Khalifa University, MS-EI student Ayesha Alkatheeri combines entrepreneurial teachings with engineering background

The W. P. Carey School of Business offers degree programs such as the Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation to provide a path for those with an entrepreneurial spirit to gain the tools they need to succeed. One such student is Ayesha Alkatheeri (MS-EI '25), who came to the program through a partnership with her university in the UAE.

Entrepreneurship is a career path that welcomes those from all backgrounds, regardless of whether they've been involved in business for decades or are new to it.

The W. P. Carey School of Business offers degree programs such as the Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (MS-EI) to provide a path for those with an entrepreneurial spirit to gain the tools they need to succeed.

One such student is Ayesha Alkatheeri (MS-EI '25), who came to the program through a partnership with her university in the UAE. As someone with an engineering education, she's experienced how welcoming the school and the program are to those from non-business backgrounds. "It's a learning experience," she says. "This is something that has been emphasized a lot throughout our program, by our mentors, by our professors, and all of our faculty."

W. P. Carey spoke to Alkatheeri about her experiences coming to ASU to take part in the MS-EI program and how she plans to build upon what she's learned.

Why W. P. Carey?

Alkatheeri earned her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Khalifa University of Science and Technology in her home country of the United Arab Emirates. She believed initially that she would pursue a career in her field of study, despite a desire to explore opening a business.

But when she found out that Khalifa University has a partnership with Arizona State University and the W. P. Carey School for students to pursue master's degrees from both universities, including the MS-EI, she realized that her dream wasn't as out of reach as she thought.

"When I heard about this program, how it accepts anyone from any background, and how it helps introduce you to the world of entrepreneurship, not only as in having your own business, but also how to create an entrepreneurship mindset, I was really thrilled," she says. "I thought it was a really great opportunity that I didn't want to miss."

Coming to ASU as an international student wasn't something that Alkatheeri expected when she began her higher education journey, but the community at ASU and W. P. Carey provided a welcoming and inspiring environment.

"Coming here definitely made me explore a lot of options, and I met a lot of new people, including other international students," she says. "ASU is a very rich environment from that aspect…. People here are very serious about what they're trying to achieve with their degrees. It's different than just the traditional get a degree and go get a job experience. Here, you sense from the community how skilled and determined they are."

Why entrepreneurship and innovation?

Alkatheeri says that being an entrepreneur is a dream that she's had since she was younger, but she wasn't sure how feasible it was until recently.

"Since I was a kid, I always wanted to open a business, but it was something of a far-fetched dream, and I didn't know what the steps were to do that," she says. "I never thought about pursuing business. Back then, I thought maybe it wasn't going to be a sustainable option for me."

That changed when she learned about the MS-EI program that was available to her through the partnership of Khalifa University and W. P. Carey, and how the program is designed to help anyone with any background gain the skills and knowledge they need to become an entrepreneur, or to pursue a business career.

"What I like about it is it's not just designed so the only possible outcome is to have your own business by the end of it," she says. "It equips you with the skills, the tools, the knowledge, everything you know you need to know to have a business. But it also provides a good toolbox for you to be an entrepreneur and have the skills you need for any situation, whether it is to have your own business or to work in someone else's business."

She cites classes that cover topics including design thinking, customer engagement, and prototyping as ones that offered strong insights into entrepreneurial thinking and changed her way of looking at situations, especially as someone who came from a non-business background.

What's next?

As part of the MS-EI curriculum, Alkatheeri is working on a business idea and pitch with a team of her peers. She's combined her previous knowledge and experience in engineering with her new entrepreneurial skills for her current business idea, but says that she has many other ideas that she'd like to explore in the future. "I'm very excited for them, because now I feel like I'm a step ahead from where I started last year regarding making my ideas come to life."

Her experience with coming up with business ideas and working in groups with her fellow students highlights her advice for those considering the MS-EI and how she describes her time in the program: "embrace the change, and make your ideas come to life."

"Everyone started with a group, ended up with a different group, started with an idea, ended up with a different idea," Alkatheeri says. "Though from an outside perspective, that might sound like they're not sure about what they want, it's not the case. It's just people exploring how it works in real life, where you don't know what the right thing is from the beginning, and you're able to work through it."

"I'm very thankful that our faculty are not against that. They're not against you figuring out what you want to do and changing that. It's a really safe environment for you to figure out and take your time with things."