ANNUAL REPORT - The Petroleum Institute

A year of transformation, growth and success
2011-2012
ANNUAL REPORT
A year of transformation, growth and success
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012

A year of transformation, growth and success
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
لقد تعلمنا من هذا االزدهار أن نبني دولتنا من خالل التعليم والمعرفة و أن نرعى
أجياالً‏ من الرجال والنساء المتعلمين
المغفور له بإذن اهلل الشيخ زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان
“The prosperity that we have witnessed has taught us to build our country
with education and knowledge and nurture generations of educated men
and women.”
H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, late President of the UAE
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A year of transformation, growth and success
يجب التزود بالعلوم الحديثة والمعارف الواسعة واإلقبال عليها بروح عالية،‏ ورغبة صادقة على طرق كافة
مجاالت العمل،‏ حتى تتمكن دولة اإلمارات خالل األلفية الثالثة من تحقيق نقلة حضارية واسعة
صاحب السمو الشيخ خليفة بن زايد آل نهيان رئيس الدولة
“A true commitment to tapping all of the available work fields, combined
with a high enthusiasm for acquiring knowledge, broadening horizons and
benefiting from modern science is necessary for the UAE to succeed in
taking a forward step into the 21st century.”
H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Table of Contents
PREFACE ......................................................................................................................
Message from Acting President & Provost .....................................................
Highlights of AY 2011-2012 ...................................................................................
Institutional Statistics for Academic Year 2011 – 2012 ..............................
Enrollment History (Undergraduate and Graduate) ..................................
PI Alumni ....................................................................................................................
Mission and Strategic Planning ..........................................................................
ABET Update ............................................................................................................
Research, Teaching and Service ........................................................................
Research and Development ................................................................................
Gas Processing and Material Science Research Centre - GRC .............
Graduate School .....................................................................................................
PI Scholarly Publications 2011 ............................................................................
Academic Highlights .............................................................................................
Advanced University Placement (AUP) .........................................................
Arts and Sciences Program ...............................................................................
College of Engineering ........................................................................................
Department of Chemical Engineering ...........................................................
Department of Electrical Engineering ...........................................................
Department of Mechanical Engineering ........................................................
Department of Petroleum Engineering .............................................................
Department of Petroleum Geoscience ..............................................................
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Academic Affairs ........................................................................................................
Admissions Department ..........................................................................................
Library and Independent Learning Center ......................................................
Registrar’s Office .......................................................................................................
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching ..........................................
Alumni Relations and Continuing Education Department ........................
External Relations & Collaborations ...................................................................
Institutional Research & Studies ..........................................................................
Internship Department ............................................................................................
Student Affairs Division ..........................................................................................
Women in Science and Engineering Program ...............................................
Administration Highlights .......................................................................................
Facilities .........................................................................................................................
Finance Department .................................................................................................
Human Resources Department .............................................................................
Information Technology Department .................................................................
Supply Chain Department ......................................................................................
Public Relations ..........................................................................................................
PI’s Historical Highlights .........................................................................................
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Message From
Acting President & Provost
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Greetings from the Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi
The theme of this year’s annual report is “A Year of
Transformation, Growth and Success” which highlights the
visible actions the Petroleum Institute has taken to add clarity
to the future direction of the Institute.
In the pages that follow, we provide an overview of the
accomplishments and contributions of the PI during the
Academic Year 2011-2012 which is a testament of the hard
work by the faculty and staff who made progress during this
year possible. On behalf of the PI, I sincerely thank all of them
for their service.
The PI received accreditation for all five undergraduate programs by ABET: the Chemical
Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Petroleum Engineering are all
accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) and the Petroleum Geosciences
is accredited by the Applied Science Accreditation Commission (ASAC).
We are proud of the new student centered approach to teaching Physics. Takreer funding allowed
us to rearrange two classrooms and labs to integrate the hands-on and theoretical aspects of
physics studio approach, to improve teaching and learning in this area.
The PI introduced its new brand to reaffirm our reputation in the region and world. The “Strategic
Planning” exercises helped the PI to stay focused and act decisively. The Institute focused on
becoming a more student centered institution.
As a result of the actions we took, the PI is clearly a better university. The overall progression
rate for undergraduate students at PI is 85.4% as compared to other CAA higher education
institutions; furthermore, the success rate for continuing students (% of credit hours passed) is
91%. With the progress made so far, we will continue to stay focused on the initiatives developed
in Academic Year 2011-2012.
Thank you again to all who participated and made this a great year for our university.
Dr. Ismail A. Tag
Acting President and Provost
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Highlights of AY 2011-2012
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A year of transformation, growth and success
September 2011
September 2011
January 2012
HE Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi – Director
General of ADNOC and the Chairman of
the PI Governing Board visits the PI.
6th Commencement Ceremony included
the first group of female engineers and
geoscientists of PI.
Korean Delegation visits PI.
October 2011
Stevens Institute of Technology Visits PI.
PI alumnae Ms. Ghena Waddah Al Hanaee
and Hayam Anwar Blooshi were accepted
by NASA in California to be part of a
research fellowship in Spring semester
2012.
Three PI procedures received the special
commendation of “CAA Best Practices”.
Two new graduate programs, ME in HSE
and MSc in Applied Chemistry, received
initial accreditation by the CAA.
November 2011
ABET team conducts the on-site evaluation
of the PI.
December 2011
WISE students win ‘Best Poster’ award at
the 20th World Petroleum Congress, Qatar.
PI team wins 40th National Day Sports
Tournament organized by Takreer.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
February 2012
The First Design Showcase and Competition
is hosted at the PI.
The 2011-2012 ABET Self-Study Report
prepared by the Petroleum Geosciences
program at the PI is selected to be included
in a display of well-prepared Self-Study
reports at the ABET Symposium.
March 2012
The newly developed and approved PI
Organization Structure is implemented to
satisfy current operational requirements
and meet future challenges.
University of Tokyo Delegation visits PI.
April 2012
PI won ADNOC HSE Award 2011 under
category “Recognition of Group Company
and Contractor Partnership Award”.
June 2012
Colorado School of Mines exchange
students arrive at the PI.
May 2012
The Graduate School of the Petroleum
Institute held its 1st Annual Graduate
Research Conference for graduate students
to present their work to the PI community,
ADNOC and OPCOs representatives.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
PI’s team wins second prize in the EAGE Field
Challenge Competition 2012, Copenhagen.
Congratulations to PI Students: Anas Najy,
Mohammed Mohsen Shafiq, Arsalan Ansari,
Adnan Aboud Haj Salem and Mohammed
Alklih.
Studio Physics: The beginning of a Quiet
Revolution at the PI.
July 2012
SPE Stars Scholarship was awarded to
Petroleum Engineering senior student,
Anas Najy.
PI receives ABET Accreditation
Applied Science for Petroleum Geosciences
Engineering for Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical
and Petroleum Engineering
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012

A year of transformation, growth and success
Institutional Statistics for Academic Year 2011 – 2012
PI at a glance
Motto
Established
Type
Acting President and Provost
Senior Vice President Administration
Support
Undergraduate Programs
Graduate Programs
Headcount
Students
Dedicated to Excellence
30 December 2000 by Emeri Decree
Private university
Dr. Ismail A. Tag
Mrs. Badria Khalfan
Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering,
Petroleum Geosciences, Art & Sciences, AUP
Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering,
Petroleum Geosciences, Health, Safety and
Environment Engineering, Applied Sciences
1207* (Bachelors, Foundation and Masters)
Undergraduates 1068*
Postgraduates 139*
Alumni
798** (742 Bachelors, 56 Masters)
Faculty 167***
Staff 255***
Licensure and Accreditations
Nickname
Location
Website
Commission for Academic Accreditation, Ministry of
Higher Education and Scientific Research – UAE; ABET
Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) and The
Applied Sciences Accreditation Commission (ASAC)
PI
Abu Dhabi, UAE
http://www.pi.ac.ae/
* As of fall 2011
** Including the Class of 2011
*** As of Summer 2012
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Enrollment History (Undergraduate and Graduate)
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A year of transformation, growth and success
As of fall 2011
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Students Distribution by Gender & Nationality
As of fall 2011
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A year of transformation, growth and success
PI Alumni
Degrees Granted Nationality Male Female Total
UNDERGRADUATE
Chemical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Petroleum Engineering
Petroleum Geosciences
UAE 102 32 134
Expat 30 12 42
UAE 62 23 85
Expat 34 3 37
UAE 183 14 197
Expat 64 64
UAE 92 7 99
Expat 38 3 41
UAE 28 6 34
Expat 9 9
Grand Total 742
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Degrees Granted Male Female Total
GRADUATE
Chemical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Petroleum Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Petroleum Geosciences
UAE 6 1 7
Expat 4 4
UAE 3 1 4
Expat 10 1 11
UAE 3 1 4
Expat 17 1 18
UAE 1 1
Expat 3 3
UAE 1 1 2
Expat 2 2
Total 56
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Faculty by Nationality
Staff by Nationality
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Mission and Strategic Planning
Dr. Mohamed Al Shehhi, Director of Strategic Planning
The Academic Year 2011-2012 was important in
the planning history of the PI because the next
strategic plan was developed and reviewed as
a part of PI’s transformation framework.
The strategic plan is intended to set a tone
for the culture and make clear to internal and
external communities what is valued; to provide
alignment of purpose and function; and to
provide a guide to important infrastructure
decisions about manpower, funds and space,
etc. In developing the next strategic plan
the PI is assisted by a team of experts from
the University of Maryland whose job was
to facilitate, coach and oversee the whole
process as impartial consultants.
A steering committee was formed to provide
oversight and support, to define the main
structure, milestones and deliverables, and to
ensure progress is made in an effective and
timely manner until the finalization of strategic
plan. Furthermore, the Committee serves as
a forum for the discussion and resolution of
cross-boundary matters that arise from the
subcommittees’ work.
The steering committee comprised of
following personnel with Dr. Mohamed Al
Shehhi leading the committee as Director of
Strategic Planning:
1. Youssef Abdel Magid, Dean of Engineering
2. Mohamed Al Shehhi, Director of Strategic
Planning
3. Ken Kiger, UMD
4. Azar Al Nazeri, UMD
5. Sameh Sherif, ADCO
6. Chairs of the various subcommittees
The strategic intent and goals are identified
as Strategic Thrusts: namely Education
– Undergraduate, Education – Graduate,
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Research, PI Community – students, PI
Community – Faculty and Staff, and Visibility
and Outreach. The six subcommittees were
formed to work towards each strategic
thrust. The 60 representatives across these
committees included 38 faculty (20 Engr., 11
A&S, 7 AUP), 13 staff, 7 students and 2 alumni.
Each subcommittee’s progress is determined
by assessing the deliverables’ status for the
Strategic Thrust according to the below
illustration.
Petroleum Institute’s Mission
The work on strategic plan progressed and
a new mission was drafted for the PI which
states:
“The PI will provide high quality engineering
and science professionals through a continued
commitment to excellence in its undergraduate
and graduate academic programs alongside
fundamental and applied research serving the
Oil, Gas and Energy sectors’ need for talent,
solutions and advanced technical innovations
that contribute to the UAE society and
economy”.
PI Core Values
According to the vision and mission following
are the PI core values:
••
Excellence & Creativity
We are committed to outstanding
performance, innovation and continuous
development in all aspects of our mission.
••
Diversity & Tolerance
We recognize the inherent value of a
diverse workforce. We respect and treat all
individuals with utmost respect and dignity.
••
Inclusiveness and Collegiality
We support an environment that engages
our workforce and promotes manner.
We base our decisions on objective and
verifiable information free from personal
bias or prejudice.
••
Accountability and Commitment
We fully accept our responsibilities and
are committed to achieving them. We take
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
responsibility for our performance in all of
our actions and decisions.
••
Transparency and Fairness
We conduct ourselves and our affairs in an
open, transparent and equitable effective
participation. We seek and value individuals’
input.
Strategic Planning Timeline
The timeline of the two phases of the PI
Strategic Planning is depicted below:
Phase I of Strategic Planning is completed
and the targets of Phase II are accomplished
by October 2012. The process is an inclusive
exercise and participation at all levels is
required for successful development and
implementation. Once completed, the strategic
plan will form a cornerstone in development of
annual unit plans, guide development of annual
targets, and clarify alignment of activities and
initiatives needed to achieve goals spelled
out in plan. Moreover, it is expected to help
PI meet more effectively the expectations
from ADNOC and Operating Companies as
they turn to the PI to produce high-caliber
engineers and innovative research solutions.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
ABET UPDATE
Research Award
Dr. Balanthi Beig
Electrical Engineering
The PI received accreditation for all five undergraduate programs by ABET: the Chemical
Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Petroleum Engineering programs
are all accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) and the Petroleum
Geosciences is accredited by the Applied Science Accreditation Commission (ASAC).
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Research, Teaching and Service
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A year of transformation, growth and success
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Dr. Shahin Negahban, Vice President
Research Award
Dr. Balanthi Beig
Electrical Engineering
I. Executive Summary
Since January 2012 extensive work has been
carried out to construct a new Research
and Development (R&D) organization at
the Petroleum Institute. We have identified
key ‘surface’ and ‘subsurface’ technical and
educational challenges at ADNOC and the PI
and used them to guide our new direction.
The key enabler for the success of R&D at the
PI is the rapid development and deployment
of the Carbonate Enhanced Oil Recovery
(EOR) Centre of Excellence which will add
tremendous technological and economic
value to the whole of Abu Dhabi both in terms
of (a) Oil & Gas production, sustainability
and reserves growth and (b) the creation of
knowledge-based economic growth for the
future of the UAE.
The following is a summary of our 2012
activities:
••
Identify Key ADNOC and PI Challenges used
to define the R&D direction for the new PI
R&D organization. The challenges include
the following:
••
A support strategy for ADNOC and its group
of companies in order to secure:
o Production sustainability well beyond
2020
o An ultimate recovery factor of 70% (a
1% increase in recovery amounts to
USD100 billion of revenue or higher)
o The preservation of hydrocarbon gases
for power generation
o Suitable personnel resources to manage
future large scale ADNOC projects
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
••
Support for Government Initiatives,
including:
o The creation of knowledge-based
economic growth for the future of the
UAE
o The mitigation of climate change by
reducing the UAE’s carbon footprint
o The security of the country’s supplies
of fresh water and energy
••
Establish an applied and R&D capability at
the PI to attract and train the next generation
of scientists and engineers for oil and gas
production.
••
Develop the PI’s R&D technical organization,
strategy, vision, mission and values. The
PI presented these plans to several stakeholders
including:
o The PI R&D Management Committee;
ADNOC Senior Management; the PI
Institutional Advisory and Governing
Boards.
o Partner and other universities and
research centers: Stanford, MIT,
UMN, University of Maryland, CSM,
Rice, University of Texas, Imperial
College, Heriot-Watt University,
Tokyo University, IFP, Partex, several
Portuguese universities, CNPC and a
Korean delegation to the PI.
••
Identify new R&D Project Teams for the
following activities:
o Gas Processing with emphasis on H2S
and CO2 removal
o Polymer Processing and
Nanotechnology
o Intelligent Field Automation
o Catalysis & Nano-Particle Development
and Processing
o Surface and Pipeline Integrity and
Reliability
o Process System Engineering for
Simulation and Optimization
o Advanced PVT Properties and Molecular
Modeling of Complex Fluids
••
Continue managing ADNOC Oil and Gas
Subcommittee activities
••
Develop 6 jointly applied R&D projects with
ADCO, beginning January 2012:
o Bab Habshan1 Critical Fluid Type
Compositional Modeling (ADCO Bab
Team)
o Experimental Study of Low Salinity WF,
Carbonated WF or Combination EOR in
Asab Thamama A/A0 Reservoirs
o Fracture Related Digenesis Evaluation
Study (ADCO Shah Team)
o Shah Simsima Geomechanical Study
(ADCO Shah Team)
o Thermodynamic Model Development
for the ADCO CO2 EOR Project (ADCO
Engineering)
o Thermodynamic Modeling Study to
confirm GOR Separator Calculations
for Bu Hasa for several Scenarios (Lean
Gas Stripping, Gas Left, etc.)
••
Work closely with CSM to develop the PI
Research Master Plan and Administration
Organization.
••
Continue building the PI research center
(anticipated completion date: Q3 2013).
••
Fund some internal research projects:
The PI also encourages and funds seed
projects to be conducted by faculty who
may engage the PI students for assistance.
This year-on-year activity not only
encourages interest in research among the
next generation of PI graduates but may
also lead to new findings and data which
can result in patentable information and
technology.
o In 2012 the PI has internally funded 47
such projects, worth AED 4.4 Million
o The following table shows the number
of projects funded by respective
engineering departments.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Department Projects
Chemical Engineering 8
Electrical Engineering 4
Mechanical Engineering 9
Petroleum Engineering 4
Petroleum Geosciences 6
Arts & Sciences 16
Total 47
II. Department Mission, Vision,
Values, Goal and R&D
Guidelines
Vision - A Safe World-Class Research and
Development Centre that is Recognized
and Admired for its People, Performance,
Progressiveness and Partnerships.
Mission - Conduct high-quality Research and
Development projects to provide efficient,
environmentally acceptable and costeffective
solutions for ADNOC and its group of
companies’ upstream and downstream needs
and to develop a recognized and admired R&D
culture to attract and train top R&D talent in
the UAE and the region.
Values (R E S P E C T):
o RESPONSIVE to the nation’s needs and
our national aspirations including the
“green” agenda
o EXCELLENCE in research & development
o SAFE, world-class R&D facilities
o PROGRESSIVE in pursuing the
technologies of the future
o ENERGETIC in developing our R&D culture
& attracting talent
o COLLABORATION in all aspects of R&D
work
o TEAM WORK & TRUST with the ADNOC
group of companies
Goal - One trusted team, working together
responsibly in a safe and respected world class
R&D center, progressively and energetically
pursuing excellence in R&D to develop the
technologies of the future for our nation.
R&D Guidelines:
o The ADNOC vision is to be able to conduct
all EOR related studies and R&D projects
in Abu Dhabi
o The need to focus on industrial R&D
projects will support Abu Dhabi’s field
development plans
o The joint R&D projects with partner
universities at the PI must be based
on developing in-house capabilities,
transferring knowledge and developing
UAE nationals
o The selection of the best universities/
research organizations that have niche
capabilities in those areas of R&D that
interest us
o The PI will develop a ranked R&D portfolio
based on ADNOC’s technical challenges
o The PI will provide ADNOC with the 2013
R&D budget and a list of projects
III. Future Plans / Initiatives
As per ADNOC’s guidelines and the Governing
Board’s demand, work is underway to finalize
the R&D organization chart by the end of the
year and we will submit to ADNOC a clear R&D
roadmap and a 5-year business plan. We will
then seek ADNOC’s approval for the new R&D
organization and funding for all the projects.
The PI will continue to develop R&D teams
for the remaining categories. All the new
collaborative R&D proposals will be based on
the strength of the partner universities and the
related equipment (constructed or purchased)
will be shipped to the PI Research Center. The
work scope will ensure the PI’s equal (50/50)
contribution to the research.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
The PI will work closely with OPCOs in
identifying key experts to work on specific
R&D projects at the PI on a part-time basis
to help the PI develop R&D capability and
capacity as soon as possible.
Through new research initiatives,
The PI’s Research Centre (PIRC) will:
Add value to ADNOC and the company’s
stakeholders:
••
Knowledge and Technology Leadership –
through the development of Intellectual
Properties, Patents and Intellectual Talents.
••
Oil and Gas Assets – by raising the value
of the country’s oil and gas: increasing
reserves through high recovery factors.
••
Productivity and Sustainability – by
increasing the country’s oil and gas
production capacity and sustaining
it through improved and enhanced
technology and process efficiency.
Add value to the PI:
••
Academic Recognition and Excellence –
recognition of its ability to create stateof-the–art
undergraduate and graduate
programs.
••
Academic Attractiveness – making the PI
the flagship of R&D in the region in order
to attract the best students and faculty.
••
Research Center of Excellence: Improving
the PI’s prospects to be a worldwide
destination for cutting-edge oil and gas
research.
IV. Summary
We started the journey of building the PI’s R&D
capability and capacity in January 2012 and
looking back, the PI has done an outstanding
job of creating the structure for a new PI
Research and Development organization. We
now have a clearly defined Strategy, Vision and
Mission and a set of critical Values for the PIRC.
We also have a set of guidelines from ADNOC
on how to proceed in directing the future of
this organization, so that we can deliver the
best technologies of the future for our nation.
Our main challenge for the remainder of this
year is to finalize the PIRC organization Master
Plan (structure, positions and job descriptions,
etc.) and to write a 5-year business plan.
Research Award
Dr. Balanthi Beig
Electrical Engineering
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Gas Processing and Material Science Research
Centre - GRC
Dr. Cornelis Peters, Director
I. What is the GRC?
The establishment of the Gas Processing
and Material Science Research Centre (the
GRC) was officially launched at the PI in
December 2010. The Centre is the outcome of
an R&D agreement among GASCO, ADNOC,
Shell Abu Dhabi B.V., Total S.A., and Partex
Gas Corporation. The GRC is owned by and
integrated into the PI and funding is raised
through contributions over a period of 20
years at the rate of USD 5 million annually
from the three international shareholders:
Shell, Total and Partex.
II. Vision and Mission of GRC
Vision
Develop, build and strengthen the Petroleum
Institute’s applied research capabilities and
GASCO’s technological know-how in order to
address current and emerging gas challenges
and to promote the safe and efficient operation
of GASCO.
Mission
Make the GRC a fully operational Centre of
Excellence embedded within the ADNOC PI
Research Centre (PIRC) by:
• Providing leading technology/research
solutions through the deployment of
applied research & technology.
• Leveraging the experience and
technological know-how of the
international shareholders.
• Developing the PI’s research and technical
service capabilities in gas.
• Focusing on the career development of
national faculty and researchers.
• Attracting distinguished (chair) professors,
world class researchers and students to
the PI.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
III. Strategic Research Themes
There are four strategic research themes and
focus areas. These are addressed by professors
who take the lead in developing their respective
themes. Two GRC chair professors have been
appointed: Dr. Jorge Salgado Gomes (Partex)
and Dr. Yves Gunaltun (Total). The following
research themes have been identified:
• Gas processing and gas treatment
• Materials science and corrosion
• Advanced dynamic process simulation &
control
• Energy efficiency and environmental
technology
Application for projects
In principle, new proposals can be submitted
to the GRC twice a year. The approval process
comprises of three steps:
• The GRC Technical Committee considers/
evaluates each project on its scientific
merit and relevance for GASCO.
• In case of a positive recommendation by
the Technical Committee, the budget of
the proposal will be evaluated by the GRC
Finance Committee.
• Final approval of the proposal belongs
to the authority of the GRC Steering
Committee.
Monitoring progress of the projects
The GRC requires quarterly reports from
each project in order to monitor its progress.
These reports will be evaluated by a
Project Management Committee, which has
representatives from ADNOC, GASCO, Shell,
Total, Partex and the PI. The GRC director
chairs the committee and conclusions and
recommendations will be reported to the GRC
Steering Committee.
Overview of approved projects
At the moment (December 2012) kUSD 17,400
has been assigned to 10 GRC research projects.
An overview of these projects is given below:
1. GR001: “Advanced Chemistry & Materials
Laboratory”, Principal Investigator Dr. Yves
Gunaltun; total budget: kUSD 4,200.
2. GR002: “Black Powder, Sources, Detection
and Mitigation in Gas Transmission and
Distribution Systems”, Principal Investigator
Dr. Mohamed Saeed AlShehhi; total budget:
kUSD 4,100.
3. GR003: “BTX removal in the sulfur recovery
process using adsorption”, Principal
Investigator Dr. Ahmed Al Shoaibi; total
budget: kUSD 1,500.
4. GR004: “CUI Monitoring Tool”, Principal
Investigator Dr. Yves Gunaltun; total budget:
kUSD 1,400.
5. GR005: “Surface-Engineered Self-Healing
Anti-Corrosion Particle Coatings for Pipes
and Storage Tanks”, Principal Investigator
Dr. Vikas Mittal; total budget: kUSD 700.
6. GR006: “Deterioration of solvent Quality
and Foaming problems in a Gas Sweetening
Unit“, Principal Investigator Dr. Fawzi Banat;
total budget: kUSD 1,200.
7. GR007: “Corrosion Modeling for Best
& Worst Case Contaminants”, Principal
Investigator Dr. Yves Gunaltun; total budget:
kUSD 600.
8. GR008: “Proposed Solutions for the new
challenges GASCO is facing in existing
and new Gas plants: High H2S and
CO2, and unconventional contaminants
concentrations”, Principal Investigator Dr.
Abdallah Berrouk; total budget: kUSD 700.
9. GR009: “Ionic Liquids for CO2 Separation”,
Principal Investigator Dr. Abdallah Berrouk;
total budget: kUSD 2,000.
10. GR010: “N2 removal from Natural Gas”,
Principal Investigator Dr. Kean Wang; total
budget: kUSD 1,000.
32

