Dubai: Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), presided over the opening of the University of Waterloo (UW) UAE campus in Dubai last week.
The Canadian university in partnership with HCT has launched Bachelor’s of Applied Science degrees in Chemical Engineering and Civil Engineering at the Dubai Men’s College campus. A Bachelor of Mathematics in Information Technology Management and in Financial Analysis and Risk Management will be offered in September 2010.
Students study for two years at UW UAE and the final two years in Waterloo Canada. Under a co-operative education model, students alternate four-month work and academic terms. Classes have already started with a student strength of 22 — 8 in chemical engineering and 14 in civil engineering.

University reputation
In 50 years UW has earned a place among Canada’s leading comprehensive universities. It is the first Canadian university to develop a co-operative education programme. The university’s technology park houses many high-tech companies including ‘Research in Motion’, founded by a UW graduate, and developer of the Blackberry.
UW’s 6th decade plan (www.sixthdecade.uwaterloo.ca/) calls for significant internationalisation to ensure graduates are global citizens. Accordingly more students are being sent abroad, and more international students are being admitted. The plan specifically calls for the opening of two international campuses. The first is Dubai and the other will be in Nanjing, China.
“The University of Waterloo looks forward to building a high-quality presence with high-quality partners in the important Gulf region,” said Leo Rothenburg, UW’s associate vice-president, international.

Meet the director
Professor Peter Douglas, a professor of chemical engineering, is the University of Waterloo (UW) UAE campus director. Douglas was the associate dean of engineering (graduate studies and international agreements) and associate dean of engineering (computing).
He will be based in Dubai.
Prof. Douglas said “he expects the UW UAE enrolment to grow from 22 this year to about 140 next year and 500 by September 2012”.
He added: “In addition the faculty complement will grow from 3 this year to 9 next year and 12 by September 2012. We will be a real going concern in the region in a couple of years.”