BSBG’s Hadeel Kassem participates in mentor session at Heriot-Watt School of Textiles and Design

Words by BSBG Media Team, Monday 24 February 2025

Brewer Smith Brewer Group (BSBG) Senior Interior Designer Hadeel Kassem took part in a mentor session held at Heriot-Watt’s School of Textiles and Design Dubai campus, as a member of the school’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB) featuring 20 industry professionals from different design backgrounds.

The board meets multiple times each year to review course content; ensuring the programmes offered at the school align with today’s industry demands and standards. In addition, the board collaborates with the faculty to provide well-rounded feedback and direction to students, as well as providing young designers studying at the school with internships and industry experience.

The latest session gave the opportunity for the Honours Programme students to present their Final Major Project Briefs (Graduation Project) to the IAB. The aim was to provide the students with valuable feedback early on, so they are able to create a strong base for their projects.

The groups were split into four based on the chosen major: Interior Architecture and Design, Architecture, Fashion Branding and Promotion, and Communication Design. Hadeel was one of six IAB members and industry guests that reviewed and critiqued the students’ project briefs. Hadeel explained that she was impressed by the quality of presentations she witnessed on the day. She said, "The work was backed by an immense amount of research, the presentation skills were impressive, and the ideas were incredibly innovative. We pointed out areas that could be enhanced and some potential additions that may take the brief somewhere more interesting, and we provided technical feedback to keep some ideas a bit more realistic and grounded So that the learning process, while creating these projects, is less abstract.”

Hadeel, herself a graduate from Heriot-Watt University, considers these sessions of considerable benefit – not only for the students, but also for her own development as a designer. And with such a depth of talent in this next generation of designers, she says it’s important for BSBG to potentially look towards this next generation to continue the design legacy of the growing team within the Interior Design studio. She continued: “It was as much of a learning experience for me as it was for the students. These sessions are fantastic for them, but incredibly useful for us when it comes to how we work with younger talent and how we can foster their creativity and learn from their unorthodox methods. It also makes it easier to find new talent that can add value to our team in the future, as we did with Jyoti Odedra (Heriot-Watt University graduate 2024, and current Interior Designer at BSBG).

“This event was a great opportunity to see how the younger generation of designers come up with their ideas and do their research while giving them constructive feedback that can help them enhance their graduation projects. We’ll be invited back to view their final projects in May before the annual degree show.”

Are you interested in an internship with BSBG? Contact us today to explore the opportunities we have within our studios.

BSBG Media Team

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