A year of transformation, growth and success
IV. Future Plans/Initiatives
In the execution of the projects, we face some
critical issues which are leading to significant
delays in the research:
o Insufficient and/or inadequate laboratory
space
o Procurement is often a time-consuming
process
o Recruiting of scientific and technical staff
is often a lengthy process
o A number of projects require the handling
of H2S, which, in accordance with PI policy,
is not permitted
Because of the issues above, it was decided not
to hold the Fall 2012 round for new projects.
It is expected that in Q3 / Q4 of 2013 the PI
Research Centre (PIRC) will become available.
In close consultation with the PI Vice-President,
R&D, initiatives will be developed to allocate
laboratory space in the PIRC for approved
GRC projects.
Regarding research projects with H2S
involvement, the PI has decided not to allow
these kinds of projects on campus. In order to
proceed, it has been decided to find locations
for this research elsewhere, preferably in the
UAE. As soon as adequate PI facilities for H2S
research become available, these projects will
be moved back to the PI.
A major objective of the GRC projects is to
serve the scientific and technological needs of
GASCO. Therefore, early in 2013 a workshop
including all the partners will be organized to
discuss the best ways to:
o Enhance the research visibility of the PI.
o Harvest suggestions for new research
projects.
o Disseminate the PI’s research among a
wider circle of (potential) users.
33

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Dr. Ioannis Economou, Associate Provost
I. Executive Summary
• The new ADNOC Master Fellowship
program was introduced so that
outstanding PI graduates can pursue MSc
or MEng studies at the PI.
• Two new academic programs were
launched: the MEng degree in Health,
Safety and Environment Engineering and
the MSc degree in Applied Chemistry.
• The first international students graduated
from the Masters degree courses (MSc;
MEng) and joined ADNOC’s operating
companies (OPCO’s).
II. The Mission of the Graduate
School
Mission
To manage and direct graduate studies
and graduate research at the PI in order to
provide quality services that contribute to the
achievement of the PI’s strategic objectives.
The Graduate School’s Goals
• To increase the quantity and quality of the
PI’s graduate student population
• To increase the proportion of UAE national
graduate students
• To increase the graduate/undergraduate
student ratio
• To secure employment within ADNOC and
its OPCO’s for any Masters graduates who
are interested in pursuing an industrial
career
• To create an academic research
environment at the PI
• To establish a PhD degree in Engineering
and Applied Science
• To support the development of new
graduate programs in disciplines of
importance to the energy industry and to
the UAE’s economy
34

A year of transformation, growth and success
III. Highlights of the Year
2011 – 2012 was another successful year for
graduate studies at the PI. With approximately
150 full-time and part-time graduate students
in its 5 academic departments, the PI is in the
process of transforming into an internationally
recognized teaching and research university.
In Table 1, the growth in the number of graduate
students since 2007 is shown. Currently, 82
students are studying in a part-time capacity
while the remaining 63 are full-time students.
Thirteen of the full-time students are in
the prestigious ADNOC Master Fellowship
program.
Table 1: Number of graduate students in the
PI from 2007 to 2012
Outstanding PI graduates (either with a
Bachelor or Master degree) can pursue a PhD
degree in prestigious US universities and as
of Spring 2012, twenty-seven students (13
of whom are UAE Nationals) are working
toward their PhD in the following universities:
Colorado School of Mines, University of Illinois,
University of Minnesota, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Rice University,
Stanford University, University of Texas, Texas
(A&M) University, University of Southern
California and Virginia Institute of Technology.
Structural Changes
The Graduate School was established at the
end of 2010 and came into full operation
during the academic year 2011 – 2012. A new
organizational chart was approved by the PI
senior management to support the operations
of the School.
New Employees
In Fall 2011, Mrs. Uzma Khan joined the PI as
our new Graduate Admissions Officer and in
December, Dr. Hyo Young Kim left the PI after
4 years of service as Head of Academic and
Graduate Studies Recruitment.
During this academic year, the first full-time
international students graduated with their
MSc or MEng degree and joined ADNOC’s
OPCO’s; 6 students in Summer 2011, 8 students
in Fall 2011 and approximately 20 students in
Summer 2012 started their professional careers
with the ADNOC group of companies. The PI
is therefore becoming recognized as a premier
university in terms of both undergraduate and
graduate education.
New Programs
In Fall 2011, the PI’s new “accelerated” (or
‘4 + 1’) graduate program was launched.
The program is offered exclusively to highperforming
students that graduate with a
Bachelor’s degree from the PI and gives them
the opportunity to complete their Masters
degree in under 2 years (the norm for regular
graduate students). Students in this program
are carefully selected by PI and ADNOC’s
Fellowship Department and they receive the
prestigious ADNOC Master Fellowship.
35

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific
Research approved two new graduate
programs, namely the Master of Engineering
(MEng) in Health, Safety and Environment
(HSE) Engineering and the Master of Science
(MSc) in Applied Chemistry. The first one was
officially launched in Spring 2012 while the
second one kicks-off in Fall 2012.
IV. New Initiatives
On Wednesday 9 May 2012, the 1st Annual
Graduate Research Conference was held
in the newly renovated Arzanah ADMA-
OPCO Auditorium. The conference consisted
of 20 oral and 12 poster presentations by
graduate students and was attended by
senior management, faculty and students. The
primary aims of the conference were:
(a) To give the opportunity to graduate
students to present their work to the PI
community and receive feedback
(b) To give the OPCO’s engineers and
scientists the opportunity to become
familiar with the PI’s research work. Most
of the projects are either funded by or are
directly related to ADNOC and the opcos’
needs
(c) To help senior undergraduate students
to appreciate the research component of
graduate studies at the PI and motivate
them to pursue a graduate degree after
completion of their undergraduate studies
Awards to the best oral and poster
presentations were given during the annual
graduate school dinner on 6 June 2012.
Research collaboration
Research collaboration with partner
universities was enhanced significantly during
2011 – 2012. PhD students from the University
of Minnesota and Rice University visited for a
period of several months and worked on joint
PI – Partner University research projects under
the supervision of PI faculty. In addition, faculty
members from various partner universities
visited PI to lecture to graduate students.
V. Future Plans/Initiatives
The PI is committed to develop its own PhD
program in various engineering disciplines in
the near future. The new PI Research Center
will be ready in early 2014 and – together
with the development of the labs and the
welcoming of some high-profile academics to
the PI - will ensure a truly high quality program.
Meanwhile, we will pursue further education
and research collaboration with our partner
universities.
36

A year of transformation, growth and success
PI Scholarly Publications 2011
Books
Edited Collection
Edited Collection
Journals
Book Chapters
Theses and
dissertations
Journal articles
Conference
Proceedings
Patents
Other peerreviewed
publications
College of Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Department
1 5 8 1 83 36 2
Electrical Engineering
Department
3 15 46
Mechanical Engineering
Department
1 1 6 3 45 33
Petroleum Engineering
Department
1 10 10
Petroleum Geosciences
Department
2 8 26
Advanced Academic
Division
Communication Department 2 4 1 7 5 4
Humanities and Social
Sciences Department
2 2 2 3
General Studies Department 1 1
Chemistry Department 11
Mathematics Department 7 2
Physics Department 2 1
Advanced University
Placement Department
1 1 1 4
Independent Learning
Center
1
Total 4 12 7 20 2 191 164 2 9
37

38
The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012

A year of transformation, growth and success
Faculty Award Winners - Academic Year 2011-2012
Faculty Service Award
Ebrahim Al Hajri
Mechanical Engineering
Excellence in Academic Advising Award
Dr. Ali Al Mansouri
Chemical Engineering
Laboratory Academic Staff Service Award
Mr. Amr Atef A. Hamid
Applied Chemistry
Junior Faculty Teaching Award
Dr. Francisco Vargas
Chemical Engineering
Junior Faculty Teaching Award
Dr. Issam Kobrsi
Chemistry
Faculty Service Award
Mara Burrow
AUP
39

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Advanced University Placement (AUP)
Dr. Mohammed Saad Al Kobaisi, Director
I. Executive Summary
As might be expected of a program as dynamic
as the AUP, Spring 2012 saw us complete a
full circle when 36 students (23 males and 13
females) sat for the international Advanced
Placement Examinations in Physics, Chemistry
and Calculus. Like their predecessors, tested
in 2010 and 2011, they were well taught and
comprehensively prepared. In tandem with
their own natural ability this should see them
well, leading to credits for A&S freshman
courses to repay the time they spent in AUP.
What is special about this group is that they
were our final cohort of AP level students.
Placement exam analysis and the tracking of
the AP level students after they leave the AUP
has shown that while students gain significantly
from being part of our program, they have the
ability and skills to start freshman courses
directly.
40
The AUP has now returned to its remit
of developing the skills, knowledge and
understanding of those more in need of
preparation for university level courses.
Recent initiatives include the modernization of
the learning environment and the introduction
of courses such as Mathematical Modeling and
Laboratory Skills. They supplement an English
Language Program that provides a relevant
learning experience for students preparing to
study engineering at undergraduate level.
Fall 2012 has seen important changes
across the department. We have warmly
welcomed our new director, Dr. Mohammed
Al Kobaisi and we have completely
overhauled our English language program.
Direct entry is now possible at three levels:
Intensive, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2.

A year of transformation, growth and success
II.
Department Mission &
Objectives
The mission of the Petroleum Institute’s
Advanced University Placement (AUP)
Department is to provide students with the
knowledge and skills base required to be a
successful world-class engineering university.
Its objectives are to:
••
provide a comprehensive, engaging and
challenging preparatory program
••
develop critical thinking and problem
solving skills
••
develop English language
proficiency
••
develop communication and study skills
••
develop knowledge of the world and
encourage a sense of curiosity
The AUP Department provides students
with a stimulating curriculum and learning
environment, including modern, computer
labs, an Independent Learning Center, and a
highly qualified, experienced and dedicated
faculty and staff.
III. Departmental Summaries
a. English Department
AUP English welcomed Nausheen Pasha Zaidi
and Samira Fahmi as faculty members in Fall
2011 and broke new ground by establishing
both the Professional Skills Committee and
the Academic Integrity Committee.
Samira Fahmi
English Lecturer
N. Pasha Zaidi
English Lecturer
The curriculum for a new semester-long
Intensive English course was introduced in Fall
2011. A total of 102 students completed the
course. Eighty students who earned a grade
C or higher advanced to Module 2, while 22
students who earned grade D or lower entered
a semester-long remedial course.
Faculty member Eurof Thomas worked with
Mathematics Department faculty to create an
‘English for Math’ support course, that proved
popular with students.
Special mention must go to William Rindfleisch
for gaining the AUP Outstanding Faculty
Award and to Mara Barrow for her outstanding
efforts in enhancing the PI environment and
student facilities. Spring 2012 also saw Ms.
Pasha-Zaidi being awarded her PhD.
b. Mathematics and Computing Department
AUP Mathematics introduced a new ‘modelling’
course in Fall 2011, with much of the material
involving students learning by exploration and
experimentation. Intensive English students
covered basic algebra in a course designed
especially for their level of facility with the
language.
41

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
The Computing Department was subsumed
into the Mathematics unit at the beginning
of the academic year. In addition to basic
computing skills, elements of programming
instruction are now included in a second
computing course. As a result of this merger,
the full time faculty complement of the
department now numbers ten.
Hussam Suleiman
Chemistry Faculty
David Adcock
Chemistry Faculty
A new Mathematics ‘help centre’ operates daily
on both male and female campuses to provide
added assistance as and when necessary.
A determined effort to place new students in
newly revised courses has continued in this fall
term. Students are given lectures and directed
learning through classroom work sessions.
This gives students increased time for the
acquisition of the required English background
they need for undergraduate studies.
Research efforts have been presented at
local, regional, and international conferences,
including the UAE Math Day. Additionally, AUP
students were accompanied to a mathematics
conference at the Higher Colleges of
Technology.
AUP Chemistry developed exit and placement
exams with members of the Arts & Sciences
faculty. Special projects on minerals involved
input from both the Department and AUP
English. The Outreach program brought in
guest speakers and professional development
sessions were held to promote hands-on lab
skills for non-science teachers.
The department plans to incorporate a lab skills
computer program (with A&S collaboration)
which will be permanently accessible and will
aim at developing students’ understanding
and practical skills in the lab.
c. Chemistry Department
This year, AUP Chemistry was restructured
to better prepare students for freshman
chemistry courses, with hands-on lab skills
being accentuated. AUP I Chemistry 028 and
AUP 2 Chemistry 029 were launched with
projects and presentations introduced into
both courses.
The department welcomed Mr. Hussam
Suleiman and Mr. David Adcock as faculty
members at the beginning of the 2011-12
academic year and saw Nicy Kallely promoted
from Lab Technician to Lab Engineer.
In short, AUP Chemistry developed interesting
projects which promoted student motivation
and developed team-building skills. Our
courses will be modified in yearly strategic
planning sessions.
42

