Sehrish Fatima
Bangalore, India
Senior Designer and Business Development Manager, Smart Box Industries LLC
Sehrish Fatima joins the MRED+D program after 14+ years designing indoor/outdoor entertainment destinations and mixed-used developments across the Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc.), India, Africa and the USA. She received her Bachelor of Science in Interior Design & Decoration from Mangalore University, India in 2008.
Between 2008 to 2015, she focused primarily on designing interiors of commercial complexes, retail and corporate offices in India and the USA. Within the Property Development team at Target Corporation India, she was the first award winner at all-India level to receive individual “Learning & Leadership” for leading cross-functional global teams between the USA, Canada and India. Furthermore, she received a multitude of awards for her project management skills, pioneering the transition of the healthcare sector to Target India, completing quality assurance for a US$100 million project within 30 days and maximizing productivity by 60% per week.
Sehrish relocated to Dubai in 2016 to provide design consultancy to developers on mixed-use developments, indoor/outdoor entertainment destinations and sustainable designs. She worked on large scale projects providing zoning and master planning, site circulation analysis, regional context, geography, ride and entertainment theming, detailed design, estimation, project management, etc. By mid-2021, as a Business Development Manager, she learned about project contracts, proforma invoices, and negotiations and worked part-time on real estate residential leasing and off-plan sales projects. That’s when she realized she wanted to further develop her career in real estate, bringing her to the MRED+D program at UC Berkeley to strengthen her foundation in commercial and financial aspects.
Sehrish intends to leverage her academic learning with MRED+D along with her international work experience and become a developer who can connect technology with societal challenges to make cities smarter, resilient and most importantly, sustainable. In her downtime, Sehrish has a passion for art. She has volunteered with NGO’s and donated her paintings for charity and causes like Breast Cancer Awareness to institutions like the HCG Foundation in 2013-14 and Anahatalife in 2014. Her passion drew her to the National Glass Centre at the University of Sunderland, UK, in 2015 to learn glass blowing and making skills. She received UAE’s Art & Culture award in 2021 from His Excellency Suhail Mohammad Al Zarooni in his palace. Her Marina painting on sustainability and climate change is permanently housed since 2022 at Haegeumgang Theme Museum, South Korea. Outside of work and art, she is a certified diver, a foodie and a CrossFit gymgoer.