His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed chairs Khalifa University’s Board of Trustees Executive Committee Meeting

Press release

Published February 29th, 2012 - 09:17 GMT

Al Bawaba

Khalifa University’s Executive Committee held its tenth meeting on the University’s campus in Abu Dhabi. The meeting was chaired by His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court and Deputy Chairman of Khalifa University Board of Trustees.

The meeting was attended by members of the board of trustees, namely, H.E. Dr. Mugheer Al Khaili, H.E. Eng. Hussain Al Hammadi and H.E. Mohammed Khalfan Al Romaithi. It was also attended by Professor Tod Laursen, President, Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice President and Dr. Mohamed Al-Mualla, Senior Vice President, Research and Development at Khalifa University.

During the meeting, a number of topics were discussed at length. These include; senior level searches for the Provost, the Dean for College of Engineering and Chairs for academic programs. The meeting also updated the board on searches already concluded, including Vice Presidents of Human Resources, Student Services, and External Relations, in addition to discussing an update on the development of the planned College of Medicine and Health Sciences. Updates for both Etisalat-BT Innovation Center (EBTIC) and the Emirates Advanced Network for Research and Education (Ankabut) were also discussed and the committee approved renewing their contracts.

On the academic level, the agenda included discussions on undergraduate recruitment and admissions, undergraduate student progression, improvements to the preparatory program and improvements to the undergraduate engineering curriculum. Furthermore, the graduate student progression, approval of graduate degree awards and expansion of graduate programs were also discussed, including the addition of new PhD programs in Engineering, which were approved.

Moreover, the committee discussed the campus extension update, along with a number of budgetary and financial issues and matters related to the overall budget and human resources. Research and Development (R&D) and partnerships were other items on the agenda, along with research funding, the Georgia Tech Memorandum of Understanding and issues related to the aerospace research and innovation center, and the semiconductor research and development center.

Background Information

Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research

The newly-established Khalifa University of Science and Technology (KU) combines the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MI), the Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR) and the Petroleum Institute (PI) into one world-class, research-intensive institution, seamlessly integrating research and education to produce world leaders and critical thinkers in applied science and engineering. Khalifa University endeavors to be a leader among research intensive universities of the 21st century, while catalyzing the growth of Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s rapidly developing knowledge economy.