A year of transformation, growth and success
d. Physics Department
AUP Physics has re-engineered its curriculum
based on the competencies needed by
students. Soft skills have been incorporated in
the methodology and more student-centered
activities, in line with Studio Physics, have
been adopted.
Courses will be shifted to the Arts and Science
Department and will be run in parallel with the
regular Physics courses. Major emphasis will be
initially placed on the physics ‘soft skills’. The
parallel courses will have non-degree credits
but will be required by all students who do not
meet the placement requirements.
IV. Special Projects, Activities
& Events
The compulsory use of textbooks has been
initiated and the statistical analysis of all
questions and exams has been undertaken.
Perhaps this year’s greatest innovation was
SPA&E, headed by English faculty member,
Mara Barrow. AUP faculty and students alike
have seen their working environment improve
beyond recognition as lounges, photo displays,
noticeboards, galleries and games rooms have
sprung up around Zarkuh building. In addition,
working with PI-wide committees, SPA&E has
sponsored and organized cultural, sporting,
outreach and awareness-raising events,
including the AUP Sports Tournament, Global
Day, National Day, PI Open Day and Casual
Day, as well as visits from a number of guest
speakers.
Strong participation in students’ extracurricular
activities, projects and competitions
have been foregrounded in this academic year.
In order to foster student retention, a bridgebuilding
competition, airplane dynamics
activity and field trips were undertaken.
The faculty worked alongside their Physics
counterparts in A&S to modify outcomes and
ensure a better fit between the two curricula.
Major changes are in effect during the academic
year, 2012-13. These changes will contribute
to speed the advancement of students
into enrolling in the engineering programs.
43

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Arts and Sciences Program
Dr. Brian Bielenberg, Director
I. Executive Summary
During 2011-12, fifty-five Arts and Sciences
Program faculty and staff welcomed 191
first time freshmen, providing them with the
foundations of their engineering education
through courses in Chemistry, Communications,
Design, Health and Fitness, Humanities and
Social Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics.
In addition to delivering high quality courses,
the Arts and Sciences Program has continued
to expand its academic support services
through a number of tutorial programs and
has implemented the first components of an
Academic Intervention and Mentorship (AIM)
Program for academically at-risk students. As
part of a focus on providing engaging, studentcentered,
active learning environments, a
studio approach to teaching introductory
Physics was initiated, and additional online
learning tools such as MyEconLab for
Economics and LabSkills for Chemistry were
introduced. At the graduate level the new
MSc degree program in Applied Chemistry
received accreditation and several new
graduate level elective courses were offered.
Arts and Sciences faculty were also extremely
active in research and service, with several
faculty delivering invited talks at prestigious
conferences regionally and internationally.
Overall, A&S faculty were involved in 17
sponsored research projects, delivered 34
conference presentations and produced nearly
60 publications during Academic Year 2011-12.
The Program continued its extensive service
and outreach activities through the hosting of
area secondary school students, several invited
speaker series, special events, an international
design competition, and collaborative efforts
with both internal and external partners.
44

A year of transformation, growth and success
II. Department Mission and
Program Goals
The mission of the Arts and Sciences Program
is to provide undergraduate engineering
students with a high quality education which
broadens and supports their intellectual and
practical development through academic
excellence, scholarly research activity
and provision of the knowledge, skills and
dispositions necessary for students to succeed
in a globalized world.
The mission is guided by the following core
values:
••
Innovative approaches to teaching and
learning
••
High quality, relevant research
••
Diversity and collegiality
••
Interdisciplinary cooperation and
collaboration
••
Respect for diverse world views and the
cultural and Islamic traditions of the UAE
and wider region
III. 2011-12 Highlights
New Faculty and Staff
The Arts and Sciences Program welcomed five
new faculty members. In addition, 2011-12 saw
an outstanding faculty and staff retention rate
of 100%. The new faculty members are:
o Dr. Mohammad Abu Haija, Assistant
Professor, Chemistry
o Dr. Amani Omer, Assistant Professor,
H&SS
o Dr. Sarah Jackson, Assistant Professor,
H&SS
o Dr. Suzanne Scott, Assistant Professor,
Communications/STEPS
o Dr. Nicholas Dimmitt, Assistant Professor,
Communications
New Programs and Initiatives
2011-12 saw initiation of a studio approach to
teaching introductory calculus-based physics.
The studio approach entails a switch from a
traditional lecture/lab format to a curriculum
that aims to maximize student engagement
and improve learning outcomes via more
natural, student-centered instruction with
greater emphasis on course accessibility,
learner feedback, elements of inquiry, and the
resolution of conceptual misunderstandings.
Finally, as part of continuing efforts to promote
the development of life-long learning skills
and learner independence, online learning
materials have been introduced for Economics
(MyEconLab) and Chemistry (LabSkills)
courses.
45

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
The Masters of Science in Applied
Chemistry degree program received initial
accreditation from the Commission for
Academic Accreditation (CAA), Ministry of
Higher Education and Scientific Research.
Several new graduate electives were
also introduced: Technical and Scientific
Writing (Communications), Mathematical
Modeling in Engineering (Mathematics), and
Organometallic Chemistry: Homogenous
Catalysis (Chemistry).
Collaborative Endeavors
The A&S Department of Mathematics
continued working together with the
Engineering programs to offer several
advanced mathematics courses. The
Mathematics, Communications, Chemistry, and
Physics programs all collaborated with their
respective AUP counterparts on a cohesive
set of vertically integrated student learning
outcomes and to establish clear means of
appropriately placing students. The STEPS
program (Engineering Design), conducted a
review of STPS201 and STPS251 courses with
participation from the engineering programs
in order to integrate the learning outcomes of
these courses with the senior design sequence.
A&S departments also engaged in several
collaborative efforts with entities outside
of PI. The German program continued
collaborations with the Goethe-Institute Gulf
Region, the German Embassy, and the Dubaibased
German magazine Discover ME. As
part of these collaborative efforts, Arts and
Sciences students participated in a roundtable
discussion with the German Federal
President, Dr. Christian Wulff. Internationally,
the General Studies program organized the 4th
International Design Competition and Forum
in collaboration with the Colorado School of
Mines.
Sponsored Research
Arts and Sciences faculty were involved in 17
sponsored research projects (detailed in Table
2), delivered 34 conference presentations,
including several keynote and plenary talks,
and produced nearly 60 publications during
2011-12 (Table 1).
Table 1. A&S Faculty Publications Over Past Five Years
Publication Type 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Books 1 0 2 2 1 2
Edited collections 2 1 1 1 1 0
Edited journals 0 0 0 14 11 6
Book chapters 4 1 3 13 5 4
Journal articles 26 25 35 31 55 29
Conference proceedings 9 18 12 21 27 12
Other Peer-reviewed
11 2 4 1 2 4
Publication
Total Publications 55 47 57 83 102 57
46

A year of transformation, growth and success
Table 2. Sponsored Research Projects of A&S Faculty for 2011-12
Project Title
The big crew change: Implications of generation Y
coming of age for ADNOC
History of the Trucial Coast during World War II
Defining the competence needs of PI students
in English communication for design reports and
scientific journal articles
Mathematical problems related to the study of
carbonate rocks
Dr. Mohammed S. Jouini
A critical study and analysis of the manufacture
contract “aqd al-istisn” at the Islamic banking and
finance
From medieval Islamic sciences to the modern
West
Preparing global engineers: Developing
engineering design education across cultures
Sustainable production of biofuels from local (UAE)
marine and terrestrial feedstock (non-edible)
Dr. Mirella Elkadi
Analysis and control of fluid structure interaction
Efficient numerical techniques for solving non
linear systems of PDEs
Establishing excellence in engineering learning and
teaching
Dr. Ronald Miller (CSM)
Intercultural communication: A new competency
for the global engineer
The preparation, characterization and application
of ferrites as catalysts for the degradation of
organic pollutants in water
Project Turtle 2012: Design and control of a walking
and swimming unmanned underwater vehicle with
optimized oscillating foil propulsion
Dr. Jaby Mohammed
B-diketiminato pincer ligands for selective ethylene
oligomerization catalysts
A study of the chemistry associated with carbon di
oxide sequestration in carbonate reservoirs
Sustainable intensification and food security in the
UAE
Project Members
Dr. Hwee Ling Lim
Dr. Mark Hayman
Dr. Roger Nunn, Mr. William Rindfleisch,
Mr. David Moore, Ms. Janet Olearski, Mr.
John Langille
Dr. Jyotshana Prajapat
Dr. Abdulla Al Shami
Dr. Mashhad Al Allaf
Drs. Jamal Ahmad, Suzanne Scott, Brian
Bielenberg, and Robert Knecht (CSM)
Dr. Avin Pillay
Dr. Amjad Tuffaha
Dr. Ryan Fernandes
Dr. Brian Bielenberg
Dr. Suzanne Scott
Dr. Mohammad Abu Al-Haija
Dr. Samuel Cubero
Dr. Issam Kobrsi
Dr. Colin Francis
Dr. Amani Omer
47

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
IV. Current Initiatives
Student Retention Initiatives
Arts and Sciences provides a number of
services intended to enhance student
retention, from delivering more studentcentered,
active-learning courses to providing
academic support services through the
Chemistry Learning Center (CLC), Physics
Tutorial Program (PTP), Mathematics Learning
Support Center (MSLC) and the Writing
Center. In addition, this year A&S initiated the
Academic Intervention and Mentorship (AIM)
program to provide additional advising and
mentorship to academically at-risk students.
Service and Outreach
Arts and Sciences faculty have been involved
in a number of service and outreach activities
during the Academic Year 2011-12. The major
activities are:
••
Year 12 and 13 Chemistry students from
the British School Al Khubairat (BSAK)
visited the PI Organic Chemistry labs and
shadowed PI students
••
German-Emirati Cultural Evening
••
A&S sponsored student photo competition
••
A&S Events Committee talks
o Dr. Margit Muller, Abu Dhabi Falcon
Hospital
o Dr. Mark Hayman, PI
o Mr. Wasfi Abu Ghazaleh, Chief
Operating Officer at the Abu Dhabi
Technology Development Committee
o Dr. John Barry, Vice President of
Technical and Production, MENA,
Shell Country Chair for UAE
o Dr. Mashhad Al-Allaf, PI
Awards
Arts and Sciences students, faculty, and staff
achieved the following honors:
••
Student teams from the PI STEPS courses
were awarded first and second place in
the 4th International Design Competition
••
Dr. Paul Rostron, Chemistry - NACE
International Technical Achievement
Award
••
Dr. Ian McNaught, Chemistry – 2011
National Institute of Forensic Science of
Australia Best Paper in a Refereed Journal.
••
Dr. Issam Kobrsi – 2011-12 PI Junior Faculty
Teaching Award
••
Mr. Amr Elhameed, 2011-12 PI Laboratory
Staff Service Award
V. Summary and Future Plans
The Arts and Sciences Program plays a key
role in preparing engineering students for
their engineering studies and their career as
a professional engineer. The courses offered
develop understanding of fundamental
science, mathematics and engineering
concepts while also cultivating professional
skills such as teamwork, problem solving,
leadership, communication, and critical and
creative thinking. In addition, A&S courses
provide insights into global issues and the
impacts of engineering on society in the 21st
century.
48

A year of transformation, growth and success
College of Engineering
Dr. Youssef Lotfy Abdel Magid, Dean
49

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Department Of Chemical Engineering
Dr. Ali Al Mansoori, Chair
I. Executive Summary
In 2011-2012, the Department of Chemical
Engineering was strengthened with new
faculty members and staff. The department
also secured funding for a number of research
projects from the university and from external
funding agencies. Some faculty members
hold distinguished positions and have been
published in top-ranking international journals.
II. Department Mission and
Program Goals
The Department of Chemical Engineering
provides opportunities for young men and
women to develop the knowledge and skills
needed to pursue a rewarding and productive
career in the chemical industries. The program
aims to train chemical engineers with the
comprehensive skills required to work and live
effectively in the multicultural environment
that pervades today’s global community. The
specific goals and missions are to:
• Develop strong technical skills, sound
knowledge, and the highest level of
competencies necessary to work effectively
in the global engineering community;
• Ascribe to the highest standards of health,
safety, and environmental awareness;
• Build communication skills to communicate
effectively in engineering circles and in the
international business community;
• Strengthen collaborative working skills
required to solve important engineering
problems;
• Provide opportunities to develop critical
leadership skills required to lead engineering
project teams;
• Address key issues concerning engineering
ethics; and
50

A year of transformation, growth and success
• Afford opportunities for young adults
to strengthen their social skills through
extracurricular activities.
The program features a summer internship
in industry which offers students significant
exposure to the petroleum and chemical
processing industries in the Middle East and
elsewhere in the world.
The department possesses state-of-the-art
laboratories and equipment. Our laboratories
include the Catalysis, Reaction Engineering
and Process Intensification, Flow Assurance
and Production Chemistry, Polymer Physics/
Chemistry, and the Environmental Chemistry
laboratories. There are also dedicated facilities
and software for computational work.
III. Highlights of the Academic
Year 2011 – 12
New employees (faculty)
Dr. Ali Elkamel, Visiting Professor (2011)
Dr. Fawzi Banat, Professor (2011)
Dr. Kean Wang, Associate Professor (2011)
Dr. Saeed Alhassan, Assistant Professor (2011)
Dr. Rajinder Pal, Visiting Professor (2012)
Collaborative Endeavors
The department has a number of collaborative
research projects with the University of
Minnesota, the University of Maryland, the
Colorado School of Mines, Rice University, etc.
51

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Research Projects (2011-2012)
Externally Funded Projects
Project Title Investigator Funding Agent
Discrete particle modeling of hydrodynamics
and heat transfer in fluidized catalytic cracking
reactors
Handling of high H2S, CO2 and unconventional
contaminants concentrations
Use of classical and modern concrete
admixtures for oilfield cementing jobs
BTEX removal in the sulfur recovery process
using adsorption
Abdallah S Berrouk, Hakim
Koudil
Abdallah S Berrouk, Cornelis
Peters
Ghada Bassioni
Ahmed Al Shoaibi,C. S. Kannan
TAKREER
GRC
WACKER CHEMIE
Surface-Engineered Self-Healing Anti-
Vikas Mittal, Kean Wang GRC
Corrosion Particle Coatings for Pipes and
Storage Tanks
Evaluation of Regenerable Zinc Oxide
Cornelis Peters, Carmen GASCO/ADGAS
Based Solid Sorbent “S6” to Absorb Low
Concentrations of Hydrogen Sulfide from
Process Gas Streams.
Gutierrez
Deterioration of Solvent Quality and Foaming Fawzi Banat (PI), Dinesh GRC
Problems in a Gas Sweetening Unit
Prabhu (GASCO), Salem Sayegh
(GASCO), Anton Demmers
(Shell), Priyabrata Pal
N2 Separation from Natural Gas Kean Wang (PI), Vikas Mittal GRC
Ionic Liquids for Gas Separation
Thermodynamic Model Development for the
ADCO CO2 EOR Project
Treatment of Contaminants in the Claus
Furnace
Development of Experimental and Modeling
Methods to Predict Asphaltene Deposition
Study of Asphaltene Deposition Tendency
through Simultaneous Determination of Phase
Behavior and Interfacial Properties
Study of Asphaltene Reservoir Flow Assurance
Cornelis Peters (PI), Ali
Almansoori, Ioannis Economou,
Xiaohui Zhang (Shell), M.C.
Kroon
Ioannis Economou (PI), Mr.
Nikolas Diamantonis
Ahmed Al Shoaibi
Francisco Vargas (PI), John
Chai (ME), Yap F. (ME), Walter
Chapman (Rice)
Francisco Vargas (PI), Cor
Peters, Ioannis Economou,
Bianca Breure
Shawket Ghedan (PI, PE),
Francisco Vargas
GRC
ADCO
GASCO/ADGAS
ADCO/ZADCO/
ADMA
ADCO/ZADCO/
ADMA
ZADCO
52

A year of transformation, growth and success
Collaborative Projects
Systematic study of aluminum leaching
process
Characterization and Rheological
behavior of nanofluids
Molecular Modeling of Fluid Phase
Equilibria
Simulation, Optimization and Control of
Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems
A Direct Internal-Reforming Protonic-
Ceramic Fuel Cell
Pyrolysis Reactions of Butene Isomers at
Low Temperatures
Sulfur Recovery from Gas Stream Using
Flameless and Flame Combustion
Reactor
Integration of Engineering and Business
Decisions for Robust Optimization of
Petrochemical Systems
Synthesis and Processing of
Functionalized Polyolefins
Polymeric Membranes for Advanced
Process Engineering
Graphene/Polymer Composites
Graphene functionalization for polymer
nanocomposites
Conversion of CO2 into polymers and
chemicals
Graphene-Based Masterbatches for
Polyolefin
In-situ Polymerization for the
Production of Graphite-Based Melamine
Nanocomposites
Modeling of Asphaltene Precipitation and
Deposition in Crude Oil Systems
Ghada Bassioni, Fathia S.
Mohammad (AUS), Essam A. H.
Al-Zubaidy
Ghada Bassioni; Youssef Shatilla,
Waka Tesfai, Pawan Singh
Ioannis Economou (PI), Ilija
Siepmann (UMN)
Ali Almansoori (PI), Prodromos
Daoutidis (UMN)
Ali Almansoori (PI), Ryan O’Hayre
(CSM), Neal Sullivan (CSM)
Ahmed Al Shoaibi (PI)
Ahmed Al Shoaibi (PI)
Ali Almansoori (PI), Shapour Azarm
(UMD), P.K. Kannan (UMD)
Ahmed Abdala (PI), M. Hillmyer, C.
Macosko (UMN)
Frank Bates, Edward Cussler, Marc
Hillmyer (UMN), Timothy Lodge
(UMN), Ahmed Abdala (PI)
Ahmed Abdala (PI), Frank Bates
(UMN), Chris Macosko (UMN)
Ahmed Abdala (PI) and Matthew
Liberator (CSM)
Friedrich Srienc UMN) and Ahmed
Abdala (PI)
Ahmed Abdala, Sulafudin Vukusic,
Christian Paulack (Borealis), Gernot
Wallner (Leoben)
Ahmed Abdala, Sulafudin Vukusic,
C. Schwarzinger
Francisco Vargas, Walter Chapman
(Rice)
PI-American
University Sharjah
PI-MASDAR Institute
PI – University of
Minnesota (UMN)
PI-University of
Minnesota (UMN)
PI- Colorado School
of Mine (CSM)
PI- Colorado School
of Mine (CSM)
PI- University of
Maryland (UMD)
PI- EERC
PI-ADMIRE
PI-ADMIRE
PI-
PI-ADMIRE
PI- Linz
PI-Leoben
PI-Rice
53

