Doha, 29 June 2014: Vodafone Qatar today announced the names of university students who will join the prestigious Bell Labs internship programme of Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU), the leading global telecommunications equipment company and a major technology supplier to Vodafone.
The Qatar University students are: Amal Nady Saad and Abdel-Rahman Shouman, heading to Bell Labs New Jersey, US; and Latifa Al-Naimi, heading to Bell Labs, Ireland.
Earlier this year, Vodafone Qatar and Alcatel-Lucent signed a joint agreement to take university students for an internship programme at Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs located in Europe and the United States. The Bell Labs programme is considered to be one of the most sought-out internship programmes of its kind in the world and one that is highly regarded by many in the engineering industry.
The 2-month programme will kick-start in June 2014. Recently, Vodafone Qatar and Alcatel-Lucent met with the chosen students to run them through the programme and give them a short induction into what it will entail. The programme will offer these students a hands-on experience of the best in the academic and corporate realms and they will leave the Bell Labs programme with an unparalleled exposure to the birthplace of many of the 20th century’s most influential technologies, which continues to drive the development of the communications’ networks of the future.
Mohammed Al Yami, Director of External Affairs at Vodafone Qatar, said: “We’re very happy to see these students getting closer to embark on a dream journey. The Bell Labs programme is a highly coveted internship experience and Vodafone Qatar, with the help of Alcatel-Lucent, is offering this once in a lifetime chance to students from Qatar to be part of a world-class technology institution that has contributed to a number of globally-recognised industry inventions. This programme strongly underpins Vodafone Qatar’s ongoing commitment to nurture local talent with an initiative that adds true value to their future careers.”
Marcus Weldon, president Bell Labs and CTO of Alcatel-Lucent said: “As Bell Labs continues to work on solutions to some of the most challenging communications problems of our time we are always looking to work and interact with upcoming energy and talent of the next generation.”
Bell Labs has returned to its research roots by focusing on grand industry challenges that have the potential to change the way the world collaborates, communicates and connects. It recently announced the Bell Labs Prize to invite outside inventors to participate in its efforts to invent the future.
Internationally recognized as one of the world’s preeminent industrial research facilities and as a center of scientific and engineering excellence, few institutions have had as great an impact on modern society as Bell Labs. An extensive array of awards has been bestowed upon Bell Labs researchers, including 12 Nobel Prize laureates, 12 US Medals of Science, 12 US Medals of Technology & Innovation, 4 Turing Award laureates, 6 Draper prizes, 9 Marconi Prizes and 3 Lifetime Achievement Awards, 4 Japan Prizes, 15 C&C prizes, 23 IEEE Medals of Honor, 13 Tyndall Awards, an Emmy, a Grammy, and an Academy Award.EBlink’s innovative Wireless Fronthaul solution represents a major technological advance for base station deployment, eliminating the last few hundred meters of fiber that are so costly for operators. The solution reflects the evolution toward increasingly centralized telecom architectures, and allows for faster and easier deployment of 3G, 4G and future 5G networks. Wireless fronthaul technology is seen as essential to the development of small cells, to ensure much-needed coverage and high-speed service. Industry analysts and major international operators now speak of wireless fronthaul as a technology that has become essential.
