New student center opens in Manchester to help Aramco-sponsored students

Aramco recently inaugurated a new student center in Manchester designed to support the large student population as well as academic staff, maximizing opportunities for collaboration.

Student Numbers
Aramco’s U.K./European Union student population currently stands at 547, including a large number of placements at the University of Manchester, one of the country’s leading academic institutions. 

Faisal Al-Hajji, Aramco's executive director of HR, was visiting the U.K. to speak to Aramco students and spoke at the inauguration of the center, which was established in alignment with a new HR student to provide maximum support to all company-sponsored students.

“I see this center as a place for students to speak more frequently with advisors, expand upon their academic pursuits, and where possible, collaborate with one another,” said Al-Hajji. “I cannot emphasize enough the importance of being proactive and making the most of such spaces, as well as the wealth of expertise your academic staff can share with you.”

The receptions in Manchester and London featured recognition of academic top performers and panel discussions with Aramco Europe’s management alongside Al-Hajji.

“We are preparing for the future of work, and subject areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning have become a critical focus. Many new technologies, like robotics, are being used and the energy landscape is changing, as is how we operate at Aramco,”,said Al-Hajji.  

He also spoke of upgrades to infrastructure and employee reskilling, which will see future generations enter an even more dynamic Company. An enhanced focus on diversity and inclusion was also mentioned, acknowledging that over a third of new company hires for the year were women.  

I would advise you all to listen to what is going on in the world, in terms of energy transition in particular.
— Ahmed Al-Khunaini, CEO of Aramco Europe

“Aramco is a leader in the oil and gas sector but at the same time it is investing in the new sources of energy like blue ammonia and hydrogen. The company is going through a lot of change and going forward, change will only be possible through future employees such as yourselves,” added Al-Khunaini.

In addition to technology and flexibility, the panel discussions covered a series of current events, particularly climate change and COP26, which was held in the nearby city of Glasgow. 

Caption for top photograph

Faisal Al-Hajji addresses students at the second student gathering in London on November 12.