Women of Wisdom - Curtin Dubai’s female success stories

Curtin University Dubai hosts its bi-annual Women of Wisdom event every March and November with a diverse panel leading meaningful discussions on female empowerment, entrepreneurship, and equity. Last November, the event consisted of speakers who shared their wisdom and experiences as women in the modern working world. This March, Curtin Dubai’s students built a chain of strength across its campus, to honor its current students and alumni who have “broken the glass ceiling” and are shaping their careers with full force.

Keerthana Dana Sekeran is one of Curtin University Dubai’s mechanical engineering students and is in her final year, interning for Nicomatic (an interconnect solutions provider). She is currently working with the French company to develop one of their newest projects, a contactless connector that will provide a seamless user experience. She is especially passionate about aeronautics; therefore, she is actively involved in a Lunasat project, in partnership with NASA (National American Space Agency), called the “Great Lunar Expedition for Everyone”.

Another great example is Azkha Mikdhar, a third-year Mass Communication student at Curtin University Dubai who is presently working as a marketing intern with the United Nations Global Compact, New York. She is consistently active in the social welfare space, where she has participated in the Aqdar World Summit 2021, and the World Bank Youth Summit 2022. She is also serving with the non-profit organisation AIESEC.

Azkha is well-known for her continuous devotion and enthusiasm for social welfare. As the Curtin Dubai Student Council Community Service and Sustainability officer, she is the heartbeat of all environmental and community outreach initiatives at Curtin Dubai.

Ashley Barrallon, a recent graduate of International Business, is one of Curtin Dubai’s many proud small business entrepreneurs. In February of 2021, Ashley and her sister started their company, The Skin Bar, which initially began as an e-commerce business for skincare products. Despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic, in May 2022, the two ladies managed to open their flagship store in the Seychelles (their home country).

Over time, Ashley and her sister diversified the products in their store as they now sell cosmetics, accessories, and garments alongside their skincare merchandise. The Barrallon sisters’ vision is to expand locally throughout the islands of the Seychelles and then move towards international growth. Sandile Nkala is one of Curtin Dubai’s proud alumni who has come a long way in her career journey. In her time at Curtin Dubai, Sandile grabbed every internship opportunity that came her way as she worked for Transnational Academic Group, Bareface, and Hunter Foods while completing her accounting undergraduate.

Soon after, she landed her first full-time job at the big four firm, KPMG, where she managed to work her way up to senior audit associate within two years of graduating.

Keerthana, Azkha, Ashley, and Sandile are prime representations of Curtin’s core values, courage and impact. These remarkable young ladies have fearlessly stepped up and reached for every opportunity that came before them and employed their skills, efforts, talents and knowledge in their respective projects and endeavours. Curtin University Dubai is proud to present this accomplished group of young women and wishes them all the more growth and success in the future.