AUD's School of Engineering holds Advisory Board meeting

The Advisory Board plays a pivotal role in setting the School's strategic priorities in terms of student recruitment and retention, faculty development, and professional partnerships between the School of Engineering and the professional community. The diverse makeup of the Advisory Board, and the broad professional cross section of its members, contributes to the success of these meetings.

In addition to the AUD's Engineering faculty members, the meeting was attended by the following board members:

Dr. J. David Frost, Vice Provost, Georgia Institute of Technology,
Dr. Eesa Bastaki, Director of Education, Training, and R&D, Dubai Silicon Oasis,
Ms. Nazek Al Sabbagh, Head, Civil Engineering Department, Dubai World,
Mr. Armand Robitaille, on behalf of Mr. Abdulla J.M. Kalban, CEO, Dubal,
Mr. Samir Khoury, Area General Manager, Consolidated Contractors Company,
Mr. Simon Azzam, CEO, Union Properties,
Mr. Hamed Zaghw, Vice President, Parsons International,
Mr. Mustafa Kaddoura, Executive Director, Fixed Network, du,
Mr. Abdullah Al Hajri, Manager Corporate Communication, DEWA,
Dr. Denis Beaupré, Operation Manager, Unibeton Readymix,
Mr. Tariq Abu-Gharbieh, on behalf of Ms. Maitha Bin Adi, CEO, Traffic & Roads Agency, Roads and Transport Authority,
Mr. Abdulrahman Kalantar, Director, The Design Group, Nakheel

The Advisory Board also includes four prominent members who could not attend the meeting:
Mr. Sultan Al Jaber, CEO, Masdar - Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company,
Mr. Peter Fuchs, CEO, Siemens LLC,
Mr. Ahmed Abdulkarim Julfar, Executive Officer for Operations, Etisalat
Ms. Maryam Al Thani, IEEE WIE Chair, Program Manager, DIFC

Dr Ashmawy started the meeting with a general introductory session about the School, in particular, and the university, in general. The advisory board members then discussed, with the university's administration, the school's goals and strategic priorities, and the action plan necessary to achieve these goals.

Subsequent to the meeting, it was decided that both parties should work on developing internship and practical training experiences for AUD students which will be integrated into the curriculum, and opportunities for collaborations and mutual professional development between faculty members and industry partners.

Dr Ashmawy said that he will follow up on all the recommendations made by the Board to make sure they are properly addressed stating, "The faculty and I will be meeting individually with the board members to ensure implementation of all initiatives and to maintain progress before the next board meeting."

It is to be noted that the School of Engineering was established in 2001 in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology (ranked among the top 5 engineering schools in the US). Dr David Frost, Vice Provost held several meetings with various members of AUD's administration and faculty members to discuss methods of closer collaboration between AUD and Georgia Tech.