Princess Haya opens new campus of Amity University in Dubai

Princess Haya bint Al Hussein during the opening of the new Amity University Campus in Dubai on Tuesday.

The Amity University on Tuesday opened a new campus that offers research-oriented studies, including nuclear science and aerospace engineering in Dubai.
Haya bint Al Hussein, wife of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and chairperson of the International Humanitarian City, inaugurated the new campus on Tuesday.
Located at the Dubai Academic City, the university currently has about 2,000 students enrolled, with 400 pupils who reside in the university's hostel.
"Our commitment to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) was to make a very research-oriented university. When we came and saw most of the campuses, they were just teaching courses. Our commitment was that we would come in with programmes which are required to the nation and which would be research-driven, and we saw that the UAE has the five-year plan," Dr Atul Chauhan, chancellor of Amity University, said.
"We saw that nuclear energy is going to be very important. The UAE is looking for alternate ways of fuel once the oil runs out. At that point, the UAE was talking about sending satellites into space. When we researched, there were hardly any universities that were preparing manpower for that. We strongly believe that the role of a university is to see five or 10 years down into the future and see what would be the requirement. We have aerospace engineering, we have nuclear science and we have forensic science. And why most universities don't do it is because it's very expensive. You need a lot of expensive labs. We have some of the most high-end labs in the UAE."
The university has an Integrated Knowledge Resource Centre, hi-tech course-specific laboratories, design studios, sports and residential facilities. It also has an Olympian-size running track.
The university offers more than 30 under and post graduate courses as well as multitude of conventional and new-age programmes.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com