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
PI Funded Projects
Computer-Aided Process Simulation Modules in
Chemical Engineering Education l
Recovery from Gas Stream Using Flameless and Flame
Combustion Reactor
Synthesis and Processing of Functionalized Polyolefins
Polymeric Membranes for Advanced Process Engineering
Graphene/Polymer Composites
Degradation studies of concrete
Novel late transition metal catalysts
Development of Catalyzed High Surface Area Porous
Carbons for Gas Processing
Remediation of Sulfidic Wastewater by Advanced
Oxidation
Inverse opals for oil sensors
Highly efficient catalytic system for production of syngas
or hydrogen
Effect of Aluminum Leaching of Cooking Wares on Food
and related Impact on the Human Health
Transition metal catalyzed methane oxidation in
homogeneous phase
Highly efficient catalytic system for production of syngas
or hydrogen
Power system optimization for integration of renewable
energy sources and natural gas for utility and
transportation sectors
Petroleum pitch derived carbon for methane adsorption
Semi-conductive Cross-linked Polyethylene for Medium
and High Voltage Cables via Graphene Composites
Fundamental Understanding and Applications of water
based colloidal Glass and Gel
Surface treated nanoparticles for stabilizing CO2 foams
for potential mobility control applications
Development of predictive model to anticipate
asphaltene precipitation and deposition at reservoir
conditions
Ali Almansoori (PI), Ali Elkamel
(PI), Salah Abu Yahya (PI)
Ahmed Al Shoaibi
Marc Hillmyer (UMN), Chris
Macosko (UMN), Ahmed Abdala
Frank Bates (UMN), Edward Cussler
(UMN), Marc Hillmyer (UMN),
Timothy Lodge (UMN), Ahmed
Abdala,
Ahmed Abdala, Frank Bates (UMN),
Chris Macosko (UMN)
Avin Pillay, Mirela El Kadi, Sai Fok;
Ghada Bassioni, Sasi Stephen; Fadi
Fegali
Ghada Bassioni, Issam Kobrsi
C. S. Kannan
Ahmed Al Shoaibi
Vikas Mittal
Radu V. Vladea, Ghada Bassioni,
Catalysis and Process Intensification
Group
Ghada Bassioni, Issam Kobrsi,
Fathia S. Mohammad, Essam A. H.
Al Zubaidy
Ghada Bassioni, Radu Vladea,
Fritz E.
Radu Vladea, Saeed Alhassan
Ali Almansoori (PI), Ebrahim
Al-Hajri (PI), Ali Elkamel (PI)
Kean Wang, Ali Elkamel
Ahmed Abdala
Saeed Alhassan
Saeed Alhassan, Radu Vladea
Francisco Vargas, John Chai, Yap Y.
Fatt
PI
PI
PI
PI
Note: GRC = Gas Research Center (GASCO, SHELL, TOTAL, PARTEX)
54

A year of transformation, growth and success
Activities Focused on Student
Retention
Extra-curricular activities are an integral
aspect of campus life at the PI. Students are
encouraged to propose new clubs, participate
in student-run activities, and become active
members of our community.
Current PI student clubs include the
Environmental Club, the Creativity Club, the
Social and Cultural Club, the Marine Club, and
Las Señoras Book Club. Current professional
chapters include the American Institute of
Chemical Engineers (AIChE). The American
Institute of chemical engineers (AIChE) is a
professional association of more than 40,000
chemical engineers in 93 countries. The AIChE
student chapter was launched in spring 2009
under the supervision of Dr. Ahmed Al Shoaibi.
The aim of this student chapter at the PI is
to involve our students with other chemical
engineering students from various institutions
in the world through conferences and forums.
The AIChE female and male student chapters
organize events such seminars, regional quiz
competitions, plant trips, BBQ’s, sports day,
bowling evenings and movie nights.
Chemical
Engineering
Student’s
Visit to
GASCO
Bu Hasa
Plant
Chemical
Engineering
Student’s
Trip to
Altaweela
Desalination
Plant
55

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Chemical Engineering Students Participated in a SPE Workshop 2012
Department Lunch for Dr. Shoaibi’s promotion to Dean of Academic Affairs
Chemical Engineering Students presenting their Design Projects at PI open days
Awards
Dr. Francisco Vargas received the PI Teaching
Award for Junior Faculty 2011-2012 for his
outstanding teaching.
Service
Dr. Ghada Bassioni received the SPE award
for dedicated and outstanding service in 2011.
56

A year of transformation, growth and success
Department of Electrical Engineering
Dr. Khalid Al Wahedi, (Acting) Chair
I. Executive Summary
The year 2011-2012 was the year of ABET.
The hard work of the previous five years
finally came to fruition, when a team from
the Accreditation Board for Engineering and
Technology (ABET) visited the PI in fall 2011 to
evaluate its five B.Sc. programs. The Electrical
Engineering program was commended for its
strong design component, as demonstrated by
its final year design projects. The department
as a whole impressed the evaluators, and they
finally awarded the Electrical Engineering
department their accreditation.
Although ABET accreditation was a major
accomplishment, we also had many other
accomplishments during the year. Our students
participated in local and regional competitions
and won awards and our faculty was engaged
in collaborative and joint research projects on
regional and international levels.
II. The Department’s Mission
and Vision
The mission of the Electrical Engineering
Program is to provide a world-class education
in electrical engineering with emphasis on
power, instrumentation and control systems
and automation engineering that prepares
graduates for successful professional careers
in ADNOC, other allied sponsors, in the
broader energy industry, and in a lifetime of
learning that will enable them to continue their
education throughout their career.
The vision of the Electrical Engineering
Program at the Petroleum Institute is to be
recognized as a premier electrical engineering
57

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
program that provides a world-class education
and research in electrical engineering through
focused activities and the excellence of its
faculty, staff, graduates, and facilities.
III. Highlights for the
Academic Year 2011 – 12
New Faculty and Staff
Dr. Igor Boiko joined the PI in September 2011 as
an Associate Professor.
He received his D.Sc.
and PhD Degrees from
Tula State University,
Russia in 2009 and
1990 respectively. In
1998 he started working
in the Canadian petro-chemical industry in the
area of distributed control systems and process
control. He developed a number of innovative
control applications successfully used in the
industry, among which the most important are
the adaptive control system for the sulphur
recovery process, and modified relay feedback
test used in controller tuning software. Dr.
Boiko also led the design of control systems
on Canadian mega-projects such as Syncrude
UE-1 and Shell Albian Sands. At the University
of Calgary he conducted research in the area
of discontinuous control and sliding mode
control in particular, and in process control. He
developed a novel frequency-domain theory
of discontinuous control systems, frequencydomain
methods of analysis and a design for
sliding-mode control systems, which became
the subject of his D.Sc. dissertation. Dr. Boiko
has over 100 publications to his credit and is a
Senior Member of IEEE and a member of IEEE
Technical Committee on Variable Structure
and Sliding Mode Control.
Dr. Khalifa Hasan Al Hosani joined the the PI as
an Assistant Professor in
September 2011. As part
of his PhD dissertation
(Ohio State University,
2011), he researched
ways to reduce
chattering or ripple
existing in most modern power electronics in
general and power converters in particular,
using sliding mode control and harmonics
cancellation techniques. Dr. Khalifa’s paper
on multiphase power boost converters with
sliding mode was selected as the best student
paper finalist in the IEEE Multi-conference on
systems and control held in Saint Petersburg,
Russia (2009). His research interests include
nonlinear control, sliding mode control,
control of power electronics, power system
stability and control, renewable energy system
modeling and control, smart gird, micro-grid,
and distributed generation, application of
control theory to quantum mechanical systems,
and nuclear power waste management.
Dr. Cedric Caruana joined the PI as a Visiting
Assistant Professor
in October 2011. Dr.
Caruana received his
PhD from the University
of Nottingham, UK in
2004 on the sensorless
control of AC drives. He
is a member of the IET
and the IEEE. His research interests include
the control of electrical drives, alternative
energy conversion and network integration,
microgrids, electrical machines and industrial
energy efficiency. Dr. Caruana has authored
numerous papers presented in international
conferences and in journals.
58

A year of transformation, growth and success
Mrs. Omkalthoum El-Bashir obtained a BSc
(2003) and MSc (2011)
in Electrical Engineering
from UEA University.
After her first degree
she worked as an
Academic Assistant
in UAEU, where she
taught and delivered
tutorial sessions for engineering courses
and assisted undergraduate students in their
graduation projects. She has publications to
her credit in the area of wireless networks and
was awarded the Golden Card for Excellence
as an undergraduate. She joined the PI as a
Lab Engineer in the Electrical Engineering
Department in 2011.
Mr. Malik Abdul Haleem obtained a BSc
in Electrical and
Electronics Engineering
from Federal Urdu
University of Arts,
Science & Technology
(FUUAST), Islamabad
Pakistan. He also has
3-year Diploma of Associate Engineering
in Electronics. Currently he is working as a
Lab Technician in the Electrical Engineering
department at the PI.
Mr. Saikrishna Kanukollu completed a B.
Tech degree at JNT
University, India and
earned his M.Tech
from Indian Institute of
Technology Bombay,
with specialization in
Power Electronics and
Power Systems. Later he joined ABB and
worked as an Application Engineer in the
field of Energy Management Systems until
he joined the PI in 2011. His areas of interests
include Advanced Control of Electrical Drives,
Active Filters, DC/AC and DC/DC Converters.
IV. Current Initiatives
In order to encourage the students towards
research activities the IEEE student chapter
organized the IEEE Robotics Competition in
May 2012, and the IEEE Best Research Paper
Competition on the topic of Nuclear Energy
Lesson Learnt; Erum Mansoor won the best
paper award.
Collaborative Endeavors
The Department has hosted visiting research
assistants from several universities including
Mentouri University of Constantine, Algeria;
King Saud University, Saudi Arabia; the Electric
Power Research Institute, China; the Colorado
School of Mines, US and the Kitami Institute of
Technology, Japan.
Student Activities
1. PI-EE undergraduate students under the
guidance of Dr. Khalifa Hasan Al Hosani
participated in the World Future Energy
Summit (WFES) 2012. This was sponsored by
Emirates Foundation. EE graduate students
showcased their research activities in the
poster presentations and Dr. Khalifa Hasan
Al Hosani gave a podium presentation with
the title ‘The Journey towards a Smart
Renewable-Friendly Grid’.
2. EE senior students showcased their senior
design project in the 2012 Water, Energy,
Technology and Environment Exhibition
(WETEX) held by Dubai Electricity and
Water Authority (DEWA) in May 2012. Khalid
Atef, Ahmed Elsamary, Abdullah Wasfi and
Salem Alkaabi presented their ‘Smart House
Project’ in the exhibition. The students had
the opportunity to exchange their ideas
with professionals from companies like
ABB, SEIMENS, etc.
59

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
3. EE senior students participated in the
exhibition held by GASCO in Khalifa complex
in Abu Dhabi. The aim of the exhibition was
to increase awareness of local knowledge
resources. A team of 4 students showcased
their ‘Autonomous Vacuum Cleaner’ and
‘Smart House’ projects in the exhibition.
4. IEEE student branch organized a number of
programs at the PI in April and May, including
the IEEE Sports Day, the IEEE Women in
Engineering (WIE) Fun Day, the IEEE WIE
LOCO Locals Stand-up Comedy Show, the
IEEE Robotics Competition and the IEEE
Best Research Paper Competition (Nuclear
Energy). The IEEE WIE student Chapter
donated some used computers to Zayed
Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care
& Special Needs.
V. Achievements and Awards
1. EE faculty Dr. Balanthi Abdul Rahiman Beig
received the best researcher award in the
2012 PI Annual Commencement celebration.
2. In May, EE students Ahmad Abdelrahman,
Basel Madi, Solaiman Hossam, and Hesham
Osama won the 1st prize for their project
‘Adaptive Vibration Energy Harvester’
which was supervised by Dr. Nader Vahdati,
and Dr. Lisa Lamont in the 3rd Engineering
Students Renewable Energy Competition
2012 (ESREC’2012) held by the Faculty of
Engineering at UAE University in May 5,
2012.
Research Projects
Legend: PI – Principal Investigator; Co-PI – Co-Principal Investigator
Project Title
Investigators
Design of optimal process-specific tuning rules for linear and
Igor Boiko
nonlinear PID controllers (PI)
Black Powder, Sources, Detection and Mitigation in Gas
Transmission and Distribution Systems (Gasco)
Mitigation of harmonic problems in the VSDs of NDC rigs
Design of improved active power filters for highly distorted
voltage conditions
Grid Integration of Large Scale Renewable Power in U.A.E
Considering Unfriendly Climate Events of the Region (PI)
Development of a PV Grid Connected Inverter for Smart grids
(CSM – PI)
Study on smoothing control strategy for wind/PV power
generation based on multi-types battery energy storage
systems (NSFC, China)
Accurate Estimation of the Partial Discharge Location on Power
Cable to Enhance the Cable Maintenance Strategy of ADNOC
(PI)
Mohamed Saeed Alshehhi (PI),
Ebrahim Al-Hajri, Lyes Khezzar,
Khaled Al-Wahedi, Ahmed Al
Durra, Mahmoud Meribout.
A. R. Beig (PI), Youssef Abdel
–Magid (Investigator), Khalifa
Hassan Al Hosani (Investigator)
A. R. Beig (PI), Youssef Abdel
–Magid (Co-PI)
Ahmed Al-Durra (PI) and S. M.
Muyeen (PI)
Ahmed Al-Durra, S. M. Muyeen,
Marcelo Godoy Simoes
S. M. Muyeen, Li, Xiangjun
Redy Mardiana
60

A year of transformation, growth and success
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dr. John Chai, Chair
I. Executive Summary
Over the 2011 – 2012 academic year, the
Mechanical Engineering (ME) program was
accredited by ABET (formerly known as ‘The
Accreditation Board for Engineering and
Technology’). We welcomed three new faculty
members: Dr. F. Ozturk, Dr. F. Almaskari and
Dr. T. Shahin, resulting in faculty strength of
23 members. We continue to provide our
sponsor the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company
(ADNOC) with quality graduates. Thirty-five
male and ten female students graduated and
five graduate students obtained their Master’s
degrees.
Many of our students have done well locally
and internationally. Ms. Ghena Alhanaee and
Ms. Heyam Alblooshi were selected as UAE/
NASA Research Fellows for the Spring 2012
semester. This fellowship is given to three
outstanding undergraduate or graduate
UAE nationals studying in the UAE. We are
extremely proud that our undergraduates
formed two-thirds of the UAE’s team. Ghena
and Heyam spent 15 weeks at the NASA
Ames Research Center, California, where they
performed cutting-edge research. Continuing
from her NASA experience, Ghena is currently
pursuing her Master’s degree at Stanford
University.
We are also proud of the achievements of
our faculty members. Dr. A. Goharzadeh was
promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in
September 2011; Dr. L. Khezzar, together with
his research associate Dr. N. Kharoua, won the
Filtration Award from the Process Division of
the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, UK
and Dr. R. Simmons was elected Fellow of the
System Safety Society.
61

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Dr. C. Rodrigues published the fifth edition of his
book; Dr. P. Rodgers edited the proceedings of
the 12th International Conference on Thermal,
Mechanical and Multi-Physics Simulation and
Experiments in Micro-Electronics and Micro-
Systems and Dr. R. Simmons edited six issues
of the Journal of System Safety. ME faculty
members published a total 42 journal and 33
conference articles.
II. Department Vision and
Mission
Vision
The Mechanical Engineering Department at
the Petroleum Institute will be internationally
renowned for mechanical engineering
education and research relevant to the
petroleum and energy industries.
Mission
To support the advancement of the petroleum
and energy industries in the United Arab
Emirates through excellence in education and
research in the field of mechanical engineering.
III. Highlights for Academic
Year 2011 – 12
New Faculty
Dr. Fahad Almaskari joined the Mechanical
Engineering
department as
Assistant Professor in
2011. He completed
his Master’s and PhD
program in Mechanical
Engineering at
the University of
Manchester in 2004 and 2010 respectively. His
research focuses on improving the modeling
capability of damage in composite structures.
His interests lie in the area of solid mechanics.
Dr. Fahrettin Ozturk also joined the Mechanical
Engineering
department as
Associate Professor
in 2011. He received
his PhD in 2002
at the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute,
Troy, NY, USA. His research focuses on the
mechanical properties of materials, the
formability of sheet metals, lightweight
materials, and finite element simulations.
Dr. Tamer Shahin joined the Petroleum
Institute in 2012 as an
Associate Professor.
Dr. Shahin was one of
the youngest students
to be admitted into
University College
London’s Mechanical
engineering program
at sixteen years old. He obtained his PhD from
Brunel University in the field of Computer
Aided Design and he co-founded the
International Engineering Design Conference
series. His research interests lie in engineering
design methodology, productivity, innovation,
and computer aided design.
IV. Mechanical Engineering
Events
Female Student Activities
Mechanical Engineering female students have
been involved in a number of different activities
outside of the classroom. Each semester, we
organize informal faculty-student gatherings
as well as meetings to address the questions
of prospective ME students currently enrolled
in the Advanced University Preparation (AUP)
department. During the last academic year ME
students visited the GASCO plant in Ruwais,
62

A year of transformation, growth and success
the Yas Marina Circuit and Turbine Services &
Solutions, a company that performs turbine
overhauls. Another achievement was the
revival of the female ASME club at Arzanah.
The students took the initiative to organize
the club and recruit new members. The ASME
student club is now functioning along with
the Emirates Society for Energy (ESE) club.
Members actively participated in campus
events including fund-raising for the “Educate
Africa” campaign.
Male Students Activities
Socials
In March, a barbeque lunch was organized for
the male students in Heritage Village at the PI.
The event was rounded up with a raffle, with
three lucky winners.
SAE Mini Baja
The Mechanical Engineering Baja SAE team
made very good progress in August. During
this period, a new chassis was designed using
SolidWorks. Many finite element (FE) analyses
were conducted to make sure the new chassis
could handle vehicle roll-overs. The ANSYS
FE analyses resulted in the right selection of
material and tube ID and OD. To fabricate the
new chassis, SolidWorks CAD files of the new
chassis were emailed to a Canadian company
and precision laser cut tubes were shipped to
the PI.
To assemble the tubes into a chassis, several
pieces of equipment were purchased: two
tube benders to form the tubes that were
needed for the chassis, and an optical laser
table for better assembly and welding of the
Baja chassis.
The PI’s Baja Vehicle, designed and fabricated
by PI students, was completed ahead of
schedule and the students involved will
participate in the 2013 SAE race at the
Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.
Keynote & Invited Talks:
Dr. J. Chai presented a keynote talk entitled
“Level-Set Method for Multiphase Flows”
at CHT-12: International Symposium on
Advances in Computational Heat Transfer, in
Bath, England, in July, with Dr. Y.F. Yap as the
co-author. Dr. Chai also presented a second
keynote talk entitled “Numerical Modeling of
Asphaltene Deposition” at HEFAT2012, the
9th International Conference on Heat Transfer,
Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, in
Malta in July, where he co-authored with Ms.
Q. Ge, Dr. Y.F. Yap, Dr. F.M. Vargas and Dr. M.
Zhang.
Dr. Peter Rodgers gave an invited luncheon
talk entitled: “Status and Challenges of
Meeting Global Energy Demands for 2030,” at
the 28th Annual IEEE Thermal Measurement,
Modeling and Management Symposium,
San Jose, CA, USA in March. He also gave
a keynote presentation entitled: “Prospects
for Waste Heat Recovery in Microelectronic
Systems,” at the Thirteenth International
Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and
Multi-Physics Simulation and Experiments in
Micro-Electronics and Micro-Systems, Cascais,
Portugal in April.
63

