Dr. Eng. Suaad Al Shamsi defied all her critics by becoming the UAE’s first female aircraft engineer.
Choosing a career that had previously only been undertaken by men was never going to be easy, but UAE-born Al Shamsi rose to the challenge. After being given a once in a lifetime opportunity by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, she travelled to London to study aeronautical engineering and returned to the UAE to pursue a career in this field. She became the first woman in the UAE to work as an aircraft engineer when she secured a job at Emirates Airlines, and today she works as a senior manager and technical advisor for one of the biggest aviation projects in the UAE, the Midfield Terminal Project, in Abu Dhabi, with Etihad airways.
Women in Aviation
Al Shamsi has inspired many other women to follow in her footsteps and the gender gap in this industry is slowly closing. But there is still much to be done and Al Shamsi has made it her mission to inspire and educate other women to choose a similar career path. She is a member of the Emirates Association in the UK and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and one of the founders of the Women in Aviation organisation in the Middle East. She is also the CEO of L2L (Learn to Live), a consultation company that inspires other women to achieve their dreams and help them along the way. While her work is of utmost importance, Al Shamsi also puts her family at the forefront. As a mother of two young boys, she strives to make them proud of her through what she does. She has received many awards and high-level recognitions for her work and has been acknowledged by Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Khalid Al Qasimi for her work. We discover more about the journey that led her to where she is today and how she hopes to continue to inspire future generations.
What led you to this industry and where did you find your passion for aeronautical engineering?
I think it first began when I used to steal toy cars from my brother when we were kids and I always loved them. As a young girl, at that time, there was an expectation that you should study social studies, business administration, management, or medical studies – but I didn’t want to have that imposed on me, I wanted to choose my own path and I wanted people to change the way they see Arab women. In 1990 I travelled by plane for the first time, and I loved it. When I got back home, I started to think maybe there was a way I could study something related to aircrafts. I started to research I realised I wanted to do something in the aviation industry, but I wasn’t sure what. But at that time, no one believed I could do it. My teacher told me I was dreaming and that it wasn’t a suitable career for a girl! So, I said ‘who are you to tell me this?’ and they suspended me from school for three days! I was fighting for it because I didn’t see why I should have to do the same as everyone else. My sister went to medical school, and it was expected I would do that as well, but by then, I knew I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer. At that time, I was overweight and was bullied a lot, even the teachers told me I was dreaming. When I graduated from school, I contacted a lot of companies and universities and they all told me this was a major only for men. I hated this idea that men could do whatever they want but women couldn’t, and I kept asking why. I was determined and I knew I would succeed, even if everyone doubted me.
Later, I joined Al Ain University and I did not like it at all, then I joined the American University in Dubai, but it was not for me. I would run away to the garages in Al Quoz to fix cars as I knew that the mechanics of a car and the ones of a plane are similar and it would help me get closer to the career I dreamt about. One day, a man saw me there and he asked what I was doing. I told him my story and he said, “give me one reason why I should help you”. So I told him: “I want to show the world that as an Arab and Emirati woman, I can be whatever I want to be”. And so, he said he would help me. He led me to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and he told me this was the only chance I would have to talk to him, and he put him on the phone! I knew this was the only opportunity I would ever get in life. I took the phone and told him my dream and he asked me why and I said it was because I wanted to open the door for ladies to enter this field. He said: “OK no problem” and he put the phone down. I thought that was it, but I continued fighting. A week later I received a phone call from a leadership programme of His Highness, and they asked me to meet them. I arrived with my sister, and they told me that I’ve been accepted on the programme, and they had found a college for me in the UK. They told me I would be leaving in ten days and that everything would be organised for me, including a salary. When I told my mother, she was shocked! She told me she would never stop me from going overseas to study, but if I go, I must return with a degree. She said I should travel alone, which was frightening but I understand now why she made me do it, because she wanted me to be stronger and to face everything on my own. This was over twenty years ago, and now when I look back and I see how I’ve inspired other girls to go into this field, I feel so proud. I have helped and encouraged a lot of the universities in the UAE to run this degree here and there are a lot of scholarships happening. We even started a non-profit organisation called Women in Aviation. The mentality has changed and that is what I wanted to achieve.
What are the challenges you faced when leaving the UAE as a young Arab woman to study in the United Kingdom?
The challenges are not only as an Arab or a woman, but to be in another country in an environment that you haven’t been to before, and to be there on your own – you must be strong. Whatever you face you must keep reminding yourself of the reason you are there.
When I first landed at Heathrow airport my bags didn’t arrive. The next day was a Sunday, no shops were open, and I had no clothes. It was January so it was freezing cold, and the heater was not working at my accommodation. My mother called me, but I knew I had to be strong, so I didn’t tell her what happened, I just got on with it and I think it made me stronger. Looking back, I would say to anyone who is thinking of studying abroad if you have your family and everything you need in your country, don’t travel unless you can’t do your desired course in your home country. You will have to do everything for yourself, and it is not easy.
For me, the main challenge has always been that working in the field of aviation as a woman, you must accept that you are never going to be seen in the same way as a man. I was in a class with only men, even the teachers didn’t believe in me. I remember one day I had been working so hard on my project and it was Eid, but I had to go to class and when I got there the teacher threw my project on the floor! I told him: “One day, I will be something and you will be nothing”. It is these moments that make you stronger and no matter how many times people say you will never be accepted as an engineer, you keep going. It’s still hard today, only 13 per cent of aircraft engineers across the world are women, but it’s much better than it was.
