Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, inaugurated the Abu Dhabi campus of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi) today.
He also welcomed its first batch of undergraduate (UG) students today, marking a historic milestone in international engineering education under the prestigious brand of IIT. The inaugural batch of 52 students will pursue B. Tech degrees in Computer Science and Engineering, and Energy Engineering, an official press release by the Embassy of India relayed.
Vision Document and International Collaboration
Setting up of a campus of IIT in the UAE was part of the Vision Document launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in February 2022, which is a roadmap for expansion of the India-UAE relationship into new areas of collaboration.
The students for the UG programs were selected through the prestigious JEE Advanced exam and the newly introduced Combined Admission Entrance Test (CAET) specifically designed for international students. The inaugural UG cohort has a mix of Indian, Emirati, and international students. Before the UG programs, IIT Delhi – Abu Dhabi had launched its first Masters of Technology (M. Tech) in Energy Transition and Sustainability in January 2024.
Previous Milestones and Visits
The first M. Tech cohort met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Abu Dhabi in February this year. India and the UAE have been working in earnest to make the IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi campus a world-class and state-of-the-art institution.
In November 2023, India’s Minister of Education visited the campus while it was in the early stages of its construction. The sprawling campus inaugurated by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed today is a testimony to the untiring efforts of the two countries. The campus, with its beautifully landscaped surroundings, is emblematic of the ever-growing India-UAE partnership, the press release stated.
UAE Leadership and Strategic Collaborations
The visit of Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed to the campus today is a testament to the importance accorded by the UAE to bilateral collaboration in the field of education and the value attached by the UAE leadership to the IIT Delhi campus in Abu Dhabi. During his visit, Sheikh Khaled was accompanied by Sunjay Sudhir, the Ambassador of India to the UAE, Prof. Dr. Rangan Banerjee, Director of IIT Delhi, and Emirati dignitaries.
MoUs and Future Prospects
In a significant segment of the event, IIT Delhi signed key Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) of strategic importance with several top academic and research institutions in Abu Dhabi, including Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), Khalifa University, Zayed University, and Sorbonne University-Abu Dhabi.
These collaborations aim to enhance Abu Dhabi’s academic, research, and innovation ecosystem, fostering partnerships that will support cutting-edge research and the local start-up ecosystem, as per the press release.
With its commitment to academic excellence, cutting-edge research, and global exposure, IIT Delhi Abu Dhabi is poised to play a leading role in transforming the landscape of engineering education and research in the UAE, the Middle East, and beyond.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Newsx staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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