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Research Projects 2011-2012
Faculty Name
Dr. Ebrahim Al Hajri
Dr. Valérie Eveloy
Dr. Yves Gunaltun
Dr. Ebru Günister
Dr.Didarul Islam
Dr. Hamad Karki
Dr. Lyes Khezzar
Research Project Title
High Efficiency Energy Recovery Utilizing Micro-channel Heat Exchangers
(Funded by Gas-subcommittee)
Enhancement of Polymerization Process in a Microchannel Reactor
(Under the EERC. Funds are not available at PI)
Thermal Management of Solar Photovoltaics in Hot Environments for
Power Generation in Oil and Gas Facilities (funded RAGS Project No.
12072)
Waste Heat Utilization in the Oil and Gas industry (non-funded research
project with on-going publications)
GRC (GASCO) projects: development of chemistry and materials
laboratory
GRC (GASCO) projects H2S corrosion esozoic in cooperation with Ohio
University
Research Project “Polyethylene/Clay Nanocomposites
Design, Construction and Modeling of a solar pressure cooker” project
no-2071.
Study of Drill String Vibration (with the University of Maryland).
Development of a mobile platform for extreme environments (with the
University of Maryland).
RAGS project- Characteristics of Viscoelastic flows for High Weissenberg
Numbers of Relevance To Polymer Melt Flows
ADCO project – Multiphase flow in separators
Black powder project from the GRC
Development of a Long Range UT inspection tool.
Dr. Fahrettin Ozturk
Dr. Peter Rodgers
Prediction of forming a limit diagram using an improved analytical model.
Research Initiation on Multiphase Flow Measurement and Characterization
for Petroleum Engineering Applications (RAGS Project No. 12067, with
Dr. Afshin Goharzadeh
Thermal Management of Solar Photovoltaics in Hot Environments for
Power Generation in Oil and Gas Facilities (RAGS Project No. 12072, with
Dr. Valerie Eveloy)
Waste Heat Utilization in the Oil and Gas Industry (with Dr. Valerie Eveloy)
Nonlinear torsional vibration absorber
Dr. Oleg Shiryayev
Trigonometric collocation for calculation of steady state responses of
cracked structures
64

A year of transformation, growth and success
Department of Petroleum Engineering
Dr. Hemanta Kumar Sarma, Chair
I. Department Mission and
Program Goals
The mission of the Petroleum Engineering
program at the Petroleum Institute is to
become a leading international center of
excellence in education, training, research
and professional service dedicated to serving
the competence, training and technology
development needs of the petroleum
industry in general, and ADNOC and other
allied sponsors in particular. Our mission is
to provide a platform for life-long learning
while also emphasizing the importance of an
interdisciplinary approach, ethical conduct,
and health, safety & environmental issues.
The Petroleum Engineering program at the
PI has a modern curriculum that emphasizes
not only petroleum engineering fundamentals
but also the business processes applied to
reach optimal engineering solutions for field
development and operations. With access
to the local operating company facilities,
our well-equipped state-of-the-art modern
laboratory and computer facilities, we are
uniquely positioned to offer a curriculum that
is well balanced and hands-on. We are also
accredited to offer IWCF certification and
training for drilling engineers. Course content,
projects and other assignments are selected
to help prepare graduates to launch careers
within ADNOC and other allied sponsors as
willing and eager contributors, equipped with
knowledge and skills of basic engineering
and science, fundamental understandings
of reservoir, well, production and surface
facilities.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
II. The Chairman’s Message
Petroleum Engineering is a relatively new
industry-specific engineering discipline
related to the exploration, development and
exploitation of hydrocarbon resources.
Typically, the realm of a Petroleum Engineer
often starts from a few hundreds or thousands
of metres subsurface and ends at the gate
of the refinery. Because petroleum engineers
deal with the hydrocarbon resources that
is primarily located underground, we also
need to have a sound understanding of
the geoscientific principles and be able
to manage the challenges posed by risks
and uncertainties. Therefore, a total system
approach is critical in the development and
exploitation of hydrocarbon resources while
emphasizing the adaptability to and awareness
of new technology; collaboration in a multidisciplinary
setting; strict attention to the
environmental, health and safety issues; ability
to communicate effectively; thriving in cultural
diversity and being respectful of others; and
last, but certainly not least, the ability to have
fun while learning and working.
Therefore, put simply, as petroleum engineers
our task may include any or all of the following:
• confirm and evaluate the presence of
petroleum reservoir,
• quantify resource and reserve sizes
in order to make investment and
development decisions,
• plan field development programs to
meet technical and economic objectives
during hydrocarbon recovery, including
commitments to clients (refineries, gas
processing plants, etc.),
• develop models and simulate various
recovery processes to optimize ultimate
recovery,
• design and execute drilling programs
to construct wells that produce
hydrocarbons,
• design and operate surface facilities that
process hydrocarbons to meet sales
specifications,
• operate and monitor field production for
most effective recovery,
• all while conducting every activity in a
manner that is consistent with utmost
respect for the health and safety of all
personnel and the safety of equipment
while protecting the environment.
Our curriculum offers a well-balanced total
system approach that blends engineering
theory and practice with geosciences
and management principles, including an
understanding of risks and uncertainties.
Our program is staffed by a teaching and
research faculty and laboratory engineers
with over 150 years of accumulated industrial
experience in petroleum exploration and
production businesses and over 90 years
of experience in university-level teaching
and research, and we continually seek to
build a strong faculty team, supported by
a team of highly competent laboratory and
research personnel. Those who qualify will
enjoy a competitive compensation package,
exemption from most taxes, an exciting and
challenging work environment, and wonderful
travel and recreation opportunities, all while
enjoying an exotic lifestyle.
Our laboratories are world class, equipped
with the state-of-the-art equipment
including a full-size drilling, cementing and
workover simulator in addition to a portable
simulator; a reservoir engineering computer
laboratory with 30 workstations; a reservoir
simulation laboratory with 21 workstations;
a 3-D visualization laboratory; core and
rock mechanics laboratories; hydrocarbon
66

A year of transformation, growth and success
fluids laboratory and instrument room;
and a subsurface and surface production
laboratory. Our computer and simulation labs
are equipped with the same state-of-theart
software that our graduates will use in
their jobs. We are one of the few Petroleum
Engineering IWCF-approved and accredited
training and certification programs in drilling
engineering.
III. Highlights for Academic
Year 2011 – 12
New Employees
Dr. Ali M. Al Sumaiti
Associate Professor
We enjoy a close working relationship with
the management and technical personnel
of ADNOC, its operating companies and our
international shareholder supporters. This
relationship has been instrumental in fostering
and developing our educational program
outcomes to include competencies required
by our students’ eventual employers. The
relationship has also helped in planning for
focused research programs that will meet
both our sponsors’ needs for new technology
and the PI’s needs to be engaged in cuttingedge
technology development.
Because of the commitment of our parent
company, ADNOC, and our international
shareholder supporters (BP, JODCO, Shell,
Total), The Petroleum Institute enjoys a level
of support that enables us to provide facilities
and equipment and attract faculty of a caliber
that ensures a top quality education for the
youth of the United Arab Emirates.
Hemanta Sarma
Professor and Chairman
Petroleum Engineering Program
Dr. Hadil Abukhalifeh
Research & Teaching
Associate
Mr. Ismail Dhaoui
Lab IT
Promotions
September 2011: Richard Lau of the PE
Department was promoted from Lecturer to
Senior Lecturer.
Structural Changes
Recent changes in the PE curriculum involved
the modification of pre-requisites for some
courses. The guiding principle used by the PE
curriculum committee in this regard was the
improvement of student ability to master core
petroleum engineering courses and feedback
from instructors. PE summer internship now
requires not only senior standing but also
credits for core PE courses such as Reservoir
Engineering I, Drilling Engineering I and
Production Facilities. The changes have been
approved by the PI Curriculum Committee
and are in effect from academic year 2012-
2013. As a result, the Petroleum Engineering
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Awards
October 2010: Dr. Shawket Ghedan was
awarded Outstanding Technical Editor citation
at the SPE International’s Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition in Florence. Dr.
Ghedan has been an award winning SPE
member at regional and international levels.
Department is now following a curriculum that
requires 138 credit hours for graduation.
Our PE design courses were revamped in the
last academic year partly because of ABET
requirements and also to provide a significant
design experience for our students. The
number of seats has been restricted to just
four per section to ensure the full participation
of students. In line with ABET requirements,
the content had been changed to remove any
research component and to expose students
to real design problems that include realistic
constrain’s and decision-taking. The design
courses combine the different aspects of
petroleum engineering knowledge covered
during their studies and also includes economic
analysis.
June 2012: Mr. Mohamad Yousef Alklih and
Mr. Adnan Aboud Al Marri, senior petroleum
engineering undergraduates, won the 3rd
place in the 3rd SPE Young Professionals Paper
Contest held in Abu Dhabi. Their competition
was based on a research paper entitled
“Stimulation of Tight Sandstone Reservoir
for Improved Water Injectivity” (supervised
by Dr. Bisweswar Ghosh). The contest allows
young professionals to share their research,
ideas, innovations and case studies and by
winning third place, the PI students qualified
to compete in the GCC Young Professionals
Paper Contest in Kuwait.
In Fall 2011 we introduced further risk and
uncertainty topics which are covered at the
beginning of the semester so that students
are better prepared to learn core petroleum
engineering topics. There is also more
emphasis put on statistics components.
We had three technical electives in Fall 2011
and three in Spring 2012. In addition, there
is also a new PE technical elective PEEG493,
Special Topics in PE – Well Treatment that
began in Fall 2012.
Mr. Mohamad Alklih with Mr. Arafat AlYafei
(SPE-AD Chairman), Dr. Hemanta Sarma
(Head of PI PED) and Dr. Ali AlSumaiti
(Assistant Professor, PI PED)
December 2010
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Petroleum Engineering student Mr. Yu Zhou
won 2nd place in the Student Paper Contest
held in King Fahad University of Petroleum and
Minerals, Saudi Arabia (organized in conjunction
with the 2nd Saudi Oil and Gas Exploration and
Production Technologies Conference). Yu’s
research project titled “Investigation of Likely
Asphaltene Precipitation Behavior During Gas
Injection in an UAE Carbonate Reservoir” was
supervised by Dr. Hemanta Sarma.
Sports Day – SPE Student Chapter Activity
Service
15/Sept/2012: Richard Lau of the Petroleum
Engineering Department has recently been
appointed to the Board of Directors of the
Society of Petrophysics and Well Log Analysis
(SPWLA), Abu Dhabi Chapter.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Research Projects
Main
Research
Areas
Geomechanics
Main Research Areas in Petroleum Engineering Department
Topics
Researcher/Faculty
1. Borehole stability Analysis
2. Borehole collapse and hollow cylinder test on rock Prof. Pawel Nawrocki
samples
(1,2)
Formation
Damage
Drilling &
Completion
Reservoir
Characterization
Reservoir Engineering/
EOR
Flow
Assurance
1. Managing scale deposition, prevention, inhibition
and dissolution
2. Development of threshold polymeric scale inhibitors
1. Analysis and selection procedure of drilling bits
2. Prevention of micro-annulus formation & improving
mechanical properties
3. Well Stimulations and Acid Fracing
1. Reservoir rock typing
2. Static modeling
3. Static-dynamic integration
4. Upscaling
5. CO2 Sequestration
6. Fractured Reservoirs
7. Link between geomechanics and rock fabric
1. Reservoir simulation studies (black oil and
compositional)
2. Water production control in fractured reservoirs
3. Well Performance
4. Smart Water flood
5. CO2 Injection
6. Well testing
7. PVT
1. Asphaltene, paraffin and wax deposition challenges
in mature fields
2. Downhole flow assurance through electromagnetic
method
Dr. Gosh (1,2)
Dr. Ferda (1-2)
Dr. Motiur (3)
Dr. Jorge Gomes (1-5)
Dr. Pawel Nawrocki (7)
Dr. Ali Al Sumaiti (6)
Dr. Hemanta Sarma (1-4)
Dr. M. Motiur (3)
Dr. Hadi Belaj (1, 5)
Dr. Mohammed Haroun
(4)
Dr. Jing Lu (6)
Dr. John Williams (7)
Dr. Ali Al Sumaiti (2)
Dr. B. Gosh (1)
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Department of Petroleum Geoscience
Dr. Thomas Steuber, Chair
I. Chair’s Summary
The Petroleum Geosciences Department is
pleased to report on developments for the
academic year 2011-2012.
Eight students graduated at the end of the
academic year. The graduation of the first MSc
student in Petroleum Geosciences represents
a major milestone in the development
of the department. The total number of
Petroleum Geosciences students at the end
of the academic year is 90, including 79
undergraduates and 11 graduate students.
Dr. Aisha Al Suwaidi joined as Assistant
Professor after her PhD degree at the University
of Oxford. Her expertise is on the field of
isotope geochemistry and chemostratigraphy.
Muhammad Asim Iqbal joined as Geophysics
Laboratory Engineer.
Accreditation by the Accreditation Board
of Engineering and Technology (ABET) has
been achieved, and the department’s selfstudy
was selected for inclusion in a display of
well-prepared self-study reports at the ABET
Symposium in St. Louis, US.
Petroleum Geosciences students have again
been successful ambassadors of the program.
They are engaged in student chapters of
EAGE, SEG, and AAPG. For the fourth time in a
row, PI Petroleum Geosciences students have
won the annual regional challenge bowl of the
Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG).
This qualified them for the global competition
in Las Vegas. A group of graduates competed
successfully in the regional Imperial Barrel
Award of the American Association of
Petroleum Geologists (AAPG).
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
The department hosted a number of
presentations by distinguished guest lecturers.
Petroleum Geosciences faculty and students
have contributed to the local and international
academic and professional community
with lectures and presentations, and the
international visibility of the department
continued to grow through a range of scholarly
activities.
Dr. Thomas Steuber
Chairman and Professor
Petroleum Geosciences
II. Changes, Accomplishments,
and New Activities
New Staff and Faculty
Muhammad Asim Iqbal joined the PI from King
Abdullah University
of Science and
Technology (KAUST),
Saudi Arabia. He
earned a MSc degree
in Geophysics from
the Quaid-i-Azam
University in Islamabad in 2007, and gained
subsequent experience as a processing
geophysicist and computer programmer. His
interests include seismic stratigraphy, seismic
structural analysis, near surface geophysics
and groundwater research.
Dr. Ayesha Al Suwaidi joined as Assistant
Professor after her
PhD in Earth Sciences
at the University of
Oxford. She earned
an MSc in Geology
from the University
of Kansas. Her
main research interest is in global esozoic
chemostratigraphy in order to understand
major perturbations in the earth’s carbon
cycle. She is also interested in the application
of molybdenum isotopes, carbon and
oxygen isotopes, and biomarkers in order
to understand ancient environments as well
as in using modern geochemical records to
understand regional climatic change in the
Middle East.
Staffing Changes
Dr. Sumana Basu, Research Associate in
the Advanced Geophysical Technologies in
Carbonates project completed her assignment
and assumed a position with CGG Veritas. Mr.
James Small, Senior Laboratory Engineer, left
the department and is now with ExxonMobil
in Australia.
Dr. Ihsan Al Aasm, Professor in Petroleum
Geosciences, returned to the University of
Windsor, from where he was on leave for three
years.
Dr. Karl Berteussen retired from the PI after
more than nine years of service. He was one
of the ‘founding fathers’ of the Petroleum
Geosciences department and assumed
various roles as professor, department chair,
and retiring as the PI Director of Research.
Awards and Recognition Received
by Faculty
The UAE Commission for Academic
Accreditation (CAA) honored the submission
of Dr. Sandra Vega and Ahmad Hassan entitled
“Participation In Educational Student Programs
Organized By Professional Associations”.
Dr. Mohammed Ali was promoted to Associate
Professor. Drs. Sadoon Morad and Sandra Vega
were invited to serve on the editorial board
of the Journal of Petroleum Exploration and
Production Technology. Dr. Stephen Lokier
guest co-edited a special issue of the journal
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Sedimentology on “Carbonate Platforms –
Archives of Past Global Change”.
Awards or Recognition Received by
Students
At the World Petroleum Congress, Doha,
Petroleum Geoscience student Yasmin Abu
Hijleh and Petroleum Engineering student Safa
Abdul Kareem won 4th place (from over 200
submissions) in the Best Paper/Poster Session
Category.
Mina Salib and Hasan Zakaria won the regional
Society of Exploration Geophysicist (SEG)
international challenge bowl competition held
at the GEO2012 Conference and exhibition in
Manama, Bahrain. They will represent the PI at
the SEG Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.
The graduate students Salem Al Hammami,
Abdulwaheed Ogunsami, Alberto Pulgar, Miaad
Al Hammadi, and Amena Al Harethi won third
place in the Imperial Barrel Award, organized
by the American Association of Petroleum
Geologists (AAPG). The team presented their
results on a prospective basin analysis to a
jury of international industry representatives.
Ayesha Eid Al Suwaidi’s senior project entitled
“Study of newly discovered Pleistocene shells
of Tridacna from Abu Dhabi (UAE)” was
selected as one of the top 10 in the 3rd Abu
Dhabi Young Professional Paper contest of the
Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
Students’ Publications and
Presentations
Posters were presented by two MSc students
at the General Assembly of the European
Geosciences Union in Vienna.
Graduate student El Amin Mokhtar presented
“Porosity and heterogeneity effect on
Vp/Vs ratio in carbonate rocks from a
reservoir in the Middle East” at the AAPG
International Conference and Exhibition
in Milan, Italy. Graduate student Miaad Al
Hammadi presented “Comprehensive Study
of Frequency Response in Carbonate Rocks
and its Leading Factors” at GEO 2012, the
10th Middle East Geosciences Conference and
Exhibition, in Manama, Bahrain.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Other Activities
Dr. Mohammed Ali spent one semester at the
University of Oxford, UK, working on “Seismic
Wave Attenuation in Carbonate Reservoirs”
and a “Microseismic Feasibility Study”.
The department hosted an intensive course
on “Remote Sensing for Earth Sciences
Applications and GIS”. The three-week
course introduced students to remote
sensing principles using satellite data and
software. It was sponsored by the Japanese
Oil Development Company (JODCO), with a
multi-national team of instructors from Tokyo,
Imperial College, London and University
Campinas, Sao Paulo.
A team sent by the Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology (ABET) visited
the department for verification of a selfstudy
report. The program received neither
weaknesses nor concerns.
Graduate student Amena Al Harethi spent two
weeks at the Department of Geology, Pavia
University, Italy for training in fluid inclusion
analyses and cathode-luminescence and
fluorescence imaging techniques in diagenesis
studies.
Research Achievements
Sponsored Projects
Research activities by Petroleum Geosciences
faculty are reflected in our involvement
in a large number of sponsored projects
summarized below.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Mohammed Ali
Project Title: Microseismic Feasibility Study
Name of sponsor: ADNOC Upstream Research
Oil-Subcommittee
Team members: Mohammed Ali
Duration: 1 year
Amount awarded: USD145,000 (2012)
Summary of the project: The main objective
of this work is to carry out a feasibility study to
clearly articulate the purpose of the monitoring
work, evaluate array design options and assess
the probability of success of a microseismic
monitoring project.
Project Title: Seismic Wave Attenuation in
Carbonate Reservoirs
Name of sponsor: ADNOC Upstream Research
Oil-Subcommittee
Team members: Dr. Mohammed Ali and Dr.
Sandra Vega
Duration: 3 years
Amount awarded: USD355,705 (2012)
Summary of the project: The project focuses
on the estimation of seismic wave attenuation
within carbonate reservoirs in Abu Dhabi
to better understand the factors that affect
seismic attenuation in these reservoirs.
Principal investigator: Dr. Sadoon Morad
Project Title: Impact of Diagenesis on Reservoir
Quality Evolution of Fractured Simsima
Carbonate Reservoir (Upper Cretaceous),
Onshore Abu Dhabi
Name of sponsor: ADCO
Team members: Dr. Sadoon Morad
Dr. Ihsan Al-Aasm
Umer Farooq (M.Sc. student, PI)
Duration: May 2012-March 2013
Amount awarded: USD 245,000
Summary of the project: The reservoir quality
of carbonate rocks of the Upper Cretaceous
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Simsima Formation varies considerably both
laterally and vertically. The goal of the project
is to unravel the conditions and parameters
controlling the distribution of diagenetic
alterations.
Project title: Fracture-Related Diagenesis
Evaluation Study
Name of sponsor: ADCO
Team members: Dr. Sadoon Morad
Dr. Manhal Sirat (ADCO)
Duration: August 2012-April 2013
Amount awarded: USD 480,000
Summary of the project: The project aims to
unravel the role of structural deformation on
diagenesis, and consequently on porosity and
permeability of carbonate deposits.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Sandra Vega
Project Title: Rock Physics Model for Fluid
Substitution in Carbonates
Name of sponsor: ADNOC Upstream
Research Oil-Subcommittee
Team members: Dr. Sandra Vega
Dr. Soufiane Jouini (Research Associate)
Mr. El Amin Mokhtar (Research Lab Engineer)
Dr. Jyotshana Prajapat (PI collaborator)
Duration: 3 years (extended to 5 years)
Amount awarded: USD875,100 (2007-2012)
Summary of the project: The primary objective
of this project is to develop an improved
quantitative model that relates seismic
response to changes in fluids and pressure in
carbonate reservoirs.
Project Title: Validation and Optimization of
Digital Rock Physics in UAE Carbonates
Name of sponsor: ADNOC Upstream
Research Oil-Subcommittee
Team members: Dr. Sandra Vega (Principal
investigator)
Dr. Soufiane Jouini (Research Associate)
Mr. El Amin Mokhtar (Research Lab Engineer)
Dr. Jyotshana Prajapat (PI collaborator)
Duration: 3 years (starting January 2013)
Amount awarded: USD1,002,900 (2013-
2015)
Summary of the project: The major objectives
of this project are to: 1) Optimize and validate
our new home-made codes of Digital Rock
Physics that model porosity, permeability, and
elastic properties in carbonate rocks; 2) Create
a comprehensive rock physics experimental
database that can help to validate and calibrate
the codes on objective 1; and 3) Optimize and
validate the new analytical models that can
predict elastic properties in UAE carbonate
rocks.
Sponsored Projects with International
Research Collaboration
Principal Investigator Dr. Mohammed Ali
Project Title: The Structure and Evolution of
the UAE Mountains and Foreland Basins
Name of sponsor: Emirates Foundation
Team members: Dr. Mohammed Ali
(Principal investigator), Dr. David Cooper and
Prof. Mike Searle (Oxford University)
Duration: 3 years
Amount awarded: USD38,000
Summary of the project: The objective of the
project is to better understand the structure
of the leading edge of the Arabian plate and
the mechanisms by which oceanic plates are
emplaced onto continents and continental
plates collide and mountains form.
Principal investigator Dr. Sadoon Morad
Project Title: Quantifying Diagenesis at the
Reservoir Scale: Predictive Modeling of the
Field-Wide Impact of Diagenesis on Reservoir
Quality and Heterogeneity
Name of sponsor: ADNOC Upstream Research
Oil-Subcommittee
Team members: Dr. Sadoon Morad
Dr. Ihsan Al-Aasm
Dr. Fadi Nader (IFP, France)
Amount awarded: USD 65,000
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Duration: February 2012-February 2013
Summary of the project: The goal of the
project is to develop a field-wide, 3D reservoir
model for the impact of various diagenetic
processes on reservoir heterogeneities of
the Jurassic Arab Formation in the Umm
Shaif Field, offshore Abu Dhabi by means of
geostatistical methods.
Project Title: Stylolites, Porosity Controls and
Dense Zones in Lower Cretaceous Reservoirs
of the Sahil Field, Abu Dhabi
Name of Sponsor: ADNOC Upstream
Research Oil-Subcommittee
Team members: Dr. Sadoon Morad
Dr. Ihsan Al-Aasm
Dr. Stephen Ehrenberg (Sultan Qaboos
University)
Amena Al-Harethi (M.Sc. student)
Amount awarded: USD 268,000
Duration: March 2012-March 2013
Summary of the project: This study aims to use
petrographic, geochemical, and fluid inclusion
analyses in order to better understand the
parameters controlling the distribution of
stylolites and their impact on diagenesis and
related reservoir quality evolution pathways. In
order to achieve the study goal, core samples
will be studied from flank and crest of Lower
Cretaceous Thamama limestone from Sahil
Field, onshore Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The structure and Evolution of UAE Foreland
Basins and Northern Oman Mountains
Principal Investigator: Mohammed Ali
Amount awarded: USD23,100
Examination of the Aptian-Albian (Mid
Cretaceous): A Comparative Study of the Nahr
Umr Formation (shallow marine, UAE) and the
Cedar Mountain Formation (Utah, USA)
Principal Investigator: Aisha Al Suwaidi
Team Member: Thomas Steuber
Amount awarded: USD 41,000
Experiments and Modelling of Seismic Wave
Reflectivity and Transmissivity in Fluid
Saturated Porous Rocks: Application to
Carbonate Reservoirs
Principal Investigator: Youcef Bouzidi
Amount awarded: USD19,000
Experiments and Modelling of Seismic Wave
Reflectivity and Transmissivity in Fluid
Saturated Porous Rocks – Application to
Carbonate Reservoirs
Principal Investigator: Youcef Bouzidi
Amount awarded: USD10,900
Internally Funded Projects
Pore Fluid Evaluation in the UAE Basin;
Integrated Petrology, Geochemistry and
Isotopes of Fracture-Related Dolomite in
Carbonate Reservoirs
Principal Investigator: Ihsan Al Aasm
Amount awarded: USD24,500
The Structure and Evolution of UAE foreland
Basins and the Northern Oman Mountains
Principal Investigator: Mohammed Ali
Amount awarded: USD50,200
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A year of transformation, growth and success
77

