Qatar Airways named official sponsor of Qatar design conference

The award-winning airline is flying some of the world's leading design experts into Doha for the four-day event, being organised by the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Arts (VCU) Qatar in collaboration with the Qatar Foundation.

The event aims to promote fashion, graphic and interior design with hundreds of international academics, design professionals and students from Europe, United States, Asia and the Middle East, discussing current and future trends in the field of design.

A series of workshops and presentations will be held involving international designers, including Rick Poynor, Shashi Caan and Ruth Carter, who has worked on costume designs for award-winning Hollywood film director Steven Spielberg.

The Qatar Ministry of Civil Service Affairs and Housing is working with the VCU to organise the conference, under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said he was delighted the airline was supporting such a high-calibre event that will bring in creative talent from around the world.

'As a forward thinking airline, we always look at creative ways to develop our inflight product and service to ensure we maintain our high standards for the travelling public,' said Al Baker.

'We recently introduced a brand new Business Class and First Class on our long-haul fleet of aircraft that involved plenty of research and creative input to make it one of the most comfortable seats in the sky.

'Design is an important element in an industry like ours and we are extremely pleased to be able to be involved with talented professionals coming to this exciting conference in Doha next month.'

The Tasmeem Doha 2005 Design Conference, open to students, academic and design professionals, is being held at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Education City, Qatar, between February 21- 24, 2005.

The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development is a private non-profit organisation, founded in 1995 by the Emir and head of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani.