DELIVERED BY
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
SUPPORTED BY
MAKE invites aspiring furniture designers from the UAE and the region to participate in this unique professional programme in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The Athath Fellowship is a 15-week intensive professional furniture design and prototyping programme for aspiring entrepreneurs. Delivered in three phases, the programme consists of two primary modules: Furniture Design & Prototyping and Commercial Strategy. Additionally, a series of seminars is integrated throughout the programme, featuring guest speakers whose expertise spans academia, industry, and support services within legal and commercial frameworks.
Fellows will be introduced to a range of topics from design thinking, fabrication techniques, detailing, and material selection, to material sourcing strategies, cost analysis, marketing and sales, target audience analysis, and pricing.
The final outcome of the programme includes a full-scale, commercially viable furniture prototype—designed and built by the fellow—along with the foundational knowledge to develop preliminary commercial plans for their design. This experience empowers fellows to turn their concepts into market-ready products.
The call is open to individuals with a creative portfolio, not limited to furniture or construction art forms.
DATES
From 5th July 2025 to 11th October 2025.
An end of programme showcase is planned during October & November 2025.
DURATION
A 15 week taught course with unlimited access to the fabrication workshop.
COST
Programme cost is 9,950 AED inclusive of VAT.
LANGUAGE
English
LOCATION
MAKE’s facility in Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Each cohort consists of ten fellows. To find out more about the participants we’re looking for, please read carefully the selection criteria here.
CERTIFICATION
Fellows will receive a certificate of completion.
MAKE​
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MAKE is part workshop, lab, studio, and garage, with a diverse range of offerings focused on building creative skills and process learning in making, design, engineering, and art, supported by a wide range of professional-grade machinery, tools and setup.
We are a community of entrepreneurs and experimenters, designers and artists, DIY enthusiasts, hobbyists, learners, and doers. MAKE's mission is to create and support a new culture of making in Abu Dhabi and provide a growing community of makers with the resources and knowledge required to turn their ideas into reality. At MAKE, our mission is driven by two core components, the Makerspace, which serves as our enabling arm, and the Academy, which focuses on building capabilities within the community.
We welcome makers of all ages and capabilities, from absolute beginners to professional designers. It’s a place for young minds and old hands, where people with different levels of creative ability and knowledge come together to make their ideas real. Learn more
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Design Lead
Thomas Trad​
​Thomas Trad is a UAE-based product designer fascinated with manufacturing processes, craftsmanship, and the natural beauty of materials.
He attended London’s Central Saint Martins and the Suikoushya International Craft School in Kyoto, and has worked with the world-renowned studios Fredrikson
Stallard and Michael Anastassiades. Over the many years of this education he developed a twin passion for traditional and contemporary techniques alike, which
he now brings to bear in his native Beirut, where he returned in 2016 to found his own design studio.
Trad’s aesthetic is one of both organic and abstract shapes—one that unites the pleasurably familiar with forms of challenging ingenuity. Ever at work refining his
techniques and pushing the boundaries of what can be said with furnishings, Trad has, in three years, created an extraordinary portfolio—striking, yet subtle, pieces of
remarkable beauty. Coupled with his experimental approach to materials, textures, and finishes, this inexhaustible search for the unexpected and beautiful in contemporary furniture has earned Trad a reputation as one of the most impressive emerging designers in Beirut.
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Commercial Strategy Partner
Khalifa Fund For Enterprise Development
Khalifa Fund was established in 2007 as an independent economic development agency of the Government of Abu Dhabi.
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Inspired by the UAE leadership’s vision and aligned with the objectives of the “Falcon Economy,” Khalifa Fund focuses on financing and supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Abu Dhabi, while assisting in the transformation of the emirate into a smart, diversified and sustainable economy.
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The Fund offers a wide range of services, including financial assistance, training, mentoring and access to a broad entrepreneurship ecosystem. It actively develops innovative initiatives to address the evolving needs of the UAE's SME sector, particularly focusing on industries such as healthcare, education, agricultural technology, information and communications technology (ICT), tourism and manufacturing.
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Supported By
Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation
The Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation’s mission is “to invest in the future of the United Arab Emirates by investing in its people.” To that end, it develops and supports strategic initiatives in the areas of Art, Culture and Heritage; Early Childhood Development; and Health. Established in 2010, the SHF is the family foundation of Her Highness Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan.
The programme will take place in MAKE, Port Zayed, Abu Dhabi, UAE
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