Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah during his visit to Qatar Foundation’s Education City.
Doha: Qatar Foundation (QF) welcomed Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, to Education City to visit QF’s higher education and research and development facilities, and to discuss potential collaboration with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) across areas of education, training and research.
Dr Al Attiyah, who was accompanied by a high-level delegation from the MOD, met with senior leadership from QF’s homegrown Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU), and with deans from QF’s partner universities on October 20. The MOD delegation was also introduced to the work of Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), part of Qatar Foundation Research & Development (QF R&D).
Dr Al Attiyah said: “I am delighted to have been invited to Education City to witness firsthand the amazing work being undertaken in support of our nation’s ambition to build a diverse, knowledge-based economy. Qatar Foundation has a vital role to play in achieving this aim, and the people within the organisation, who are working each day to educate and innovate, are key to Qatar’s long-term objectives.”
Dr Al Attiyah toured HBKU’s extensive Research Complex, where the MOD delegation was introduced to the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), one of HBKU’s three research institutes, and met with HBKU’s President Dr Ahmad M Hasnah and QCRI’s Executive Director Dr Ahmed K Elmagarmid. The visiting group was given a presentation on some of the centre’s technology research and development projects, including Arabic Language Technologies such as Speech Recognition and Machine Translation research.
Dr Hasnah said: “Qatar’s stability, security and continued growth and development are of the utmost importance to HBKU.”
Dr Al Attiyah met with Dr Hamad Al Ibrahim, Executive Vice President, QF R&D; and with Dr Maher Hakim, Managing Director, QSTP, the primary incubator for technological development in Qatar.
Dr Al Ibrahim said: “It’s a great privilege to welcome His Excellency Dr Al Attiyah to Qatar Foundation, and to demonstrate our commitment to excellence in education, research and community development to the Ministry of Defence delegation. This visit serves to strengthen our resolve to building bridges that support our country’s transition to a knowledge-based economy through research and innovation, and through producing highly educated, productive, global citizens at our higher education and R&D facilities.”
