By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) will start two new programmes from next academic year, university officials disclosed yesterday.

The university also will partner with Purdue University in the US to offer an associate degree for the students of Qatar Aeronautical College (QAC).

The details of the new programmes were disclosed at a press conference at the Student Centre of the Education City yesterday. The HBKU officials also spoke about the future plans of the university as well as its first graduating class.

Dr HE Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali al-Thani, president of HBKU, Dr David B Prior, executive vice-president and provost HBKU, Dr Ahmed Hasnah, vice-president of Partnership and Performance HBKU, Dr Khalid al-Khanji, vice-president of Students Affairs HBKU, Dr Mounir Hamdi, dean of the College of Science, Engineering, and Technology HBKU, Engineer Soud Abdulaziz al-Tamimi, vice-president of Operations HBKU and Fouad Sayess, vice-president of Finance HBKU, were some of the officials present at the press conference.

Dr Abdulla said: “HBKU is a research university working with various partner universities and other organisations. Our research and education model is interdisciplinary. We partner with other universities to develop the human capital of the country and the region.”

Dr Mounir said: “The new programmes are a Masters and PhD programme in Sustainable Energy and a Masters programme in Engineering Management. The first programme is under HBKU and done in collaboration with the research institutes of Qatar Foundation. The second programme is in collaboration with our partner universities of Carnegie Mellon, HEC Paris and Texas A & M University.”

As for the QAC programme the official said that HBKU is working on an interesting model with Purdue University. He explained: “The students of the university will complete the first two years in QAC and the next two years the students will join Purdue University and graduate with a Purdue University degree in Aviation technology.”

“This will have two outcomes. We will be able to upgrade QAC and offer an associate degree rather than a technical training. In addition, we are supporting the students who are already pursuing their studies and helping others who are in the industry to continue their education and get a degree from a US University,” he said.

Dr Abdulla also said that HBKU will have 81 students at this year’s convocation. “Five students from HBKU’s Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII) and 76 students from Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS), make up HBKU’s graduating class this year.  The HBKU graduates represent Qatar and 23 other nations,” he said.

A total of 554 students of HBKU and its eight partner universities will be honoured during the Convocation 2014.

Dr Abdulla commented that HBKU’s Translation and Interpreting Institute is a great step in advancing human capital in Qatar. “TII has a number of partnerships with national and international organisations. We will add more languages according to the needs of the community,” he added.

Dr Prior said: “The Executive Masters programme in Energy and Resources was able to attract highly talented particpants. It combines the capabilities of Texas A & M, Georgetown University and HEC Paris. It is aimed at mid-career professionals and the first batch consists of  28 people out of which 24 are Qataris.”

 

 

 

 

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