School of Engineering Wins Nation-Wide Competition for Funding Installation or Upgrade of Laboratory Classrooms
Dubai: The School of Engineering of the American University in Dubai (AUD) participated recently in a nation-wide competition held by the Emirates Foundation, and was selected as one of two winners of a AED 500,000 grant. When the Emirates Foundation invited colleges and universities in the UAE to participate in its competition for funding the installation or upgrade of laboratory classrooms for different engineering disciplines, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at AUD Dr. Hosni Ghedira presented the following proposal: "Upgrade AUD's environmental engineering lab to a Water Environmental Technology Laboratory (WET-Lab) for advanced environmental research and water resources monitoring", that was later selected for funding by the Foundation.
On being awarded the grant, Dr. Ghedira comments:
"Winning this competition places AUD as one of leading institution in applied research in the UAE and reinforces the fact that AUD faculty is able to produce leading-edge research in advanced technology and environmental sciences."
The new WET-Lab will provide students and researchers with hands-on experience in environmental monitoring, allowing them to learn about and take advantage of the state-of-the-art measurement instruments for sea, drinking and waste water testing and analysis. The new lab will also support AUD's ongoing research activities with the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology, Dubai Government (EIAST) focusing on developing new satellite-based tools to forecast detect and monitor different environmental hazards in the UAE and the Gulf region.
Dr. Ghedira adds:
"The new WET-Lab will help our undergraduate students as future engineers by exposing them to real life problems in which they can combine theory and practice. This will give them a solid background with the necessary skills to make them job-ready for a challenging and rewarding career in sustainable water and wastewater technology. In average, 50 undergraduate students will benefit from the lab facilities each year."
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About AUD:
The American University in Dubai is a private, non-sectarian institution of higher learning founded in 1995; it serves UAE nationals and international students who seek world-class career-oriented education. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges (COC) of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award Bachelor's and Master's degrees.
AUD is officially licensed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the United Arab Emirates. The Ministry has accredited the university's programs in Business Administration (both undergraduate and graduate), Communication and Information Studies, Engineering, Information Technology, Interior Design and Visual Communication.
The Bachelor of Science programs in Civil, Electrical, and Computer Engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
AUD holds an Agent's License issued by the District of Columbia Education Licensure Commission (Washington, DC, USA). AUD is approved to operate by the State of Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission (NPEC). www.aud.edu.
About Dr. Hosni Ghedira:
Dr. Hosni Ghedira joined the American University in Dubai in 2008 as Associate Professor of Civil Engineering. He also serves as Scientific Advisor at the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science & Technology (EIAST), DubaiSat-1 program. He received his MS degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Sherbrooke (Canada) and his PhD in water sciences from the University of Quebec (Canada) in 1997 and 2001, respectively. Before joining AUD, Dr Ghedira spent six years at the City University of New York as assistant professor and research associate professor. He also acted as director of the Environmental Remote Sensing and Image Processing Laboratory at the NOAA Cooperative Remote Sensing Science & Technology Center (NOAA-CREST) in New York for more than four years. Professor Ghedira has authored and co-authored more than 50 publications in peer reviewed journals and referred conference proceedings. He has also supervised five Ph.D. theses and seven M.Sc. theses in civil engineering during his tenure at the City University of New York.
During the past 12 months, Dr. Ghedira has been actively involved in several research projects with the EIAST. His current research activities with EIAST focus on developing new satellite-based tools to forecast detect and monitor different environmental hazards in the UAE and the Gulf region. Currently, Dr. Ghedira is supervising four UAE engineers and graduate students working on four different research projects (water quality monitoring, dust and sand storms monitoring, fog forecasting and monitoring, and air quality monitoring).
About The Emirates Foundation:
The Emirates Foundation is a nationwide initiative led by private and public sector partnerships. Through institutional grants, fellowships, research awards, and philanthropy-led initiatives in various key areas, the Emirates Foundation aspires to raise the profile of UAE people and their institutions, as well as the reputation of its corporate citizens. As a national initiative, the Foundation uses a variety of mechanisms to identify and support qualified individuals, organizations, and community projects in every region of the United Arab Emirates.
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Tanya Kassab
Marketing Communications Officer
T. +971 4 3183 112
E. tkassab@aud.edu
© Press Release 2009
