Dear viewers, we welcome you again to our show “Fi Al Duha”
In which we always focus on the important issues and topics, in the State of Qatar
And most of the important subjects are the ones related to development, urbanization, and competencies
In general, chemical engineering discipline is an essential domain
Since it is one of the industrial fields supervised by chemical engineers.
Despite the difficulty of this field
Many Qatari students succeeded to obtain master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M at Qatar
Which is one of the strongest universities
We are glad to welcome Professor Nimir Elbashir to tell us more about the Chemical Engineering Program
Good morning Dr. Nimir
Good morning, Ms. Shouq
Thank you for having me on your show and I am glad
To share the information about Texas A&M at Qatar and its Chemical Engineering Program.
We are very glad to have you with us today
So would you tell us more about this department
And the master’s degree program at Texas A&M University at Qatar
First, Texas A&M University is one of the top universities, and one of the biggest universities in the United States
The main campus is in the state of Texas in the United States
In 2003 an agreement was reached between Texas A&M University and Qatar Foundation
For Science and Development to establish a comprehensive engineering program
Identical to the engineering program at the parent university in College Station, Texas
The engineering program comprises several disciplines
Including chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering
Texas A&M University at Qatar succeeded to graduate its first class of engineers and the majority of the students were based in Qatar in 2007-2008
And they are currently leaders in industry in Qatar
In 2009-2010 the university started to consider the master’s program and graduate studies
And undertook a comprehensive survey of industrial, research, academic and scientific institutions
And government agencies in Qatar to determine the appropriate specialization to start the master’s program
And for this purpose chemical engineering was selected for its strong connection
To Qatar's development and economy and I will talk further about this through the show
The first graduate class in chemical engineering was in 2011
The students in this class exceeded 90, 50 of them graduated
Some of them currently playing important roles in Qatar industry
And large part of them proceeded to the doctoral studies
So we could tell that, since the start of the program
The number of students applying for the program is increasing
Which reflects the students' understanding of the concept of chemical engineering
And there is no doubt that the number of students who joined the master’s program is not small
And as you already mentioned
The Chemical Engineering Program is essential in the industry in Qatar
Since Qatar owns huge industry in petroleum sector
So it is actually great to have these disciplines which focus on this sector
Additionally the university is supporting research
Would you tell us more
About the most important current research that will definitely have huge impact in the future
This is an important question
As you know the economy in Qatar is based on the natural gas
And Qatar's success in this field
Has surpassed the successes of major countries such as Russia and the United States
Although Qatar is ranked as the third country globally with the highest reserve of natural gas
It is the second largest exporter of natural gas
These facts are the foundations that built the strategic plans of Texas A&M at Qatar
To support Qatar's sustainability to achieve its National Vision 2030
Through qualifying the people who will lead the work in Qatar
This will guarantee the continuity of success, especially in the natural gas sector
Which is a very sensitive sector and links many fields of engineering sciences
Such as mechanical, electrical, civil and petroleum engineering
As well as basic sciences, such as chemistry and physics
The main objective in chemical engineering is to transform the raw material into a useful product
In the case of Qatar we have natural gas that we have succeeded in utilizing in many fields
By transforming it into high-quality and clean fuel, or different chemical materials, or into liquefied gas
The State of Qatar has become the premier country in liquefied gas
And all these successes are related to research or training and field application
The students of Texas A&M at Qatar are very lucky to participate in the State's projects
Which are very important to all the world
The natural gas sector is not as easy as petroleum's, since it has had limited uses until now
And we have succeeded at Texas A&M at Qatar to choose subjects relative to the visions of Qatar
In the fields of energy, water, environment and safety in the industry
We have also succeeded in attracting many highly qualified professors from around the world and they also come from the main campus in Texas
And we are able to conduct important research for the students and the State of Qatar in all fields in undergraduate and graduate studies
Such as the ones related to the conservation of the environment and water resources for the future needs of Qatar
As well as research on safety in production and many other fields.
