Zayed University students display their entrepreneurial spirit

From design to dresses to "Emirati sushi”, the talent of the country's young peopleis evident.Their innovations were on display Wednesday at the Zayed University carnival wherestudents – past and present – showcased their unique products.Some students, such as Aisha Alowais and Maryam Alghafli, started their businessesafter people had complimented their work that had first began as a hobby.Ms Alowais, an interior design student, said her business began through her love forjewellery design."I did one drawing and everyone loved it. I did one T-shirt and everyone said ‘wewant one'. So I decided to start my own business.”Her top-selling items include mugs and phone covers."Everything is drawn by me,” said the 19-year-old, who has been running herbusiness, Made With Love, for about 18 months.Ms Alghafli, an alumni, meanwhile, started her business, Pnina and Moos, a year ago with her sister. Now working alone, she said her clothing line was getting popular."We just started as something to do during our free time,” she said. "But when wegained a lot of customers and promotions, shops started talking to us to displayour stuff so we thought, ‘Oh, it's serious' – that's why we are continuing now.”Other students were showcasing their offerings for the first time.Recent graduate Fatima Abdulrahman has mixed Emirati and Japanese cuisine.The 21-year-old and her friends came up with Emirati sushi."Lots of people here love sushi and we thought we could blend it with an Emiratitouch, so we replaced the rice with bread,” she said.The menu features four main dishes, each with an Arabic name."We eat chips with bread and cheese, and we mix it with sauce. So we had the idea ofmaking it more creative and decided to make it look like sushi,” she said. Source: TheNationa