT’s David H. Koch School of Chemical Engineering Practice has been sending students to industry-leading companies around the world to apply their academic knowledge and expertise to the development of innovative solutions to industrial challenges for more than 100 years. EGA was the first company in the Middle East to participate in the programme.

EGA’s technology and development team works extensively with universities in both the UAE and internationally, with academic partnerships that include Khalifa University, the American University of Sharjah, Rochester Institute of Technology, Abu Dhabi University and American University in Dubai in the UAE, as well as the University of Auckland, University of New South Wales, and MIT.