The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Academic Affairs
Dr. Ahmed Al Shoaibi, Dean
78

A year of transformation, growth and success
Admissions Department
I. Executive Summary
The Admissions Office is responsible for the
recruitment and admissions of undergraduate
students to the PI. Our team works closely
with ADNOC to fulfill students’ scholarship
opportunities. In addition to attending to many
hundreds of visitors, phone calls and emails
requesting information about admissions,
we are proactive in attracting prospective
undergraduates to the PI.
Recruitment is indeed a major function of the
Admissions Office. Recruitment efforts include
marketing (advertisements and publications),
participation at exhibitions, presentations
at conferences & seminars, visiting schools,
hosting campus visits and holding open days.
Processing applications is the other key role
of the office. We are responsible for ensuring
that each application is correctly completed
and forwarding these to ADNOC for final
approval. The office then follows up ADNOC’s
decisions by communicating with applicants
and updating data in the PI’s internal database.
The office is also responsible for planning and
implementing the Orientation Week for new
students and for printing and issuing ID cards
for new undergraduates and graduates.
II. Highlights for Academic
Year 2011-2012
Admissions Fall 2011
The application forms were converted
to electronic version this year. An online
application form offered a more convenient
approach for applicants and was widely
accepted. The applications of shortlisted
students were sent to ADNOC for final
approval and once the verdicts were received,
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
the successful applicants were contacted
to continue their admissions procedure
(scholarship contract signing, occupational
health check and clearance form).
Applications received through last three
years
Year Applicants Increase
2009 504 -
2010 616 22%
2011 672 33%
Orientation Fall 2011
The orientation procedures for new students
in the Fall 2011 semester involved a mixture
of receptions, presentations, placement tests
and fun activities to provide a warm welcome
to the PI.
Before the orientation began, new students
(374 male and 95 female students) were
personally welcomed by the Provost, the Dean
of Engineering, the Director of Student Affairs
and the Director of Women in Science and
Engineering (WISE).
ID cards and locker keys were distributed and
outdoor activities such as outings to Zayed
Sport City, Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Saadiyat
Island and Ferrari World were arranged.
Placement tests, campus tours and meetings
with students and faculty completed the
orientation program.
Approved applicants through last three
years
Year Admitted Increase
2009 328 -
2010 500 52%
2011 567 73%
Early Admissions 2012
Early Admissions were held this year (14th
April to 3rd May, with an extension to 10th
May) in order to attract high caliber Emirati
students in their last year of high school.
Applications required a minimum of 80% in
Science and Maths tests in the high school
students’ preceding semester to qualify for
a place in the PI. Below are the statistics for
early admissions 2012:
Applicants – Gender Based
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Applicants – Passport based (UAE Nationals and non-UAE Nationals with
Emirati mother)
Accepted by ADNOC – passport based (UAE Nationals and non-UAE
Nationals with Emirati mother)
School Visits
The Admissions Office has increased the
number of recruitment activities including the
frequency of visits to high schools. Faculty
members accompany the school visits to
present program details and answer academic
queries while the Admissions team explains
the admission requirements and procedure.
Exhibitions, Campus Visits and
Conferences
Contacts with potential applicants and
schools are also established during exhibitions
which are an effective tool for recruitment.
The Admissions Office, along with faculty
members and students represented the PI in
the following exhibitions and conferences:
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
No. Exhibition Name Venue & Location Date
1 Sharjah International Education Sharjah Expo Center, Sharjah 12 – 14 October
Show
2 Najah ‘11 Abu Dhabi National Exhibition 18 – 20 October
Center, Abu Dhabi
3 Al Gharbia Career Fair – Madinat Madinat Zayed, Abu Dhabi 30 – 31 October
Zayed
4 Al Gharbia Career Fair – Ruwais Ruwais, Abu Dhabi 30 – 31 October
5 Arab Acrao ‘12 Lebanon 26 – 29 March
6 Al Gharbia Universities Fair – Madinat Zayed, Abu Dhabi 9 April
Madinat Zayed
7 Al Gharbia Universities Fair – Al Al Ghayati, Abu Dhabi
11 April
Ghayati
8 Gulf Education & Training Exhibition Dubai International Convention 19 – 21 April
Center, Dubai
9 Ras Al Khaimah Exhibition for RAK Exhibition Center, Ras Al 24 – 26 April
Education, Training & Employment Khaimah
10 Al Ain Education & Career Fair Al Khabisi Hall, Al Ain 30 April – 2 May
Open Day
The Admissions Office organized an Open Day
on Saturday, 14th April. This was marketed
through advertisements in three national
newspapers and via SMS and emails to
registered students. The Admissions team
visited the top 16 male and 15 female schools
in Abu Dhabi and distributed pens with
invitations to the Open Day.
We anticipated a bigger crowd this year
so Open Day 2012 was held in the Asab
building with a more professional-looking
arrangement than in previous years. Male and
female PI students were appointed as Student
Ambassadors to support the event. Visitors
were taken on bus tours around the campus
and were greeted with gift packs. The first 100
students received additional early bird gifts.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
The Admissions Department had organized
displays and demonstrations which included
manned information booths representing
Engineering departments, Student Chapters,
the College of Arts & Sciences, the Advanced
University Preparation (AUP) Department,
Women in Science and Engineering (WISE),
the Library, the Independent Learning Centre
(ILC) and the Student Affairs Department.
An hourly laboratory and campus tour was
also conducted. The Open Day garnered 208
registered students with a total attendance
of around 500 visitors: a 92% increase in
attendance over previous years.
III. Summary
With several new universities emerging in the
market together with attractive scholarship
opportunities, the recruitment of suitable
students is becoming a challenge. However,
in the past year our team has expanded
its recruitment activities and has achieved
improved results and new records.
Structural Changes
o Ibtesam Al Hammadi has been appointed
Student Recruitment Coordinator.
o Iman Al Hosani has been appointed
Admissions Assistant.
o Ahmed Ali Suliman and Niyaz Anjum have
been appointed Admissions Officers.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Library and Independent Learning Center
I. Executive Summary
The academic year 2011/2012 was dynamic
and productive for the Petroleum Institute
Libraries. The Library, incorporated into
Academic Affairs, has continued to respond
proactively to organizational and leadership
changes. This year, for example, marked the
first full academic year of the integration
of Independent Learning Center within the
Library Department.
Recently appointed
Head Librarian,
Vanessa Middleton
and Janet Olearski,
Coordinator of
the Independent
Learning Center,
worked together
to align their
respective goals objectives and services to
streamline their services for the PI community.
II. Department Mission and
Program Goals
The Petroleum Institute Libraries’ vision is to
create a national asset by harnessing
the power of information/knowledge to
contribute to the development of UAE
society. Petroleum Institute Libraries strive to
be an integral partner in innovative
research, knowledge discovery and scholarly
activities.
The libraries provide a learning environment
for scholars to access and utilize academic
and industry resources and to develop lifelong
learning skills.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
III. Highlights for the
Academic Year 2011-2012
Our primary goal this year was to enhance
collections and information resources to
support quality education and research
programs at the PI. The acquisitions team was
responsible for spending 100% of the allocated
budget for books, journals, ebooks and
ejournal databases. Over 11,000 physical items
and over 30,000 ejournals were added to our
research resources. The PI Library provided
access to more online scholarly scientific
publications and added the Science Direct
Freedom ejournals database and Scopus to
support research. As a result, our faculty reach
is steadily increasing. Over 300,000 searches
and over 100,000 articles were downloaded
from our collection of ejournal databases
during the academic year. Our staff provided
training workshops to ensure students, faculty
and researchers effectively utilize the scholarly
resources. The Library was well prepared for
the ABET Accreditation visit and the Masters
of Applied Chemistry and HSE CAA review
which confirmed that our collection and
services meet international standards.
Structural Changes
After a thorough career analysis, it was decided
that Library Assistants should be reclassified
as Library Officers based on the range and
scope of their duties. Several members of
staff were awarded merit increases as a result
of their hard work and contributions to the
departments. Two valued contributors to the
Library’s development since its opening in
2004, John Rogan and Mohammed Boufarss,
departed and we welcomed two new additions
to the library’s staff: Therese D’Souza and
Mohammed Ismail. Currently, we are engaged
in an extensive search for two additional
professional librarians.
Staff Development
Staff Development is important for the
retention and professional growth of staff.
Team building and leadership training were
provided for the entire Library and ILC staff
and individuals took advantage of professional
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
skills training. Several members staff
delivered papers at professional international
conferences, including the Charleston
Acquisitions Conference, the Association of
College & Research Libraries, the American
International Consortium of Libraries and
the National Association of Writers in
Education. Rowena Aquino was awarded an
online course scholarship from the American
Library Association and Vanessa Middleton
was awarded a Harvard Leadership Institute
Scholarship.
Library website with the result that the number
of graduate student research consultations
was higher than any in any previous year.
ADNOC operating companies’ research groups
were offered extensive training workshops to
instruct their own researchers in the effective
use of critical resources.
Engagement of Innovative
Technologies
The PI Library is committed to innovative
technologies to improve access to information.
This year, Library staff selected the integrated
library management system (ILMS) called
Symphony which was smoothly implemented
through cooperation between the vendor and
the PI’s IT team. The new ILMS will significantly
improve access to materials through its selfservice
features and better links to resources.
Our goal this academic year was to provide
seamless and efficient access to our thousands
of e-resources.
Summon provides a Google-like experience
for our students who –like many beginners
in academic research – are uncertain of their
approach to scholarly journals. Summon has
increased the use of a variety of scholarly
journals and faculty feedback indicates that
it has improved the standard of scholarly
resources that students exploit in their
research papers.
Awareness Raising
Another goal was to promote the Library
& ILC’s resources to the PI Community and
beyond. We made tremendous efforts to
publicize the library as an essential part of
students’ academic life, and to emphasize the
importance of research skills. Every month over
900 students, faculty and staff visit our three
locations and we are open for service over 64
hours per week including weekends. This year
we made it easier for Arzanah students to use
the Habshan Library.
Information Services
Empowering the PI community to navigate
the information landscape was critical for
the Library this academic year. A major
accomplishment was the redesign of the
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A year of transformation, growth and success
The Library has sponsored events such as the
Spring Book Fair, author visits and community
field trips to local exhibitions. Janet Olearski
and Vanessa Middleton provide support to the
Write On Writers Group, the Arts Club and
Las Senoras Book Club. This year two of the
Writers Group’s members were prize winners
in The Emirates
Literature Festival.
Vanessa Middleton
supported
two students’
conference papers
and presentations
at The World
Petroleum
Congress which
won 3rd Prize for
the Best Student
Paper.
The Library continues to develop their READ
campaign and this year we featured industry
leaders as role models to promote reading
among students.
Current Learning Initiatives
The Library and Independent Learning Center
(ILC)’s primary function is to provide access
to information that supports the curricular
and research needs of students, faculty,
administration and staff and we put the
strongest emphasis on learning opportunities
through new initiatives. We work closely with
Communications, Freshman Success Seminar,
Islamic Studies and Senior Design and over
500 students have benefited from our
Information Literacy curriculum, designed to
ensure that students can effectively navigate
the information landscape.
The ILC’s particular
mission is to
provide contentsubject
and
language-learning
opportunities to
support users’
coursework,
project work and
research. The
Center has a track
record in helping
students to develop as independent learners
who can identify their own learning needs. It
hosts Bu Hasa’s Writing Center (managed by
Communications) as well as the Math Learning
Support Center, the Physics Tutoring Program,
and the Chemistry Learning Center.
IV. Future Plans/Initiatives
Over the next academic year we plan to
introduce learning spaces to all the PI’s
facilities and to establish a repository for the
PI’s institutional documents, its archive and its
graduates’ digital theses. The PI Library will
also participate in the launch of the eFADA
Library Consortium which is supported
by Ankabut, the UAE’s National Research
Education Network.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Registrar’s Office
I. Executive Summary
The Registrar’s Office underwent many
transitions during the 2011-2012 academic
year. Despite operating at a 60% staffing level,
the offices led several major initiatives and still
maintained and enhanced services.
Below is a list of many of the accomplishments
during the past academic year:
• Produced 2000+ reports;
• Graduated191 students;
• Processed 2928 total registrations;
• Synchronized degree audits with
academic catalogs and program
flowcharts;
• Managed start-up and implementation
of the Arzanah Students’ One-Stop Shop
(SOS) project;
• Provided data and support for ABET visit;
• Changed ADNOC reports to new
standards;
• Completed first Centre for Higher
Education Data and Statistics (CHEDS)
reporting;
• Worked with IT and Admissions to update
CAMS Application Portal (CAP);
• Completed 1st Phase of Registrar’s Office
Web Portal;
• Worked with auditors on an ongoing
basis providing PI departmental data.
II. Department Mission and
Program Goals
The Registrar’s Office is an academic unit
directly reporting to the Dean of Academic
Affairs. Acting as the chief custodian of the
academic records and gatekeeper for academic
policies, the Registrar’s Office plays a pivotal
role in maintaining academic standards and
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A year of transformation, growth and success
integrity. The Registrar’s Office is ultimately
a service department balancing the needs of
students, faculty, staff and administration by
acting as an institutional nexus for information
and services. The Registrar’s Office Mission,
Principles and Operating Values, and Program
Goals are listed below:
Mission
The Registrar’s Office Mission is to support
the instructional goals of the Petroleum
Institute and to ensure the integrity of student
academic records.
Principles and Operating Values
We are a service organization.
We uphold the integrity of the student
records.
We conduct ourselves in a consistent and
ethical manner.
We are integrating the use of technology.
We strive to listen to - and meet - the needs
of the campus community.
We work as a team and take responsibly for
our work and our department.
We trust each other to be honest and
professional.
We are always striving to be innovative.
III. Highlights for the
Academic Year 2011-2012
The 2011-2012 academic year was a time of
change and transition. The Registrar’s Office
saw the departure Mohamed Kassim as
Assistant Registrar and the addition of new
staff.
New Staff
The Registrar’s Office welcomed Hamda
Al-Rashdi as its newest team member. Ms.
Al-Rashdi joined the PI as Records Officer
in October of 2011. She holds a Bachelor’s
Degree in English Language and Literature
(1998) from United Arab Emirates University
(UAEU). She additionally holds multiple
training qualifications from various areas. Ms.
Al-Rashdi has over 10 years of experience in
education within the United Arab Emirates.
Current Initiatives
Despite being significantly understaffed during
2011-2012, the Registrar’s Office managed to
complete the four major initiatives below:
Program Goals
• Integrate technology to provide better
access to information and services.
• Standardize policies and procedures to
ensure consistency.
• Deliver unparalleled customer service in
various forms.
• Become the informational clearinghouse
for the Petroleum Institute.
• Foster cooperative relationships with the
PI Community.
Arzanah One-Stop Shop (SOS) – The
Registrar’s Office acted as the project manager
for the SOS. The Arzanah SOS project was
initiated as an effort to equalize services for
students of the Arzanah Building. Although
the female students represented a significant
portion of the overall PI student population,
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
many services were limited as compared to
the male campus. In some cases, the female
students had been expected to travel across
campus to the Habshan building for routine
issues. This project was started in order to
remedy the inequity in services provided to
the male and female students and to provide
a central and convenient location for students
to access all services without unnecessary
runaround.
The Registrar’s Office created the
organization, workflow, manuals, and worked
with IT to develop the helpdesk for tracking
student issues for the SOS. During the Fall
2011 semester, over 1200 work orders were
processed in the Arzanah SOS. The bar graph
below illustrates the types of work orders
processed during the first three months:
Center for Higher Education Data
and Statistics (CHEDS)
His Excellency Sheikh Al Nahyan Bin Mubarak
Al Nahyan issued decree No 347/year 2011 on
12 December 2011, establishing the Center for
Higher Education Data and Statistics (CHEDS).
The primary responsibility of CHEDS is to
gather a comprehensive data set from each
higher education institution within the United
Arab Emirates for the purposes of producing
an annual report on higher education for the
Minister.
The Registrar’s Office was tasked with creating
enrollment reports and collecting data to
comply with certain areas of the CHEDS
mandate. The Registrar Office worked
closely with Institutional Research and other
PI departments in this initiative.
Registrar’s Office Intranet
In collaboration with IT, the Registrar’s Office
completed its first draft of their intranet.
The intranet will contain much of the same
information as the Registrar’s Office page on
the PI web with several notable additions. For
students, the new intranet will have a grade
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A year of transformation, growth and success
point average (g.p.a.) calculator to assist with
projecting both semester and cumulative
g.p.a.
the PI administration, WISE, Student Affairs,
GSD, etc. was crucial for the success of the
SOS project.
For the PI community, the 2012-2013 academic
calendar is offered in different formats. The
