From EIA to Silicon Valley: QSTP Students Innovation Trips

I had the privilege to join Qatar Science Technology Park (QSTP) twice on their Students Innovation Trips (SIT). The first one I joined was European Innovation Academy (EIA) in Italy on July 2017, then in March of 2018 I joined their annual trip to Silicon Valley. I joined both programs (very few people get to go to both), which makes me feel very proud and lucky. In the following post I will be talking about what I learned in general from both trips, and create a contrast on how the two complement each other, and also give some advises on which one you should pick if you are considering applying.

Why you should join QSTP related-activity as a student?

You may be wondering why you should apply to either of the programs in the first place. SIT widened my perspective on many areas in life, not just about entrepreneurship, but it also made me reconsider my career choices, meet great people that added a big value to my network, and allowed me to be in touch with other students here in Education City that otherwise I would not get the chance to meet them.

They invest in talents

This is the thing I love the most about QSTP. They invest in you as a talent, as a unique value, not as a project. They want to empower students like us to create our 'Silicon Valley', they want us to think beyond having a job, to think in an innovative way.

EIA Vs. Silicon Valley

Previously I dedicated one whole post about my EIA experience that you may check here, and another one summarising my learning lessons from Silicon Valley here. But the main differences that I can say about both experiences is that in EIA I got to learn the basics on pen and paper, for example we had one whole week dedicated to ideation, and another one whole week dedicated to marketing. That was helpful to me as these concepts were very new to me (given the fact that I have an engineering background). Also, I got to have a team of my own and we worked on an idea for three weeks with the help of mentors. In Silicon Valley I saw many companies that were once ideas, and how they became famous. More importantly we talked to founders and mentors and learned about the obstacles they faced, and how they overcame them.

It was the second program actually that changed my mind about entrepreneurship. After coming back from EIA I was convinced that entrepreneurship is not for me (you can actually still see that at the end of my old post), and that entrepreneur = founder. Only when I went to Silicon Valley that changed and I discovered that innovation mindset is more important, and a wider thing to think about rather than just becoming a founder.

Which one you should apply for?

Of course both are great opportunities. But for example if you have joined an accelerator program before, I would not suggest you go to EIA, maybe you can use your knowledge from the previous accelerator experience and apply to help with AIA (Arab Innovation Academy). If you have never seen California before and would like to have some fun abroad, then please DON'T apply to the Silicon Valley trip. Make sure before applying to any of these programs that you have at least an idea about what you want to get out of the experience, or have a goal in mind. Also, don't make plans ahead of time, trust in the organisers and follow the program. They organized the program many times before and designed it in such a way that you gain the most out of it. If you insist that you have your own plans, then I would suggest that you leave the seat for someone else and pursue your plans on your own.

Giving Back

I think after joining both programs, it is only time now to give back. I came to know many talents around my age that either have an idea, already have a start-up, or have the potential but not sure where to start. I think we won't fully fulfil the goal of us joining SITs until we support each other and create an innovative culture here that represents us.