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57 engineers to receive diplomas this week

Published May 03, 2009

More than two-thirds of graduates are Qataris

Texas A&M University at Qatar at its commencement exercises this week will award the 100th diploma since the University opened a campus in Education City in 2003. Fifty-seven students, more than two-thirds of whom are Qataris, will receive diplomas on 6 May for degrees in chemical, electrical, mechanical or petroleum engineering.

Dr. Mark H. Weichold, dean and CEO of Texas A&M at Qatar, said the 100th graduate is a major milestone for the University’s Qatar campus. “These young engineers will lead a new generation of growth and prosperity in Qatar and the region,” he said. “We are quite proud of their accomplishments and we look forward to watching them succeed in their professional lives.”

Weichold noted that this year’s graduating class is particularly diverse. This year’s class includes 13 chemical engineers, 15 electrical engineers, seven mechanical engineers and 22 petroleum engineers. Thirty-nine of the graduates are Qataris, and 18 hail from 10 other countries. Almost one-third of graduates are women.

Mais Taha, a Qatari petroleum engineering major who will go to work at Shell after graduating this week, said her university career has been full of exciting challenges. “Texas A&M at Qatar helped shape my future,” she said. Taha said she aspires to pursue an MBA at Harvard Business School. “I’ve learned important lessons inside and outside the classroom,” she said. “I learned how to deal with people, and I think that skill will always be useful.”

Taha said she is excited to begin her professional career, but that she will always cherish her student days. She said her best experience as a student was a recent trip to College Station, Texas, to visit the University’s home campus. “It made me expand my horizons and learn about different cultures,” she said. “It was an amazing experience.”

Karim Farhat, a chemical engineering major from Lebanon, said choosing to enroll at Texas A&M at Qatar was the best decision he ever made.

“Texas A&M at Qatar is more than a university. It is an oasis of opportunities,” he said. “My favorite part about my experience here was being able work in student and professional organizations do research, attend conferences and present papers, and meet influential people from all around the world, all while still attending classes and submitting homework.”

After graduation Farhat will attend graduate school in the energy resources engineering program at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., he said. “Texas A&M at Qatar offered me all that it takes to succeed in this endeavor,” Farhat said.

Abdulla AlKuwari, also a Qatari petroleum engineering major, said he enjoyed attending university in such a diverse environment — one that comprises students from 32 different countries. “I got the chance to meet people from all over the world — from different cultures, backgrounds, experiences and languages,” he said.

AlKuwari said he has lots of memories of being a student that he will never forget. And he has wisdom to share with future generations of engineering students at Texas A&M at Qatar: “My advice would be to not give up. Stay persistent,” he said. “You're going to make it.”

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