Texas A&M at Qatar hosts annual showcase highlighting research and industry partnerships
Published Apr 13, 2016Texas A&M University at Qatar hosted its fifth annual Research-Industry Partnership Showcase 12 April at the Al Gassar Resort, St. Regis Hotel in Doha.
The annual event highlights the work performed by Texas A&M at Qatar researchers and aims to strengthen partnerships with local industry to maximize shared opportunities and pursuits of mutual interest. Through the showcase platform, the branch campus can show its partners the outstanding research that is achieved through collaborations with local industry, to enhance existing collaborations and to create opportunities for new collaborations.
“Texas A&M at Qatar is proud to partner with industry collaborators to help realize sustainable solutions to real-world issues with high relevance to Qatar,” said Dr. Ann Kenimer, interim dean of Texas A&M at Qatar. “We believe these solutions will contribute to Qatar’s goal of being a knowledge-based economy. Today’s event highlighted the work performed by our researchers on behalf of local stakeholders toward achieving the goals set out in Qatar National Vision 2030. We have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with industry in Qatar, and continue to look for ways to explore, encourage, enrich and expand collaborations for the benefit of the State of Qatar and its greatest natural resource — its people.”
The daylong symposium included student presentations, themed breakout sessions, a poster session and discussions. Breakout sessions revolved around five themes: health care and life science, environment, energy, information technology and computing, and basic research.
Dr. Reza Sadr, mechanical engineering professor and chair of this year’s showcase, said that the event also aims to increase interaction between campus researchers and industry stakeholders, with an eye toward strengthening and widening the ties between the branch campus and industry. Collaborating with industry gives researchers exposure to real-world, real-life challenges, which helps their research be more relevant to challenges companies face in Qatar — with the goal of advancing the State of Qatar’s national vision. In turn, industry stakeholders are able to pose grand challenges to Texas A&M at Qatar researchers that can help set the direction of its research activities and to provide feedback on the branch campus’ past and present initiatives and contributions in the research arena.