When you graduated and came back to the UAE what acknowledgement and support did you receive?
My family were huge supporters. It wasn’t just me that faced these challenges, my family faced them too. A lot of people were judgmental, and they would make fun of my brothers for what I was doing. Some of my mother’s friends and relatives would tell her that I will never graduate. They would judge me because I was there alone. My mother would keep reminding me that I was coming back with a degree, and it wasn’t just for me, it was for the whole family. So, in my life now I am trying to make them prouder and prouder and to silence the people who judge me and see it as a negative. I have passion and that is everything and this is what I try to teach my students now because it is the passion that will drive you.
What do you consider a major achievement so far and what do you still aim to achieve?
First of all, to still be working in this field as a woman is a huge achievement. But to continue showing that I can also be a wife, a mother, a daughter and keep doing what I love, that’s what makes me the proudest. People are judgemental and they think that because of my career I shouldn’t have kids or get married. I see many women who choose between their personal life and their career, but I always want to show them that you can have both.
How do you balance both your career and your personal life?
The support I get from everyone surrounding me makes me what I am today. When I show people what I love and they love it too, that makes me love them even more. So I educate them on what I do. My kids know everything about aircraft, they know what I’m doing each day. My husband and my mother are the same. I engage them in my universe because when you do that, you get the support you need. The praise I get from them keeps me shining. When I retire, I want to see this passion in the new generation and the only way you can keep the passion is by finding a balance in life. I have a schedule that I put up on my wall each week because that’s the only way I can manage my time.
We know you have also written many books – tell us a little about them?
I have written five novels so far. They are all true stories and I try to highlight the real-life experiences that people don’t like to talk about. My novel “How To Kill Your Man With No Evidence” has sold 28,000 copies in Arabic and it is now being translated into English. It’s a true story about 12 ladies who are fed up with their husbands! Another was focused on how social media is tracking the new generation and taking them on different paths. It addresses sexual abuse, and the ways women experience it, and their family can have no idea. Another was a true story about a man who in front of his family, looks as though he has a great life, but inside he is empty. I am addressing a lot of issues; I love to write about real people, and I think a lot of people can relate. I have two new books coming out this November so stay tuned!
What is a motto you live by?
There are two: “if you can dream it, you can do it, you can achieve it” and “dream high, achieve high”.
What do you say no to?
I cannot accept when people try to impose decisions on you and try to monitor your life. I have always been told what I can and can’t do and I will always say no. Everyone has their own way, and I don’t like it when people judge others when they don’t know them.
Emirati Women’s Day is coming up, what does this day mean to you and how important is it to have this day each year celebrated by the whole nation?
When Her Highness Sheikha Fatma Bint Mubarak announced this day we all felt happy. A lot of Emirati women were already doing great things long before Emirati Women’s Day began, but to have a special day for us and to recognise our achievements not only in our careers but in our personal lives too, is fantastic. This year, because we are in the 50th year of the UAE, I think there is even more for women to celebrate. For other countries, 50 years is a short interval, but what we in the UAE have achieved in that time and the equality we have found, means we can do anything. I think we have achieved more in 50 years than a lot of countries have even in 100 years, and this is just the beginning for Emirati women.
What is a message you would give to your country to mark this 50-year milestone?
I wish that not only Emirati women, but any woman who is living here will continue to make the UAE even better and globally recognised. Our country means everything to us, and I hope we get more respect globally and we take the country even higher.
Do you have a role model or someone that inspires you?
In my life, I have two role models. The first is His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum because he believed in me and all women in this country. We as Emiratis, feel that we are a family, and he is our father. We see what he has done for this country, and he is truly a role model. The second role model is my mother. She was a mother and a father to us because my father passed away when I was just ten months old when she was just 26, with four children. She showed me how life should be. She taught me when I should act like a woman and when I should act like a man. When I should be tough when I should be soft. She taught me everything and I am still learning from her. She educated me and my siblings in a way that made us achieve amazing things and now she is teaching our children. She taught me to never stop helping and inspiring others and to be a role model for them. She is the best role model I could have.
We know you have a passion for watches where did this come from?
I move by minutes and Watches give me time to understand my day. I know what I must do every minute of the day and time is very important to me. Life moves so fast, and I have to wear a watch to keep track. But I don’t wear just any watch. When I am working in the construction area, I need something light that won’t hurt my wrist. I need to be able to wear it with my uniform and with my evening clothes.
Which are the top brands you like to wear?
I have a Breitling Aviator which is my favourite, I own two of them and they are very dear to my heart because of the link to aviation. And Rolex is always there as one of my favourites. I think every woman needs to own a Rolex!
Where is your favourite place to travel?
London is my favourite place to travel because I have an emotional connection to it and it is the place where I learnt so much and became the person I am today. The second place would be Amsterdam. I like to go there when I’m trying to finish a book. It is a place of paradise. Every country I go to I become attached to in a different way.
What is a message you would give to your younger self?
I would tell her “I am proud of you”. And I would tell her to be patient because she still has a lot to give!
