Computer scientist, academic, researcher, keen squash player, doting husband and father. Professor Rachid Benlamri, vice-president of the University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) is a multi-faceted researcher and a distinguished academic administrator who has left an indelible mark on all the positions he has held and the different roles he has played, endowed with resourceful enthusiasm and abundant energy to lead younger generations to push boundaries to even greater heights.
'Gulf Times' met with Prof Benlamri, a well-versed academic with a passion for sports who discovered the virtues of leadership, good organisation and time management at a young age during scouts’ camps.
He says, “I strongly believe that success starts from a young age, a number of characteristics shaped my life and made me successful. Resiliency, creativity, optimism and sociability. I see them as a must for any youth in order to be successful.
"I was lucky to join the boy scouts, the school of life, and this made me work hard, be at the top of my class. I got my BSc in computer science from the University of Constantine in Algeria. I was top of my class, this got me a scholarship to study at one of the top schools in computer science, Manchester University, where the world’s first stored program digital computer was designed and built by the late Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams.
"I was fortunate to be in the research group of one of the leaders in computer science, professor David Aspinall, who worked under the supervision of Tom Kilburn and designed the fastest computer in the world in 1962, namely Atlas Computer.
"Being there gave me the opportunity to get an international experience, to work with scholars and leaders who made the first footprints in computer science. This gave me the extra mile to innovate, and to be with the big players in this field.”
Prof Benlamri has previously held academic and leadership positions in the UAE for 25 years, and transformed a number of small institutions into big ones.
“The unique turning point in my life was when I joined the UAE University in 1996, as the head of the computer science department."
This mindset has always accompanied Professor Benlamri. He contributed to academia in Canada for 16 years, mainly in research, “where I built research centres in the health informatics sector, computing and healthcare, developing smart healthcare systems using AI, IoT and knowledge engineering to address crucial healthcare challenges; thus impacting the health of people and programs that are still used in the healthcare system in Canada.”
This enhanced his international experience after working as an academic in Algeria, a researcher in the UK, along with the UAE know-how, to give him a rich experience and a different approach to understand challenges and work from the experience he gained. This consequently impacted his joining of College of the North Atlantic-Qatar, which is now UDST. He sees this as “a lifetime opportunity in terms of joining a technical college that was in the transition of becoming the first national applied science and technology university in Qatar.”
Talking about the last one-and-a-half years of being here, Prof Benlamri said: “We made a fantastic transition. We are also making our partners very active in the delivery of our technical programmes that address Qatar’s needs, which are aligned with the strategic goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. These are a very good fit for the needs of the industry, with which we create very close relationships to be unique in this area.”
He stressed that “the mindset about applied science institutions has completely changed. The world is about jobs now - startups, creating new industries; therefore, technical skills, competencies, innovation, leadership and being sustainable in your way of thinking are the major drivers of the landscape in education in the future. We are witnessing an era where many big companies are falling down. The leading ones in terms of job creators are the companies who were not here
five or 10 years ago, such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Google, Amazon, etc. These are the main players of the future industries.
"In the knowledge economy, students equipped with leadership skills, soft skills and professional competencies are the main assets for developing and accelerating the building of a new wealth for our nations.”
Prof Benlamri said he is grateful to “the presidents of universities I worked with, who shaped my life and provided me with opportunities to take up new leadership positions and make a change. In Canada, I worked with president Brian Stevenson, I built many projects there. In Qatar, I am fortunate to work with Dr Salem Al-Naemi, who has an inspirational vision for applied education and long, rich experience in industry. We met the challenges and put large perspectives for UDST, set high goals for it and made progress in this big project.”
The UDST vice-president is of the view that applied research is a major driver: “We promote STEM/STEAM education building on our legacy of 20 years of TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) excellence. We strongly believe that there are many new creative industries that mix arts with technology, especially in the media, digital communications, and artistic production, where we can lead and be unique. We try to inspire our youth that the future jobs are vocational, professional, and the challenge of the future is to be able to compete, get a job, and make a change. We strongly believe that digital technologies - AI, IoT, Cloud computing, data science, cybersecurity and 5G+ - are the major enablers of change in the future, in industry, and they are also vital to support the healthcare system and its sustainability. That’s what we are teaching our students at UDST.”
Prof Benlamri grew up in Constantine, Algeria, and talked about his hobby and family. “My favourite sports are squash and swimming. I have been raised in a family of nine kids, I am the middle one, my grandfather was an entrepreneur, and he owned a successful construction company in the east of Algeria, Constantine. My father took over from him after being a teacher and went into business. That is why I am inspired about achieving and not shunning challenges. We are a typical middle-class family who values culture, and our Islamic values. I am also a young grandpa. I have two successful daughters, we gave them all the support.
"One is a doctor, a neo-natal specialist at the University of Calgary, and the second specialised in mental health and works at a hospital in Ottawa, Canada. They were raised in the Gulf and then went for higher education to Canada. We nurtured them well and they are very successful. They follow the footpaths of their parents, I am very proud of them.”
He also reflected on the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. “I think the World Cup has been a worldwide lesson, and brought about a change in mindsets the world over. Many of the de facto western perceptions in general towards the Arab and Muslim world have changed because of what was witnessed during the World Cup - the ability to run a mega project with excellence, and people in our region have the leadership and are able to run such a scale project in all its aspects. Also, the cultural perspective, that this part of the world is a very safe place. Those who came here experienced a very social and friendly atmosphere, and discovered the real Islamic values, a safe and hospitable society and a wealthy nation.
"From our perspective, making Qatar a regional educational hub and to promote study in Qatar, where we provide education, empower youth to make a change, and a very safe student life."
Professor Rachid Benlamri
