Fez – At the Private University of Fez (UPF), engineering education is getting a bold upgrade.
No longer just about equations and blueprints, the university is transforming how future engineers learn, think, and build. At heart if all this is a strong focus, on innovation, social impact, and entrepreneurship.
This transformation was on full display this week during the university’s annual Engineering Professions Week, a five-day event that culminates in something extraordinary: the Grand Prize for Engineering Sciences.
Creating viable businesses
Far from a typical student showcase, this competition challenges students to design interdisciplinary projects that are not only inventive, but also socially relevant, and, crucially, capable of becoming real businesses.
“We’re selecting projects that could lead directly to the creation of viable businesses,” explains Dr. Ibrahim Akdim, Vice President in charge of Partnerships and Innovation in an interview with Morocco .
His words reflect the deeper vision behind the event: to move beyond academic performance and instead build a culture of innovation that extends far beyond the classroom.
Throughout the week, students are invited to develop solutions across disciplines, robotics, civil engineering, AI, environmental design, all while being guided by a clear question: How can this make the world better?
The final day brings these projects center stage, judged by a panel of professors from various fields who assess each submission based on five forward-thinking criteria: innovation, interdisciplinarity, technical creativity, societal impact, and business potential.
And the goal isn’t theoretical. Promising projects are fast-tracked for incubation, first within the university, and then possibly at the regional or even national level.
The quest for social impact
This is where the Private University of Fez stands out: by creating an ecosystem where a student project doesn’t just earn a grade, it becomes a company.
Dr. Akdim stresses that the university’s role isn’t simply to teach; it’s to inspire bold thinking and enable real-world outcomes.
“The idea is to bring different specialties together to produce something new and relevant,” he says.
Students are encouraged to integrate artificial intelligence, address environmental challenges, and innovate with purpose.
The atmosphere during the final day of Engineering Professions Week was electric, filled with ideas that might soon turn into startups, and students who are already thinking like founders.
It’s a space where creativity meets entrepreneurship, and where the future of engineering in Morocco is being built in real time.
“I am confident that this afternoon will be rich, productive, and truly encouraging
for innovation and creativity among students and within the university,” Dr Akdim concluded.
