Middle East’s largest student design competition returns for its 6th Edition

The Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI), the region’s first university dedicated solely to design and innovation, is pleased to announce that participation in its annual Project Design Space competition is higher than ever this year.

The youth design competition, now in its sixth edition and open to students aged 14 to 18, has attracted over 2,500 students this year, a 125 percent increase since Project Design Space’s inception in 2017. Schools from the UAE and the wider region (including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, and Oman) have registered, and the competition has expanded to include India for the first time.

Project Design Space, now a mature, established design competition, was launched in 2017 with the goal of developing design skills and future-focused, problem-solving mindsets in order to prepare today’s youth for future jobs.

Commenting on Project Design Space, DIDI’s President Mohammad Abdullah, said: “In our capacity as the Middle East’s first and only university exclusively dedicated to design and innovation, DIDI is futureproofing the next generation of designers, arming them with the skills of the future. Since launching in 2017, Project Design Space has created unrivalled opportunities for creative thinkers to conceptualise, problem solve and turn ideas into impact. It is wonderful to see such considerable engagement in the competition this year – the highest to date – and we look forward to supporting our clients with innovative solutions to potentially contribute to their growth in the UAE and beyond. DIDI is proud to be rewriting the rules on how design is taught worldwide.”

The Project Design Space competition, which is being run digitally again this year, lasts six months, with DIDI faculty sourcing client briefs, enrolling schools, and running workshops for teachers and students across multiple disciplines on design thinking skills, applied problem solving, prototyping, teamwork, and pitching.

To date, 12,000 students and 600 teachers have competed in the design and innovation competition.