Indeed, the state of Qatar has been achieving success in many fields day after day
And this all due to the great efforts in each field to boost Qatar and its economy
Regarding the students, there is theoretical and practical fields
In the practical field
You arrange tours to introduce students to different workplaces
Which could be their future workplaces and they are introduced to the most important advancements
How do these tours help students to enter the work fields in future
At Texas A&M at Qatar we considered one of the essential issues
Which is linking our research and laboratories to support the industry in Qatar
We were lucky to have strong connections with the companies in Qatar
And we have established state-of-art laboratories and research facilities
Qatar Research Fund has strongly supported us in this field
Providing an opportunity for practical training for students even at the undergraduate level
We have also achieved success in computer theoretical field
Our research program is a combination of theory and practices and it aims to train the student
From once they enter university till they graduate and even in graduate studies  where students' focus will be on research
At Texas A&M at Qatar we have a master's in science and it focuses on research
Which requires the completion of 32 credits and includes courses and research
And our Master's of Chemical Engineering program, the main aim is to qualify students to work in the production industry. As the industry has limited time
They focus on getting jobs related to their fields and train their employees so the master's adds value to them
To improve the research experience we are utilizing our laboratories, which are some of the best in the world
Since freshman year we try to provide our students with practical work to specialize in their bachelor's of science degree.
We also provide them with opportunities to do research. We send the students to international conferences in which they receive awards and they represent us all around the world
The experience they gain aids them in getting a job in Qatar since our students are very unique
The opportunities they gain in Qatar are even better than those in the main campus in regards to excellence in the available laboratories
And the excellence in the industrial sector for engineering students. As the industrial sector employs them after graduation
Through your talk, we find that Texas A&M at Qatar has a lot of initiatives
Would you tell us more about the Dhia initiative between Maersk and Texas A&M at Qatar
The Dhia initiative is one of the partnerships to support engineering education
And raise awareness in Qatar for the middle and high schools
ORYX GTL has also helped in creating a program of excellence
That helps to deliver information to parents and middle school students
In Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, known as STEM
This program helped in increasing the number of students
Wishing to study science and engineering in Qatar
These contributions from industry have helped us in reaching out to society
And to our students to clarify the opportunities they have after graduation
This is very unique in the world
We thank all the companies that helped us in achieving this success
We thank all the companies which have long-term goals that focus on the future
Through these tours that will help students to identify the various fields of engineering
Would you address the parents to encourage their children to study such disciplines in future
Especially that some students or their parents might find the chemical engineering quite difficult
Chemical engineering is a distinguished and unique field
And full of opportunities
It doesn’t only relate to the gas and petroleum industry
It also relates to other industry: pharmaceutical, environment, and alternative energy
The chemical engineering student has a huge opportunity to move within several different areas
Because the opportunities they have are not available in other field of engineering
Throughout my life I moved between different areas
And I feel that the chemical engineering sciences were sufficient to achieve my success in these areas
I would like also to tell all the parents that your children now have great opportunities in Qatar
And you should get their attention starting in elementary school
We are here to help you in achieving that through the summer programs that we are providing in the university
We are also supporting the elementary and high school students who are interested in research
And we offer them the opportunity to participate in those research projects
And we welcome parents to learn about the various engineering fields offered at Texas A&M at Qatar.
We also invite the parents to learn about the engineering programs offered at Texas A&M at Qatar
We are very grateful for this development and concern
In students starting from middle school until their graduation from college
Would you address the current college student
My message to those students: You have very unique opportunities to success in the research field
The university has opened these opportunities for you to interact with the world
Most of the research that students work on are global research
That will help in solving different issues around the world
For example, in Texas A&M at Qatar we have established a separate research center for gas and petroleum uses
And it is the only one of its kind led by a branch campus of the university to be in the State of Qatar
I currently manage this center, which provided an opportunity for students
To communicate all over the world and participate in international conferences
This ensures their success in their work and research because Qatar needs development
That depends on the future technology to find the best solutions for the current problems
These advancements are linked to how  we find all the solutions to all the problems and how we get the best efficiency in our production
Many institutions in Qatar are helping in training young Qataris such as Qatar Foundation for Science and Development and Qatar National Research Fund
And providing all the resources we may need for this training.
Students should take advantage of these opportunities
Which are rare to find even in the largest universities around the world
In terms of number of students per classroom, and the potentials and scientific laboratories available to them
We wish you all the best
And as HH the Emir said: "Qatar deserves the best from its citizens"
And we are sure that they will do the best efforts for the best of  Qatar
Professor Nimir Elbashir thank you for being with us in "Fi Al Duha"
Thank you for hosting me on your show
And for the viewers, and if they have any questions, I hope they will contact us
