American Society of Mechanical Engineers Confers 'Fellow' Status to Dr. Marwan Khraisheh for Research, Education and Academic Leadership

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 6 June, 2012 - Affiliations to international professional organizations have significant positive impact in helping the faculty in academic institutions to advance professionally and raise performance benchmarks. More specifically, they bring honor to the country they represent, according to Dr. Marwan Khraisheh, Dean of Engineering at Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.

Dr. Khraisheh, who has been officially declared a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), has become one of only 3,250 Fellows out of more than 100,000 members worldwide. The Fellow grade, considered to be a true distinction among ASME members, was conferred on him for his achievements in research, education and academic leadership.

The ASME has five grades of membership to cater to engineers of diverse professional stages. The Fellow grade of membership is conferred only on worthy candidates in recognition of their outstanding engineering achievements. In addition to the nominator's letter, three sponsors' letters are required to complete the nomination and a Fellow Review Committee will vet the candidates for final selection.

Dr. Fred Moavenzadeh, President, Masdar Institute, said: "Faculty that continuously seek excellence in academic and research fields reflects Masdar Institute's profile as an institution of high-caliber professionals. Such faculty members also get rewarded by international professional organizations for their outstanding contributions and we congratulate Dr. Marwan Khraisheh for being awarded the Fellow status by ASME.

"For Masdar Institute, such recognitions also demonstrate the extent of quality learning offered to students by these acclaimed faculty members. We thank the country's wise leadership for their support in developing an institution that has numerous internationally-recognized professionals."

The most important aspect of Dr. Khraisheh's membership is his affiliation with the UAE, which makes him an enabling agent for sponsoring and mentoring young professionals and faculty from this country and the GCC region.

Dr. Marwan Khraisheh said: "To be elevated to the status of a Fellow at ASME is an honor. This status empowers me to sponsor other faculty members especially from Mechanical Engineering program to become Fellows of ASME. But more importantly, the status firmly places the UAE in the global engineering map as a hub for academic, research and professional aspects of all kinds of engineering. Affiliations come with the power to accomplish significant feats for the country and I am privileged to contribute to the UAE through my new status at ASME."

As a Fellow of ASME, Dr. Khraisheh can nominate other eligible professionals from the UAE to this prestigious international organization. ASME is a not-for-profit membership organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing, career enrichment, and skills development across all engineering disciplines.

Earlier this year, Dr. Khraisheh became the first-ever member to represent the region on the prestigious International Academy for Production Engineering, known by its French acronym CIRP. The elite and highly selective CIRP admits only international R&D experts of many years standing. Though Dr. Khraisheh became a CIRP Member in 2007 while he was in the US, he requested to transfer his membership to Abu Dhabi to add the UAE as a member country. 

The Founding Dean of Engineering at Masdar Institute, Dr. Khraisheh received his BSc degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Jordan, and MS and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University. His areas of specialization include Advanced Materials Processing and Sustainable Manufacturing. 

Established as an on-going collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.  With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change through education and research.

About Masdar Institute
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (Masdar Institute) was established by the government of Abu Dhabi as a not-for-profit, private graduate university to develop indigenous R&D capacity in Abu Dhabi addressing issues of importance to the region.

In collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute has developed an academic and research platform that articulates its mission and vision according to critical energy and sustainability challenges.

An important characteristic of Masdar Institute is its focus on complex real-world problems that require a multidisciplinary approach for the development of solutions from an integrated technology, systems and policy perspective. This multi-interdisciplinary and integrated approach is supported by the structure of its academic programs and by the emphasis placed on engaging external partners from industry, government, and other academic institutions in collaborative activities.

Masdar Institute offers degrees in:

  • MSc Engineering Systems and Management

  • MSc Computing and Information Science

  • MSc Materials Science and Engineering

  • MSc Mechanical Engineering

  • MSc Water and Environmental Engineering

  • MSc Microsystems Engineering

  • MSc Electrical Power Engineering

  • MSc Chemical Engineering

Please visit our website http://www.masdar.ac.ae/

For more information contact:
Name: Bader Al Zarei
Communications Manager
Public Affairs Department
Email: balzarei@masdar.ac.ae
Phone: +971 02 8109372

© Press Release 2012