Masdar Institute holds first board meeting

The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology's board of trustees held its first meeting, at which discussions centred on the institute's development and academic progress.

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ABU DHABI // The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology's board of trustees held its first meeting, at which discussions centred on the institute's development and academic progress. The meeting on Wednesday, in Mina Zayed, was chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Mohammed commended the institute's role in transforming Abu Dhabi into a knowledge-based and knowledge-intensive economy, providing mankind's urgent need for clean energy by creating excellent educational institutions, the state news agency, WAM, reported.

Masdar's chief executive, Dr Sultan al Jaber, said he wanted the institute to be on par with the best institutions in the world, such as Imperial College in London and the University of Oxford. The institute "will transform not only the economy of Abu Dhabi, but contribute to addressing the world demand for new and sustainable technologies. It will be the heart of the Masdar Initiative, feeding talent and innovative solutions to the initiative's other programmes", he said.

"Masdar Institute will be an essential driver to our goal of expanding sustainable human capacity-building and will be just one way Abu Dhabi will become the global knowledge hub for innovation in future energy." The Masdar Institute - which is the first phase of development within Masdar City, the world's first carbon-neutral, car-free city powered by renewable energy - is the Middle East's first graduate education and research university focused on developing the next generation of clean energy.

It has been created as a private, independent institute developed in co-operation with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a collaboration that is key to the institute's success. hkhalaf@thenational.ae