“InnoTrans is a railway enthusiast's Disneyland!”

Can you share a brief overview of what you have achieved so far?

I'm a change advocate who lives in Dubai and who attends both year 10 in high school as well as being in my 3rd year of being enrolled in university too, studying computer science. I’m the youngest ever student to be accepted into university in the United Arab Emirates at age 12. My motto in life is #AbilityNOTAge whereby I am trying to break age barriers and shift perceptions about what kids can do - I think people should be allowed to do things based on their capabilities and not solely on their age. Don't you? I became a public speaker at age 8 to try and reform the education system to make it more future forward and more suitable for my generation and have spoken at dozens of conferences meant only for adults - I'm one of the youngest TEDx speakers in the world too. I have also been lucky enough to have been named one of the Future 25 Under 25 Global changemakers at age 11. I am totally powered by curiosity and obsessed with public transit and urban planning. That's me in a nutshell.

Can you tell us about the digital game you developed to get teenagers excited about public transport?

For sure! The game is called "Dubai Dash", and rather than it being digital, it is physical! We use the city of Dubai itself as our playing field! The aim of the game is to gather as many points as possible by completing challenges at various locations across Dubai - but you can only get around to those different locations by means of public transport. The different competing teams have a set time limit (usually around 4 hours) to do so, and the winner at the end wins a prize. This game has been a great success among my friends and me and has actually gotten a lot of my friends to use the public transport system outside of the game which was the reason that I created Dubai Dash in the first place!

How did you become a railway enthusiast?

I've been obsessed with trains pretty much ever since I was 4, begging my grandma to take me for a ride on the Dubai Metro and Tram as often as possible which has become a core memory! However, a few years ago, I really took a deep dive into all things transit. It now fascinates me to look at not only all the various types of trains across the globe and listen to their sounds as well which is oddly fascinating to me, but also looking at the whole network in terms of logistics, architecture, graphic design, urban planning, energy usage and much more. It really opened my eyes up into many different sectors of this field!

How did you become aware of InnoTrans and the Railway Influencer Festival?

I've been following Railway Gazette International for quite a while, one of InnoTrans' media partners, to keep myself informed about what was happening in the field around the globe, and it was here that I discovered an article on InnoTrans 2024 - and about it being the largest conference of its kind globally. I ended up looking more into it and found it amazing! This reaction then caused me to text my mom about my research about the conference, followed by "I wish I could go there one day!", to which she replied: "Let's make it happen!" So, I reached out to some of the organizers of the event to inquire about visiting, to which I received great support, and thus my dream came true - we booked flights from Dubai and were off to Berlin! Thank you so much to my brilliant parents and to Kerstin Schulz, Vera Hasche and Kerstin Abed for making this happen!

How do you see your future as a railway influencer?

Currently, I have been offered an internship with Hitachi Rail in the UAE thanks to networking and connections I made at InnoTrans in Berlin, and thus I'm looking forward to getting hands on experience from amazing experts and professionals in the field – it has been great so far! My goal is to learn as much as I can about the sector globally and to continuously fuel my curiosity and passion further. I hope to one day be leading innovation in this space and propelling transit into an even more successful and greener future. #AbilityNOTAge remember?

Which innovations or technologies impressed you the most at InnoTrans 2024?

I have to say that attending the launch and unveiling of the Stadler RS Zero was interesting to me. It was cool to witness the green-friendly rolling stock technology that could revive the RegioShuttle generation of trains. As welI as this, it was also great to see some of the latest technology being developed by Hitachi Rail regarding easy and efficient managing and diagnostics of transit networks, and how they are incorporating AI into the field! I also loved visiting the Alstom booth - with their interactive driving simulator that gave great insight into how driver training takes place, as well as their Avelia experience which demonstrated what the new generation of high-speed from Alstom was going to look like. But, in general, I loved all the technologies there - seeing all the trains outside, visiting all the different exhibits - InnoTrans is a railway enthusiast's Disneyland!

How was your experience networking with companies and other influencers at the Railway Influencer Festival?

It was great! At the Railway Influencer Festival I got the chance to meet one of the influencers whose videos I have been watching for a while (hello Central City!) and I made great connections with other companies at the Railway Influencer Festival and also at the InnoTrans exhibition itself! I've managed to garner myself great opportunities with companies such as Alstom, Hitachi Rail, and Etihad Rail all thanks to InnoTrans.

What is your experience which topics in the railway sector interest your followers the most?

My followers are mostly following me for my journey, and how I'm bringing my mantra, #AbilityNotAge, to life through breaking down age barriers. I guess they are always wondering what I will be up to next. My Hitachi internship was a big milestone for me, and I'm loving my journey so far and can't wait to see what the future holds. Please feel free to follow my journey too! You can find me on Instagram and on LinkedIn.

Curious to see who else was at the Railway Influencer Festival? Get all the details here: Railway Influencer Festival - InnoTrans