Masdar Institute of Science and Technology appoints academic leader as President

The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) is a key element of the Masdar Initiative, Abu Dhabi's multi-billion dollar, multi-faceted response to the need for a global focus on alternative energy and sustainability.

MIST will be the first graduate-level, research-driven scientific institution in the region, and its role within Masdar will make it unique in the global academic community. The MIST campus will be a centerpiece of the Masdar Zone Development located in the heart of the integrated 'green community' near the Abu Dhabi airport. The Institute will offer master's and doctoral-level degree programs focused on the science and engineering of advanced energy and sustainable technologies.

MIST is being developed in cooperation with the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which will leverage its broad international experience to assist Masdar in establishing a sustainable, homegrown academic and scientific research institute. MIST will emulate MIT's high standards and also develop and nurture Masdar's own unique identity. Masdar and MIT share a common vision and have placed energy at the top of their agendas. This joint effort in education and R&D will help drive technological advancement in renewable, alternative and sustainable forms of energy.

One of the Institute's core goals is to create a high-caliber technological platform in Abu Dhabi that will play a significant role in reversing the brain drain from the region and attract some of the world's best scientists and researchers to Abu Dhabi. The Institute will also serve as the nucleus of Masdar, feeding it with talent and innovative technologies to enhance economic development and promote new industries using renewable energy and resources in the emirate and the region.

'The Masdar Institute will turn our vision of a clean energy future into a sustainable reality for the region and the world. The advancement of education and the creation of a research culture is very high on the priority list of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan,' said Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Masdar CEO.

'MIST will insure that Arab youth remain at the cutting-edge of future energy,' Dr. Al Jaber added. 'The Institute will work to develop and promote the region's indigenous human capital, tapping its natural resource wealth to build valuable and competitive human resources in the MENA region.'

MIST founding president Dr. Jones has held a number of distinguished academic leadership positions, most recently president of the University of Delaware, academic vice president at Boston University and dean of engineering at the University of Massachusetts. He has also served on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and as executive director of the National Society of Professional Engineers in Washington DC.

MIST has recruited its initial cadre of faculty members, who are spending their first year at MIT to prepare courses and initiate research which will be transferred to Abu Dhabi in 2009. Additional faculty members are currently being recruited. The university is scheduled to open in late 2009, with student recruitment for the first MIST class slated to begin in the summer of 2008.

MIST also coordinates the Masdar Research Network (MRN), seven universities stretching from Japan to North America and Europe who are developing alternative technologies for advanced energy and environmental solutions. MIST is also coordinating a major fellowship program to support Emarati students to earn master's and doctoral degrees abroad.