calendar features an option to synchronize
with the individual’s MS Outlook. A room
scheduling tool is now added to allow the PI
community to check availability and make
online requests for room bookings.
Student retention
Student success is the top priority of the
Registrar’s Office. To that end, the Registrar’s
Office provided numerous reports to
departments and management regarding
enrollment issues, trends, and numbers. Also,
the Registrar’s Office took the lead on the
Arzanah SOS to help with retention efforts.
Finally, the new Registrar’s intranet, advising
guides, and updated degree audits provided
further information to support retention.
IV. Future Plans/Initiatives
The Registrar’s Office has several initiatives in
the planning stages:
Degree audit synchronization
The Registrar’s Office began a comprehensive
review of degree audits of current students.
The degree audits were compared with
academic catalogs and program flowcharts.
Discrepancies were sent to the programs for
clarification. The effort ensures all students
are now able to register for necessary courses
and have up-to-date information regarding
their progress towards degree.
Collaborative Endeavors
The Registrar’s Office collaborated with
many departments within the PI. IT and the
Registrar’s Office collaborated daily on many
shared projects. Collaboration with Admissions
and IT was successful in updating the CAMS
Application Portal (CAP). Collaboration with
Student Affairs and Institutional Research were
necessary to provide reports for ADNOC, the
Ministry, the Office of Presidential Affairs, and
other external agencies. Collaboration with
• Hiring a new Registrar and a CAMS
Specialist;
• Providing online room scheduling;
• Completing the CAMS Housing Module;
• Assisting with the online attendance
tracking system for Student Affairs;
• Adding virtual forms with workflow and
tracking;
• Digitizing hard copies of files with offsite
backup;
• Utilizing MS Reporting services to expand
reporting access.
V. Summary
The Registrar’s Office was very productive
in 2011-2012. Despite being short-handed
and losing key personnel, operations moved
forward. 2012-2013 will mark a transition but
regardless of any obstacles, the Registrar’s
Office will maintain its focus on enhancing
services.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Center for Excellence in Learning and
Teaching
I. Executive Summary
The Petroleum Institute’s Center for Excellence
in Learning and Teaching (CELT) is a campuswide
unit focused on enhancing undergraduate
science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) education. CELT activity
this year has comprised:
• Faculty Workshops
• The Enhancement of Classroom
Instruction
• Provision of Orientation and Support
Services
• Curriculum Enhancement Mini-Grant
Program
II. Department Mission and
Program Goals
Mission
The mission of CELT is to promote the
professional enhancement of PI Faculty by
providing formal and informal forums for
exchange of experience and expertise in order
to enhance STEM instruction.
The Center organizes seminars and
workshops, hosts international distinguished
engineering educators, facilitates a number of
Faculty Learning Communities, and provides
Curriculum Enhancement mini-grants.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
III. Highlights for Academic
Year 2011-2012
Workshops
Overall, a total of nine sessions were organized
during the 2011-12 academic year. These
sessions included guest speakers such as Dr.
Vince Kuo (Colorado School of Mines), who
facilitated a series of workshops focused on
Active Learning in STEM classroom, Dr. Srethi
Nair (Abu Dhabi University), who led a workshop
on Bloom’s Taxonomy and its applications in
the classroom, and Mr. Ali Al Maskari (ADNOC
ATI), who facilitated discussions around the
topic of meeting student needs – Connecting
and Communicating Effectively. Several PI
faculty also contributed workshops on a range
of topics aimed at enhancing the learning and
teaching environment. The net result of these
workshops has been an increase in awareness
of outcomes-based approaches to teaching
and learning and the piloting of a studio
approach to teaching Physics that will be fully
implemented in Fall 2012.
Enhancement of Classroom
Instruction
In addition to organizing seminars and
workshops, CELT also supports the ongoing
enhancement of classroom instruction
through classroom visitation/observation
services, review of course materials,
syllabi and assessments, the promotion of
peer observations, and review of student
evaluations.
CELT Orientation and Support
Services
CELT is also responsible for providing
orientation and support services for new
PI faculty and facilitating teacher training
for graduate student instructors. More
information about these activities can be
found on the CELT website (http://www.pi.ac.
ae/celt/), which also includes links to useful
material related to the teaching of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics.
The Curriculum Enhancement Mini-
Grant Program
CELT promotes engineering education
research through sponsorship of a Curriculum
Enhancement mini-grant program. Three
grants were funded during the 2011-12
academic year. These are shown in Table 1
(below).
These grants encourage collaborations in
engineering education research with partner
institutes (Colorado School of Mines, University
of Maryland, University of Minnesota) and with
local secondary schools. In May, 2012, the
second call for proposals was sent.
Table 1. 2011-12 CELT Mini-Grant Awardees
Project Title
Simulation-based Learning Activities for a Revised Introductory E & M Physics Course
Computer-aided Process Simulation Modules in Chemical Engineering Education
Influence of Mathematics Games and Simulations on Students’ Attitudes and their
Perceptions of their Learning Environment: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach
C. Bradley
A. Almansoori, A.
Elkamel, S. Abu Yahya
E. Afari, G. Ward, D.
Munster
IV. Summary
During the 2011-12 academic year, the overall theme of CELT has been “Innovation in Practice.”
The aim of this series of coordinated events is to enhance individual and departmental efforts
with regard to implementing best practices across all disciplines.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Alumni Relations and Continuing Education
Department
Dr. Khalid Al Hammadi, Director
The following are the accomplishments in both
areas covered by our department: Alumni
Relations and Continuing Education.
Alumni Relations:
During 2010, the office established the data
base for all PI graduates. The data base includes
graduation year and department, current
professional status and contact information,
together with the supervisor’s name and his or
her contact information. In 2011, with Ms. Airen
Fajardo as an administrative assistant, the
office was ready to embark on major activities.
As of June 2012, we have 750+ male graduates
and 63 female graduates.
At the administration level, it was decided to
establish two alumni organizations; one for
male graduates (the PI Alumni Association),
and the other for female graduates (the PI
Alumnae Association. Several activities for
formally organizing the associations were
completed during the year.
a) Alumni Association Activities:
Early in 2011, invitation letters were sent to all
PI graduates for the inaugural PI alumni dinner
at PI Arzanah campus. The event was held on
June 15, 2011, and attended by more than 200
alumni as well as dignitaries from ADNOC and
its operating companies (opcos). Mr. Abdul
Munim Al Kindy, CEO of Abu Dhabi Company
for Onshore Oil Operations and Deputy
Chairman of the PI Governing Board, Dr. Ismail
Tag, PI Senior Vice President and Provost,
Mr. Faisal Al Ali, Head of the Scholarship
Department in ADNOC, and a number of
executive managers, department heads from
the PI, ADCO, Zakum Development Company
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
(ZADCO) and Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction
Company Ltd. (ADGAS) were among the
guests.
In his keynote speech, Mr. Al Kindy welcomed
everyone and encouraged PI alumni to
continuously pursue excellence in their work
and to communicate regularly with the
institute. Dr. Tag also stressed that alumni
should keep in touch with the institute after
their graduation since this motivates the
exchange of experiences with faculty and
students. Dr. Isoroku Kubo, who heads the
PI Alumni Relations Department and Alumni
Committee, also expressed his desire that
former PI students keep strong links with their
alma mater.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
In the fall of 2011, the association “By- Laws”
were drafted by five alumni volunteers and
were distributed. After the approval of the
“By-Laws”, officers for the association were
elected to formally organize the association.
b) Alumnae Association
Activities:
For female graduates, the first Alumnae Iftar
was held at ASAB sports complex on August
17, 2011.
As this was the first year to see female
graduates, organizing the Alumnae association
was much smoother than in the case of the
Alumni association. The following alumnae
were named as officers for the PI Alumnae
Association:
President: Ms. Nada Abdulkarim Awadhi
Spring 2011 - Electrical Engineering Department
Vice President: Ms. Thuraya Abdulla Al Hanaei
Spring 2011 - Electrical Engineering
Communication Coordinator: Ms. Felwa
Mohsen Al Ameri Fall 2011 - Petroleum
Engineering
Activity Coordinator: Ms. Sameya Hamdan Al
Ghafri Spring 2011- Electrical Engineering
Continuing Education
The mission of the Continuing Education
Office is to:
a. Provide working professionals (especially
opco employees) with world class
education to upgrade their skills
b. Provide PI faculty with opportunities
to enhance their technical skills and to
interact with industry.
With this mission in mind, a new policy and
procedures have been established.
Some of the new policies include a limitation
of the number of days a faculty member can
engage in such activities. This policy aims to
balance the faculty member’s regular (main)
duties such as teaching, research, and service
with continuing educational activities. A faculty
receives additional payment for educational
activities. The rates of pay are also set and will
be reviewed periodically. All activities related
to continuing education should be approved in
advance by the Provost’s office, regardless of
who the clients are, as long as he/she engages
in the activities during his/her regular duty
hours and not during personal vacation time.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
We offer the following regular courses to
(mainly) OPCO employees:
a. A 4-week ON-BOARDING course for
OPCO technical personnel
This course is offered at the PI approximately
five times a year to engineers working
for up-stream OPCOs. The number of
participants is limited to 24.
b. A 2-week ON-BOARDING course (OBC)
for OPCO-employed non-technical
personnel
This course is offered at the PI approximately
four times a year to non-engineers such as
HR, Finance and IT personnel employed
by up-stream OPCOs. The number of
participants is limited to 24.
c. *CAMS related courses to OPCO
employees:
• Coupling, Gear Boxes, Bearings,
Lubricants & Mechanical Seals
• Integrated Formation, Evaluation and
Reservoir Characterization
• Geological Modelling
• Basic Petroleum Geology
• Basic Exploration Geophysics
• Basic Basin Analysis Geochemistry
• Vibration Analysis and Condition
Monitoring
d. Non-CAMS related courses
• Reservoir Engineering for nonreservoir
engineers
• Basic Petroleum Engineering for nonproduction
engineers
*CAMS: Competency Assurance Management
System: a competency based development
program designed for fresh graduates on
grade 10 or above to develop a competence
(technical or behavioural) for ADNOC’s
Exploration & Production group.
NON CAMS: courses in which the employee
is required to follow and accomplish a set
of activities in accordance with his/her job
description and the perceived gaps in his/her
skills range.
Courses include:
Technical OBC
• OBC# 35; OBC# 36; OBC# 37; OBC#
38
Non - Technical OBC
• OBC# 2;OBC#3; OBC# 4
CAMS Courses
• NDC Basic Drilling Engineering Course
• Basic Petroleum Engineering
• Basic Reservoir Engineering for
Production Engineers
• Geostatistisc & 3D Geological
Modelling
• Carbonate Reservoir Characterization
(Customized to UFR Team)
• Basic Petroleum Geology
• Integrated formation Evaluation and
Reservoir Characterization
• Vibration Analysis and Condition
Monitoring
Non-CAMS Courses
• Basic Petroleum Engineering for Non
Production Engineers
During these ON-BOARDING courses,
participants visit regional training centers such
as Schlumberger and Baker Hughes to examine
the equipment used in oil production and to
hear lectures on drilling and oil production.
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Glimpses of Continuing Education
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A year of transformation, growth and success
External Relations & Collaborations
Dr. Ebrahim THE PETROLEUM Al Hajri, INSTITUTE Director
A Unique Collaboration between Government, Academia and Industry
University of Texas at Austin
University of Minnesota
3
I. Executive Summary
• A Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) was signed with Stevens
Institute of Technology to evaluate all
the academic programs at the PI and to
suggest ways to improve them.
• An MOU was signed with EMERSON.
• We engaged the University of Maryland
to facilitate the PI’s Strategic Plan.
• We engaged the Colorado School of
Mines to assist in creating the Office of
Research at the PI by sharing insights
on ways of conducting day-to-day
business and functionality.
II. Department Mission and
Program Goals
Mission
The National and International Collaboration
Office (NIC) works closely with the Acting
President and Provost to facilitate, negotiate,
establish and manage links with local
and foreign universities, companies and
government units in areas of interest to PI
and its major sponsor, the Abu Dhabi National
Oil Company (ADNOC) through education,
research, and exchange programs.
Overview
The NIC was established in April 2011 to assist
PI in its collaborations with partner universities,
institutions, companies, foundations,
and government agencies. The primary
responsibilities of the office include drafting,
negotiating, and processing and managing
formal agreements and memorandum of
understanding (MOU) between the PI and
its partners that are related to education,
research and exchange programs. It also
maintains a database of current and pending
international agreements, as well as an archive
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
of past agreements. The office also serves
as the central point of contact for all formal
collaboration and contractual agreements
between the PI and any interested party.
These collaborations and agreements cover
internship programs, faculty and student
exchange programs, distance learning
courses, collaborative research agreements,
lab establishment, facility utilization at both
ends, and general cooperative relationships.
Objectives
In today’s world when partners are freer to
share information and expertise in order
to accomplish similar goals, collaborations
with national and international entities are
becoming a necessity. The NIC’s collaboration
programs have been designed to fulfill the
following objectives:
i. Strengthen the ties with local and
international partners
ii. Create a hub of knowledge sharing
between the PI and its partners
iii. Enhance the way we do business, which
is educating engineers and scientists
iv. Build research capacity in areas of
interest
v. Promote diversity of thought in reaching
common goals
III. Highlights for Academic
Year
New Programs
We have created a Summer Research Program
that allows junior and senior Emirati students
to spend a minimum of six weeks in one of our
partner universities conducting research. This
program is designed to evaluate the students
on their attendance, contribution, final report,
and presentation. A grade of a “C” or higher is
required to pass this course.
Structural Changes
Four people are employed in the NIC office: the
director, the administrative assistant, and two
coordinators. Our plan is to recruit a further
coordinator and an admin assistant.
Collaborative Endeavors
The office collaborates internally with the Dean
of Academic Affairs, the Research Director,
the Director of Alumni & Continuing Education
and the Director of Strategic Planning in a
variety of activities focusing on campus life,
research activities, outreach and future plans.
IV. Initiatives and Future Plans
• Establish office processes and
procedures for day to day business and
services.
• Establish a webpage to showcase our
activities.
• Complete collaboration agreements
with various universities and companies
that are currently being evaluated.
The pending partnerships include
Rice University, CUPB, Slumberger,
Honeywell, ABB, and Elsevier.
• Launch a student exchange program at
the undergraduate and graduate level
with partner universities. The program
is targeted to launch in Spring 2013.
• Collaborate with the Continuing
Education Office, A plan is being
developed to involve partner universities
in the delivery of workshops, seminars,
certificate training and distance
learning for engineers in ADNOC and its
operating companies.
V. Summary
The office is proud of its accomplishments and
acknowledges that there is a lot of work ahead.
We plan to improve our current services in the
next academic year and build on our success.
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Institutional Research & Studies
Dr. LaJuana Mooney, Director
I. Executive Summary
The highlights of the year for the Office of
Institutional Research & Studies (IRS) include:
• Data collection and submission to
major entities such as the Abu Dhabi
Education Council (ADEC), the Centre
for Higher Education Data Submission
(CHEDS) and the Executive Council for
Presidential Affairs.
• The revision (by the faculty taskforce)
of the old form of the ‘Student
Evaluation of the Learning Environment’
questionnaire.
• The compilation and publication of the
PI’s Fact Book.
• The review of the HR Policy Manual and
its revisions (with the HR department)
• The launch of the IRS website on the
PI’s Intranet.
• The coordination of the initial
accreditation of two new graduate
programs – Master of Engineering in
HSE and Master of Science in Applied
Chemistry.
II. Mission and Goals
The mission of the IRS Office is to provide
authentic data, valid information, sound
expertise and proven leadership in support of
the mission, vision and strategic priorities of
the PI. The office collects descriptive data and
analytical reports to support decision making,
assessment and accountability.
The Office of IRS consults the academic
programs each semester about the courses
and instructors after administering a
survey (Student Evaluation of the Learning
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Environment) and by tracking the trends and
challenges faced by higher education in the
UAE and worldwide.
Our aim is to be effective in encouraging
a continuous improvement in academic
programs, in academic and student support
services and in administrative services.
has been renamed ‘Institutional
Research & Studies’. This structural
change meant that web services were
transferred to the IT department.
• The position of ‘Head of Institutional
Research & Assessment’ has been
renamed the ‘Director of Institutional
Research & Studies’.
• Our operational efficiency has been
enhanced by the addition of two
coordinator positions. The administrative
assistant was promoted to one of these
new positions.
• Survey and reporting requests were
automated through the Helpdesk
system.
Data Collection & Reporting to
External Entities
IRS is the focal point for collecting and
reporting institutional data to internal and
external bodies. Below is a list of reports
submitted by IRS:
Our activities in relation to accreditation
& licensure ensure that all programs and
degrees offered at the PI are licensed by the
Commission of Academic Accreditation (CAA),
the Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific
Research, UAE & by ABET (formerly known as
‘The Accreditation Board for Engineering and
Technology’).
III. Highlights of Academic
Year 2011- 2012
New Employees:
• Ms. Mouza Al Neyadi – IR Coordinator
• Mr. Ussama Jano – Office Administrator
Changes:
• In the reorganization of the PI, the Office
of ‘Institutional Research & Assessment’
1. CHEDS Reports: 242 data points about
