HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum is the patron once again for The British University in Dubai’s 4thSustainability Summer School, the theme for this year’s Summer School is “Innovation for a Sustainable Future”. Up to seventy five students, pursuing Bachelors and Masters from Universities across UAE have qualified to enroll for the BUiD SSS 2015 event, starting from today 7thJune to 11thJune at BUiD premises in Dubai International Academic City. This year the event also received the support of The Green Sheikh, H.H Sheikh Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi who is also the VIP Guest for the closing Ceremony for BUiD’s SSS 2015 event which will take place  after 2 pm on 11thof June  in BUiD auditorium at BUiD campus. He will be awarding trophies and certificates to the participants and the winners of competitions that will be held during the week.

Prof Abdullah Alshamsi, Vice-Chancellor of BUiD welcomed the students this morning at BUiD in his welcome note during the inauguration ceremony.He said, “We at The British University in Dubai are happy to host this event for the fourth year in succession. I want all you students to greatly enjoy this experience and take away great learnings from here, with a hope you will incorporate these learnings in your daily lives and go on to build sustainable communities.” He spoke in detail about the importance of building a ‘culture of sustainability’ at universities and said many Educational institutions globally are considering including sustainable studies as a must for all programmes of study at Universities.

Dr Hanan Taleb, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering & IT at BUiD, conceptualized and introduced the idea of the BUiD Sustainability Summer School in 2011 and annual event has been running for four years now. Dr Taleb along with her student Ms. Nada El Bana who is also the Project Leader for BUiD SSS this year, have organized lectures by leading experts in the area of Sustainability and have also arranged visits to Dubai’s Sustainable City which is part of Dubai land  and PTL Solar office in Dubai IM Production Zone. The visit to the Dubai Sustainable City and PTL Solar office is Dr Taleb’s efforts to inspire the youth to think of alternative energy and help them understand all the efforts UAE has made towards finding alternative solutions to the modern day energy demands. An added attraction to this year’s Sumer School is a trip to a Special Needs Centre in Ajman. The Centre demonstrates various sustainable initiatives, such as the creation of a “Hydroponics Farm” which was the first of its kind in the UAE. Students from the Special Needs Centre also make personal accessories using recyclable materials.

Dr Taleb believes in inspiring and motivating the youth to not only learn the sustainability concepts but also put them to practical use by working on various projects during this weeklong summer school. The students will also be visiting “the Change Initiative” which is the world’s most sustainable building. In her opening remarks at the BUiD SSS function this morning, she asked the students attending BUiD SSS 2015 to think of sustainability from the perspective of innovation. She said, “I want you all to put to test all your theories learnt in classrooms and from sessions this week to real life problems and look for innovative solutions to address these problems leading to sustainable and greener practices.”

Dr Hanan Taleb has been invited to many events locally and internationally to speak on Sustainability, Architecture, and received awards for her efforts in supporting the Sustainability initiatives in the UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Kingdom. On the last day all the students will be exhibiting their projects on Innovative and sustainable solutions that address real life solutions. The Green Sheikh ,H.H Sheikh Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi  along with Prof Abdullah AlShamsi, Prof Bassam Abu Hijleh, and Martin Prince of BUiD will be selecting the most outstanding projects. The exhibition will be open to all who are interested in Innovative and sustainability related projects.

About The British University in Dubai

The British University in Dubai (BUiD) was established in 2003 to be the Middle East’s leading research-based postgraduate university, facilitating world-class education, training and research. It provides an important and growing community and resource for young professionals, leading academics, corporate managers and aspiring leaders of all description.

BUiD located in Dubai International Academic City, a truly local university, is licensed by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and internationally (NARIC) recognised for its top quality education, which is on par with British standards thanks to its association with UK-based universities including the University of Edinburgh, the University of Manchester, Cardiff University, and the University of Glasgow.

BUiD offers full and part-time research based Masters Degree programmes, PG Diplomas and Certificates; the regions first accredited Doctorate in Education and the PhD in Project Management, Ph D in Architecture & Sustainable Built Environment , and PhD in Computer Science. Masters programmes and Post Graduate Diplomas in: Education, Finance and Banking, Human Resource Management, Informatics (Knowledge and Data Management), IT Management, Project Management, Construction Management, Systems Engineering, Construction Law and Dispute Resolution, Sustainable Design of the Built Environment , Intelligent Building Design and Automation, Business administration(MBA),Structural Engineering , and Recently Engineering Management.

The non-profit university has attracted academic experts to develop regionally tailored programmes, in which they extend and challenge the boundaries of knowledge, understanding and research.

BUiD works in collaboration with leading organization and institutions including Atkins, Emirates Green Building Council, , the federal Ministry of Education, government and associated bodies Human Resource Forums agencies for Academic  and professional development across the UAE’s public and private sectors.

The founders of the University are the Al Maktoum Foundation, the Dubai Development and Investment Authority, Rolls-Royce, the British Business Group and the National Bank of Dubai. The University is governed by a Council under the chancellorship of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum.