Qatar University president Prof Sheikha Abdulla al-Misnad has hailed ConocoPhillips for its support of QU over the past years.“We are proud of our long partnership with ConocoPhillips which has continuously demonstrated its strong belief in our commitment to achieve our goals and objectives in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016,” she said while receiving the ConocoPhillips president Erec Isaacson in her office yesterday. “We look forward to continued collaboration with the company in providing our students with programmes that will enhance their academic as well as personal progress as they prepare to take on the responsibility as the next generation of Qatar’s leaders,” she noted.In response, Isaacson said: “I would like to thank Prof al-Misnad and our distinguished hosts today for their kind words and warm welcome. ConocoPhillips has been and will stay committed to supporting Qatar University, which is the country’s mother institute in higher education and a leading educational pioneer in the Gulf region.””We fully share Qatar leadership’s core commitment to advancing the causes of health and education as twin engines for national prosperity; and there is no doubt that Qatar University is a major player in this endeavour,” he noted. “We sincerely hope to continue supporting, improving and developing QU’s educational and public outreach programmes, infrastructures and services. Our focus on engineering and industry related initiatives have been expanded this year to include information technology and computing,” he added.Isaacson mentioned that ConocoPhillips is willing to introduce QU students and graduates as part of its human resources’ outreach to set summer internship programmes in the fields of chemical engineering, information technology and finance as well as enriching its recruitment pool with QU graduates.”ConocoPhillips’ previous contributions to Qatar University included a 2009 donation to a ‘Women Leadership Initiative’ by QU International Affairs Programme as well as maintaining long term membership in the GPC. This year, ConocoPhillips sponsored the graduation ceremony of the QU 2011 Business and Economics class comprising a total of 271 graduates. In 2012, the company has committed to sponsoring three of the University’s educational and public outreach programmes, namely the high-school computing contest, the Gasna Competition and the GPC’s annual Gas Symposium.QU College of Engineering dean Dr Mazen Hasna said: “The partnership we enjoy with ConocoPhillips is not only limited to funding initiatives but also extends to project sponsorship, internships and summer training. The company’s support of programmes and projects at the College contributes to the preparation of qualified Qatari graduates that are expected to join the workforce of Conoco Phillips and other companies in the industrial sector.”Elaborating on ConocoPhillips’s sponsorship of the Gasna Competition and the Gas Processing Symposium, GPC director Prof Aroussi said: “We are deeply appreciative of the generous support ConocoPhillips has provided to projects conducted by the GPC, in particular the annual Gasna high school innovation competition.”He mentioned that through the partnership, the Centre has taken the lead in engaging Qatar’s youth to become better acquainted with the country’s key industry and to appreciate their role in contributing to its development.QU Computer Science and Engineering department head Dr Qutaibah Malluhi said: “ConocoPhillips’s support of the annual computing contest has provided us with the platform and resources to impact a large number of students from schools throughout Doha. Its contribution has added considerably to the five-year QU scholarship and cash award offered to the winner of the competition.”