Student of sound makes big noise by taking first federal doctorate

Daniel Bardsley

• Last Updated: November 21. 2009 8:36PM UAE / November 21. 2009 4:36PM GMT

For the first time in the 33-year history of higher education in the UAE, a student has started work towards a PhD at a government university.

Ahmed Rashed, a 24-year-old Emirati from Ras al Khaimah, has begun a four-year doctoral programme at the Sharjah branch of Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research, an institution run under the supervision of the Abu Dhabi Government.

It comes as another state university, UAE University in Al Ain, prepares to accept its first PhD students.

After completing one year of short courses, Mr Rashed will spend three years researching techniques that analyse sound waves to determine the origin of a particular sound.

The research has a wide range of applications including in the military, where it can determine the source of gunfire, to search-and-rescue, where it can assist in locating people. Analysis creates a “beam” that locates the source of the sound.

“This [technology] is available in the market, but we’re trying to improve the technique to make it less complex or to use other communication techniques in this area,” Mr Rashed said.

Mr Rashed, who holds a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering and a master’s degree in signal processing and sound localisation from Khalifa University, said it was “something nice” to be the first student to begin a PhD at a government university.

“We hope in the coming days the number of students will increase,” he said. “We want more students to come to the college to appreciate getting the knowledge.

“Most students are just looking at working. They reach university level, then they stop. They feel this is the top level.”

The Sharjah branch of Khalifa University was founded in 1989 as the Etisalat University College, a private institution. Last year, it was incorporated into Khalifa University, which also has a branch in the capital and which was set up by the Abu Dhabi Government.

Dr Mohammed al Mualla, the Abu Dhabi campus manager for Khalifa University, said the university hoped to take on another half-dozen PhD students in February.

“There are signs that our institutions in the UAE are moving towards research and development and a very important part of that is to introduce graduate programmes,” Dr al Mualla said.

“We’ve seen graduate programmes at the master’s level were introduced a few years ago and the next step is PhD programmes. It’s very, very encouraging.”

Increased funding from government sources, such as the recently established National Research Foundation, were helping to advance research at universities in the country, according to Dr al Mualla. In the case of the PhD programmes at Khalifa University, funding comes from the university’s own resources.

Khalifa University has about 500 students at its Abu Dhabi and Sharjah campuses, around 55 per cent of whom are male. About 75 per cent of students are Emirati.

At Al Ain-based UAEU the country’s oldest university, founded in 1976 about 1,000 applications have been received for the approximately 30 PhD scholarships.

Most prospective students have proposed carrying out research in the sciences or engineering. Classes are due to start in January.

Until now, only a limited number of universities in the UAE have offered PhD courses. Among them is the Islamic and Arabic Studies College in Dubai and Heriot-Watt University at Dubai International Academic City.

The British University in Dubai, a Dubai Government institution, recently launched a doctor of education (EdD) degree programme.


dbardsley@thenational.ae