Scientists ‘the key to UAE’s future economy’
Boosting the number of Emiratis studying science is a priority for Khalifa University as the UAE strives to build a knowledge and innovation economy.
New science degrees are in the pipeline as it seeks to become a world-class research-led university. Among those driving this push is Prof David Sheehan, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Prof Sheehan will this evening give a talk at New York University Abu Dhabi titled: Science and Knowledge Economy: Ireland as a Model for UAE.
It will offer a personal view of how his home country transformed its agrarian economy to one focused on innovation, science and research.
Prof Sheehan joined Khalifa University of Science and Technology last year from University College Cork in Ireland.
Khalifa University, Masdar Institute and the Petroleum Institute were merged in 2016 and the institution surged to 32nd out of 359 universities listed by the Times Higher Education Asia University 2018 Rankings.
Khalifa University has three bachelor of science degrees in chemistry, maths and geoscience, and degrees in physics, computer science and molecular biology are in the pipeline.
“Khalifa is a wonderful place to work – the amazing thing is the international outlook. The students are so into it,” Prof Sheehan said. “I’m trying to build a set of bachelor of science degrees in fundamental sciences and the difficulty is recruiting students. It’s a big challenge.
“It’s a marketing and cultural challenge and that’s part of the reason I’m doing this talk, to tell the public how important science is going to be to their lives.”
Ireland was poor in the 1960s but today is the fastest growing economy in the EU. Nine of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies are based there, lured by a competitive tax rate a trained, English-speaking workforce and commitment to research and development.
“These companies ask two questions. Where is the nearest airport and where is the best university?” said Prof Sheehan. “They want to be near the human and intellectual capital. There are great opportunities in this country for that.”
Given many children today will work in industries that do not even exist yet, research is important, especially in sectors such as material science, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, IT, robotics and nano-science.
“That’s where knowledge is, not manufacturing,” Prof Sheehan said. “Don’t assemble but develop new products.”
More than 3,000 students attend Khalifa, about 80 per cent of whom are Emirati, yet most study engineering. In western universities, sciences are the more popular subjects.
This lopsided focus on engineering is similar across the GCC because of its oil and gas heritage.
“Engineering is good for tweaking and improving but the fundamental advances tend to come from science,” Prof Sheehan said.
He pointed to Singapore and South Korea which, along with Ireland, have made the journey to a knowledge economy.
“Their industries revolve around pharma, biomedical devices, IT and robotics. These have a large element of fundamental science.”
While tax breaks are important, there are three main ways to become a knowledge economy – education, diversification and more resources into chemistry, physics and biology.
In Ireland, money was spent on research institutes that were building-based but not successful.
It was only in 2001, when the Science Foundation Ireland was established that the country found success.
“The SFI was amazingly successful. Small companies came from it and then indigenous companies,” Prof Sheehan said. “I recognise the landscape here. The UAE is on a similar journey to Ireland.
“We’ve made that journey and if the UAE can do some of the same things, they perhaps can make the journey a bit quicker.
Prof Sheehan’s talk starts at 6.30pm.