Marrakech – Moroccan high school students were among 216 participants from five countries who completed the inaugural AeroSTAR program, a career-exploration initiative run by Amideast and Boeing that introduced young people to aviation and space. More than 200 students graduated.
The cohort drew teenagers aged 15 to 18 from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates. The program is built to help them make informed choices about post-secondary education and careers, and it connects them with mentors and employers across the aerospace industry.
For Boeing, the effort is tied to projected demand. According to Wael Zaoud, the company’s managing director for the Middle East and North Africa, AeroSTAR is a “proactive investment in building a robust local talent pipeline, sparking an early interest in aviation careers.”
He linked that to a regional fleet expected to double over the next two decades, which Boeing projects will require 236,000 new aviation professionals in the Middle East and 75,000 in Africa over the same period.
Participants moved through a 60-hour curriculum that combined industry-specific knowledge with soft skills and mentorship, followed by a national pitch competition and a regional capstone camp. Organizers reported measurable growth in professional confidence, and more than 90% of participants came away with a stronger interest in aviation and space careers.
Greta C. Holtz, a retired ambassador who serves as president and chief executive officer of Amideast, framed the value in terms of direct exposure. Meeting people “doing these jobs, visiting workplaces and seeing the range of careers available,” she noted, helped participants “imagine possibilities they may not have considered before.”
She added that Amideast and Boeing intend to give more young people “the exposure, connections and real-world experiences” that can open new options.
The program closed with an AeroSTAR Camp in Amman from October 9 to 12, where the winning Moroccan team joined counterparts from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and the UAE.
The agenda ran from project presentations to career orientation workshops and site visits. Students toured Queen Alia International Airport, hosted by Airport International Group (AIG) under a partnership with Amideast, and visited Joramco, the Amman-based aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility and engineering arm of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE).
The stops offered a behind-the-scenes look at airport operations and aircraft maintenance facilities.
The structure rests on three stages. The AeroSTAR Academy delivers the 60-hour learning experience with industry guest speakers. The AeroSTAR Challenge is the national pitch competition, where teams present projects to industry professionals. The AeroSTAR Camp brings top-performing national teams together for field visits, mentorship, and career orientation.
Recruitment for the next cohort begins this month, with students applying through their local Amideast website. In Morocco, applications opened on October 5 and close on November 15, with the program delivered in person in Casablanca and Rabat. The second year will expand to six countries, adding Tunisia, and engage 252 young people aged 15 to 18.
Amideast, a US nonprofit active across the Middle East and North Africa for more than 75 years, delivers English-language and professional-skills training, testing, and study-abroad programs.
Boeing, a leading global aerospace company and top US exporter, has operated in the region for more than eight decades, dating to 1945, with offices that include Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait, and Riyadh. Over the past five years, the company has put MAD 160 million ($16 million) into community initiatives that it reports have reached 360,000 young people across the region.
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