Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMU-Q) has been awarded the prestigious ISO 9001:2008 Management Systems certification by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance.

The ISO 9001:2008 certification means that the quality of the branch campus’ processes and standards are on par with international management systems.

It also means that the campus has instituted quality assurance methods in both research and support services, and has built procedures for its maintenance. In formalising and maintaining its quality assurance methods, partners of TAMU-Q can be assured that services and research quality remains at its best and that transactions are done efficiently.

“TAMU-Q’s  achievement of the ISO 9001:2008 certification strengthens its vision and promise to provide sustained research and service of high quality for the benefit of Qatar,” said Dr Kenneth Hall, associate dean for research and graduate studies at TAMU-Q.

“This achievement is a testament to the university’s goal of research integration through building innovation and developing human capital in Qatar. TAMU-Q will continue to push itself forward and distinguish itself as a pioneer engineering education provider in Qatar and the region.”

The central facilities — which include a central electronics shop, central materials facility and central machines shop — support the research activities within TAMU-Q, as well as providing technical services to industry, government and academic partners in the form of printed circuit board prototyping and electronic solutions, material characterisation and machining.

TAMU-Q  has developed a Quality Management System (QMS) to meet the requirements of International Standard ISO 9001 to provide technically competent service for all customers of the central facilities. QMS was implemented to document the facility’s best business practices, satisfy the requirements and expectations of its customers and improve the overall management of the facility.

The facilities were audited in September 2014 by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance, one of the world’s leading providers of independent assessment services, to review the completeness of the documentation and to assess the effectiveness of the implementation as well as the compliance of TAMU-Q’s QMS to the requirements of the ISO 9001:2008 standard.