1,303 STUDENTS FROM SQU RECEIVE DEGREES

MUSCAT: Assigned by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, Dr Madeeha bint Ahmed al Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education, presented degrees to 1,303 students at the 29th graduation ceremony of Sultan Qaboos University on Sunday. The ceremony marks the graduation of the 10th batch of PHD graduates, the 23th batch of master’s degree holders, and the 29th batch of bachelor’s degree holders. As many as 2,954 graduates of the nine colleges, in the undergraduate and postgraduate streams, received their degrees during the graduation ceremony this year.

In the second stage of the graduation ceremony, 1,303 graduates from the five scientific colleges received their degrees. The number of graduates from each college is as follows: the College of Science 418, the College of Nursing 100, the College of Engineering 453, the College of Agriculture and Marine Sciences 199 and the College of Medicine 133.

Addressing the graduates and the dignitaries on the occasion, Dr Ali bin Saud al Bimani, the Vice-chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University, highlighted the latest achievements of the students of the scientific colleges. A team of students from the College of Science ranked first in a number of competitions of the Earth Sciences Conference “Geo 2018” held in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The graduation project for the students of the Industrial Engineering Program at the College of Engineering won the second place in the graduation projects competition at the 8th International Conference of Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Indonesia. Maysa al Suwaieh, a PHD student at the College of Engineering, won the first place in the SPE Student Paper Contest in the Middle East and North Africa level.

In the Huawei International Competition, Amira Abdul Muati, a master degree student at the College of Engineering, won the first place in the test of students’ ability to apply the latest protocols in the fields of computer networks. In the field of student innovation, Zawa, a student team invented a heatcooling product that can be used in vehicles. A group of students from the College of Engineering has also created an automated shopping cart that helps elderly people and people with disabilities to shop more easily by working with an application that contains a special website.

The vice-chancellor also highlighted the achievements at the academic level. Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed al Saadi, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, received Abdul Hameed Shoman Arab Researchers Award 2017 in the field of agriculture and technology sciences. Prof Sabah bint Ahmed al Suleiman from the College of Engineering won the Qatar Sustainability Award 2018 in the category of Green Research for her research on “the use of waste generated from oil drilling operations as raw material in cement industry: manufacturing of sustainable cement”. Dr Ghazi al Rawas from the College of Engineering was elected as President for the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE-APIF).

SQU Hospital was upgraded to the platinum level, according to the International Canadian Accreditation of Health Care Institutions, after achieving approximately 98 per cent of the standards and indices of quality of services and patient safety. This makes it the first health institution to obtain platinum level from among the Sultanate’s health institutions.

Dr Ahmed bin Salim al Mandhari, Senior Consultant, SQU Hospital, was nominated as World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Director.

Dr Arwa bint Zakariya al Riyami, Senior Consultant, SQU Hospital, was selected as the first Ambassador of the American Blood Bank in the Arab World.

SQU obtained the membership of the UNESCO’S Council of International Geo-science Programme (IGCP) for four years. This makes the Sultanate the first Arab country to join this programme since its inception in 1972. The Omani Mathematics Committee obtained the full membership of the International Mathematical Union.

QS, one of the worlds reputed university rankings, has ranked SQU among the top 10 in the 2018 Arab Region Rankings among 700 universities.

Dr Al Bimani said the university is working on implementing its strategic plan 2040. “Each year, we feed all vital sectors in the Sultanate with qualified and high level of knowledge of the national cadre to be part of the system that drives the process of building on the Renaissance. The total number of graduated students since its inception is 57,675”, he said.