faculty, staff, students, finance and
institutional information in Fall 2011 &
Spring 2012 semesters
2. Presidential Affairs’ Housing &
Educational Allowance Report: salary,
housing & educational entitlement and
the actual amount being paid to each
employee based on nationality, gender,
grade and number of children, etc.
3. Executive Council Higher Education
Report: 60 data points elaborating
enrollment, graduation, faculty details
and accreditation
4. Executive Council Manpower Report:
Manpower survey of existing jobs by
classification and nationality for 2011;
training & development plan & budget,
plus general information [the number of
employees in each grade & by nationality
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A year of transformation, growth and success
(in 2010 & 2011), the educational level
at each grade, employee retention for
2010 & 2011, new vacancies & new hires
for 2012], organizational structure & HR
strategy (5-year plan), the recruitment
plan for 2012 and a budget forecast.
5. ADEC Higher Education Survey: Faculty
& staff summary, faculty roster, programs,
new intakes & graduations (from 2000
to 2010), student enrolment & retention
by program, student life (internship &
exchange program), finances, patents
and general information (regarding the
library, PI alumni, accreditation, etc)
6. Executive Council Employee Profiles:
The PI’s personnel profiles with
employees’ photographs according to
a template detailing name, gender, past
experience and skills.
7. Presidential Affairs’ Standardized Form
for Scholarship & Grants: 23 data points
about scholarship, GPA and academic
progress for all currently enrolled
students.
as well as the facilitation of the CAA review
teams’ visits and follow-up reports on teams’
suggestions and recommendations.
Collaborations
IRS actively participates in the Middle East
& North Africa Association of Institutional
Research & Assessment (MENA-AIR)’s
meetings, workshops and conferences. The
efforts of the CAA and the Ministry of Higher
Education & Scientific Research on quality
assurance and changes to the standards are
supported (and have been adopted) by IRS.
Revisiting Student Evaluation of
the Learning Environment
During the past year, the Director of IRS
revisited the existing process for the annual
survey: ‘Student Evaluation of the Learning
Environment’. Each program nominated a
faculty member for the evaluation taskforce
which reviewed various evaluation forms and
compared them with the PI’s own form. After
discussion, IRS developed the new “Course
Instructor Evaluation” form which is now
effective.
Accreditation Activities
IRS successfully coordinated the initial
accreditation of two new graduate programs,
Master of Engineering in HSE and Master of
Science in Applied Chemistry. This involved the
review and submission of self-study reports
Surveys & Reports
IRS administered 45 web-based surveys for
various departments within the PI. These
surveys and their statistical analysis in the
form of reports provide the PI management
with accurate information and they support
the PI’s institutional effectiveness.
The following reports are compiled by IRS
for benchmarking and external comparison
purposes:
• Abu Dhabi Cost of Living: A report on
the increasing cost of living in the Abu
Dhabi Emirate over the previous 12
months.
• Academic Salaries: The salaries of
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
faculty by rank, field and location, based
on select regional and international
universities salary scales and surveys.
• Academic Standing Policies for Graduate
Students: A report on relevant policies
in various regional & US universities.
• The cost of attendance in US universities
(2012): A comparison of the costs of
undergraduate and graduate programs
including fees, health insurance, housing,
books, etc.
• Educational Expenses: An analysis of
increasing school fees and employees’
education allowances.
• Policies on faculty promotion in different
universities.
• University Curriculum: Classes, credit
hours and sequences in different
universities.
• Policies for probation students and
academic advice in selected universities.
• An academic calendar comparison for
UAE universities
Other Substantive Tasks
IRS monitored and updated the content of the
PI web: Eurof Thomas and Bart Daems worked
on content and design to improve the PI’s web
presence. IRS also coordinates the Institutional
Advisory and Governing Board’s meetings for
the President’s Office.
activities
• An IRS Newsletter to report emerging
trends & issues in local and international
higher education
IV. Future Plans
To support data reporting and statistical
analysis activities at the PI, IRS is developing
an institutional data bank which serves as a
central standardized source of data collection
and reporting for all PI personnel and
departments.
A software for institutional assessment and
planning is being evaluated by the IRS with a
view to implement it at the PI. The purpose
of this tool is to streamline assessment
and strategic planning and to encourage
the continuous improvement of academic
programs, academic and student support
services and administrative services by
implementing policies and procedures as
required by the CAA.
Current Initiatives
The activities of IRS are mostly collaborative
and supportive in nature: their purpose is to
integrate assessment, planning and research
to achieve institutional strategic objectives.
To facilitate this process IRS has completed
the following tasks:
• The IR Helpdesk portal to better serve
the PI community with data and report
requests
• An events calendar to record and
announce institutional events and
Thank You from IRS
IRS would like to send out a big “Thank
You” to all the departments who supply
data and information for the reports.
Without assistance and cooperation from
all, the job could not be done.
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Internship Department
Dr. Hamad Karki, Director
The Internship program at the PI was
previously a decentralized activity supervised
by the Student Affairs Division and directly
monitored by each Engineering program. This
arrangement ended during the organizational
restructure of the PI during the first quarter
of 2012. The role of the new department is
to coordinate with ADNOC’s affiliates and
industrial partners to ensure that eligible PI
students are placed for appropriate internship
training in accordance with the approved syllabi
with the criteria set by ABET (formerly known
as the Accreditation Board for Engineering
and Technology). Dr. Hamad Karki has been
appointed as Director of Internship and A.
Sunil Anwar as Internship Coordinator.
In contrast to previous years, the new team
was successful in completing all the prearrangements
for the internship program in a
timely manner, including (but not limited to)
the following achievements:
• We have coordinated with host
companies to ensure that they have
adequate facilities to accommodate
and train our students.
• We have been successful in obtaining
onshore/offshore CNIA security passes
for all the students, irrespective of their
nationality or gender.
• We have ensured that each student is
assigned a pre-defined Engineering
project which details the technical
aspects and work methodology required
for successful completion.
• We have ensured that appropriate
mentors are allocated to all students and
that proper coordination is established
between mentors and program
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
coordinators from each PI Engineering
department.
• We have organized proper mobilization,
transportation, on-site accommodation
and demobilization of interns in
accordance with all the relevant health,
safety and security standards.
• We have made sure that the PI
Engineering program coordinators
visit the students at least twice during
each internship period to monitor their
progress.
• We have followed up meetings
conducted with all the host companies
to ask for feedback in order to identify
areas which need improvement.
We received very positive feedback
from the host companies regarding
our coordination and monitoring of
students.
Apart from ADNOC’s affiliates, students
were sent to the following industrial partners
of ADNOC Group, including two overseas
companies:
1. TOTAL UAE
2. Yokogawa UAE
3. Emerson UAE
4. Partex Portugal
5. BASF Germany
The students’ placement statistics are illustrated below:
Company Female Male Total
ADCO 21 26 47
ADMA-OPCO 6 12 18
ADGAS 0 3 3
BOROUGE 2 2 4
FERTIL 3 3 6
GASCO 15 27 42
NDC 0 6 6
TAKREER 10 4 14
ZADCO 10 10 20
BASF - Germany 0 2 2
Partex - Portugal 0 2 2
Emerson 0 2 2
Yokogawa 0 3 3
TOTAL 3 0 3
Grand Total 70 102 172
In view of the foregoing, we conclude that the internship program for 2012 has been the most
successful yet. Moreover, the department plans to further enhance its services and operations for
the continual improvement of our students’ prospects.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Student Affairs Division
Dr. Sami Ainane, Dean
The Student Affairs Division plays a vital role
in the life of the Petroleum Institute through
the planning, arranging, and conducting
of a range of social, cultural, recreational
and athletic activities. The Student Affairs
Division believes that students at ease in their
surroundings have a stronger desire to achieve
their goals, and this core belief helps us to
enable these young men and women to find a
more significant role in the PI community
and a more meaningful future beyond.
of Student Support, Student One Stop Shop
(SOS), Resident Life, Recreation and Athletics.
Vision
“The Division of Student Affairs inspires and
prepares students to be effective leaders,
responsible citizens, and engaged learners
through student-centered programs, policies,
and services. We aspire to create an engaging
learning environment that encourages the
holistic development of every student.”
Division Structure
PI students are offered an increasingly wide
range of extra-curricular opportunities
designed to develop and nurture their
leadership skills in as many areas as possible.
In order to improve delivery, the Student Affairs
Division now incorporates the departments
Mission
We support the mission of the Petroleum
Institute by promoting and contributing to an
environment centered on student learning and
success. In doing so, we shall:
• Provide extra-curricular activities
and services that address the holistic
development of students;
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
• Identify and respond to students’
needs with personalized services and
attention;
• Create and maintain a healthy and safe
environment that supports and sustains
recruitment, retention, and students’
success;
• Foster an inclusive and diverse
community where civility and respect
for each individual are the norm.
Core Values
• Integrity – we treat everyone with
respect and honesty
• Commitment – we are devoted to
excellence
• Learning – we make every opportunity a
learning opportunity
• Diversity – we promote civility,
compassion, inclusivity, respect, and
dignity for all
• Student Service – we understand,
anticipate, and respond effectively to
our students’ needs
Student Support
The counseling department fulfills a number
of important functions. These responsibilities
relate to overall academic planning and
support student performance, interpersonal
relations, social adjustment, career guidance,
and work adjustment. The counseling section’s
professional commitment to PI students is
to support the unlimited development of
students’ potential.
Student One Stop Shop (SOS)
The Arzanah and Habshan SOS Offices provide
most of the administrative services students
need, these include: registration, transfer credit
evaluation, graduation formalities, student
ID, residence visa, meal tickets, insurance,
tutoring, student employment and safety gear.
Resident Life
Resident Life supports the academic mission
of the PI by providing a supportive living and
learning community.
In the past year, the department provided
accommodation for 480 undergraduate and
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A year of transformation, growth and success
graduate students in the newly refurbished
hostels. Sixteen students from Abu Dhabi
enrolled in the established Resident Assistant
(RA) Program.
RAs play a key role in creating an environment
for students that encourages academic,
personal and social growth. They help promote
social, academic and cultural activities: an RA
is a friend, resource, mentor, role model and
community leader in their hostel. Not least, RAs
develop strong and transferable leadership
and interpersonal skills. In 2012 they played a
pivotal role in organizing:
faculty, and staff to participate in organized,
competitive sports regardless of athletic ability.
Intramural Sports promotes sportsmanship
and social growth through a range of individual
and team sports.
• Inter-building sports tournaments
• Beach BBQ
• Fun Day
One hundred and sixty female students,
faculty and staff took part in competitions
which included volleyball, basketball, table
tennis and badminton.
The male competitions –with over 500
participants- featured soccer, volleyball,
basketball, squash, table tennis, tennis,
swimming, cricket, badminton and bowling.
Athletics Department
The Athletics Department provides PI
students with the opportunity to participate in
a broad based program which enhances their
academic, cultural and social growth. We
emphasize that the benefits of athletic and
physical activities play an important role in the
students’ overall personal development.
Intramurals
The Intramural Sports program was launched
in Spring 2012. The goal is to allow students,
Among the department’s achievements in
2011-12 are:
PI students and staff were placed first in the
singles and first and second in the doubles
badminton competition that was organized by
Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi.
PI visiting student John Broman won the 1500
meters event; Hamed al Hebsi qualified for the
100 meters final and Ibrahim El Hassan qualified
for the 400 meters final in the tournament
organized by the Higher Education Federation
in Dubai.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Over 30 PI students participated in the 40th
National Day sports tournament organized by
Takreer. After winning the indoor and outdoor
football competitions, and being placed
second and third in the bowling and volleyball
competitions respectively, the PI team was
declared the overall winner.
The PI football team built a winning record
of 6-2-1 in 2011-12. Our footballers beat teams
from Khawrizmi Institute, Masdar Institute,
Sharjah University and DGAS.
In the Spring mid-semester break 2 groups of
Petroleum Institute students (1 male, 1 female,
accompanied by faculty members) flew to
Malaysia for 7 days. The trip included a visit to
Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) at Bandar
Seri Iskandar.
The second PI Global Day involved all areas of
the campus in celebrating different cultures.
The festival highlighted the history, music,
dance, art and food of 22 countries and
cultures.
A campaign to raise awareness of children
with special needs was initiated by a group of
students who visited the Al Noor center for
children with special needs.
Thirty children from the center were invited
to the PI campus for a Fun Day. The children
were treated to puppet, clown and pirate acts,
they played games and they sang. All the acts
were performed by PI students and over AED
8,500 was raised for the center.
The PI’s ‘Athletes of the Year’ are Ibrahim
Elhasan and Abdelkader Filali who were
honored at a ceremony held at Zayed
University
This year, the average daily number of students
who use the fitness facility in ASAB exceeded
80, an all-time high.
Other activities organized by the Recreation
Department included: Holy Quran competition,
Trips to Musandan, PS3 Tournaments, Survival
Camps, Weekly Movie Trips, Go carting,
Paintball, Bowling, Beach BBQ, Diba Trip, Know
your Country (Trips to different Emirates) and
Trips to the Ladies Club in Dubai.
In addition to its traditional services, this year
the department also introduced swimming
and martial arts classes.
Recreation
The Recreation Department provides a safe
and inclusive recreation environment where PI
students can exercise, learn, and develop skills
to succeed at the PI and beyond.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Women in Science and Engineering Program
Dr. Nadia M. Alhasani, Dean
I. Executive Summary
The Petroleum Institute’s Women in Science
and Engineering (WISE) Program is proud of
its accomplishments given its short history
and is pleased to highlight the following for
the academic year 2011-2012:
in SPE regional and international student
competitions.
• WISE Program’s Academic Integrity Week
initiative receives best practice recognition
from Ministry of Higher Education and
Scientific Research – Commission for
Academic Accreditation.
• The first 60 undergraduate female
engineers and scientists participate in the
6th Commencement (January 2012).
• Two alumnae begin graduate studies
at prestigious universities (MIT and
University of Minnesota); one is accepted
at Stanford and Purdue Universities, and
one at Cornell University.
• Two alumnae complete research
fellowships at NASA’s Ames Center in
California.
• WISE senior Petroleum Engineering
students secure second and third places
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
• VIPs interacting with WISE Program
students include Sheikh Mohamed bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikha Al-Yaziya bint
Saif Al Nahyan, H. E. Christian Wulff (Past-
President of Germany) and Lady Barbara
Judge (British Business Ambassador).
• President of Dar Al Hekma College
(Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) visits to explore
possible collaborations.
II. Program Mission and Goals
The Petroleum Institute’s Women in Science
and Engineering (WISE) Program seeks to
promote women’s education attainment,
professional aspirations, social responsibility
and personal growth. The Program aspires
to develop successful female engineers and
scientists who make meaningful contributions
to the profession and to society at large.
The Program’s goals are to:
• inspire lifelong learning,
• foster leadership skills,
• encourage civic involvement, and
• promote engagement in applied
sciences and engineering.
- Laboratory Technician (joint
appointment with Mechanical
Engineering Department)
Changes:
• The position of “Director of WISE
Program” has been renamed “Dean of
WISE Program.”
• To streamline operations, Arzanah
has cut eight positions reporting
to centralized units. A receptionist,
messenger, maintenance technician,
and five security personnel have been
replaced with one clerical assistant and
four attendants reporting to the WISE
Program Office.
• New interior spaces have been added,
including a senior student lounge, an
alumnae office, a ‘mummies’ room’, and
Gallery Turath. Outside, we now have
Falcon Field, with some outdoor dining
furniture and, not least, the auditorium
has been refurbished and renamed the
ADMA Auditorium @ PI.
III. Highlights of Academic
Year 2011-2012
New Employees:
• Ms. Randa Abu Sharia – Activities
Coordinator
• Ms. Ghaidaa Farousi – Sports Coach
(appointment with Student Affairs
Division)
• Ms. Swagie Rosma Binsali – Clerical
Assistant
• Ms. Michelle Bautista - Attendant
• Ms. Jennifer (Hagar) Barrun - Attendant
• Ms. Ma Lyn Bianes - Attendant
• Ms. Annie Eassy – Attendant
• Mr. Sundharamoorthy Venugopal
Collaborative Endeavors:
A delegation from Dar Al Hekma College
(DAH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, paid a visit
on April 24th, 2012 to establish contact and
discuss the feasibility of a MOU.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Activities Focused on Student
Retention:
Since the establishment of the WISE Program,
the undergraduate female student population
has increased from 11% in Fall 2006 to 36%
in Fall 2011 (Table I) of the total student
enrollment. Female Nationals stand at 74% of
the total undergraduate female population.
Table I: Female Student Enrollment Numbers by Major
Major Fall 2006 Fall 2007 Fall 2008 Fall 2009 Fall 2010 Fall 2011
Chemical
Engineering
33 17% 76 34% 125 44% 141 51% 140 54% 132 56%
Electrical
Engineering
28 18% 37 22% 46 26% 65 37% 69 36% 62 31%
Mechanical
Engineering
9 3% 21 7% 23 8% 31 11% 37 14% 59 20%
Metallurgical
Science &
0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 3 60% 4 80%
Engineering
Petroleum
Engineering
25 11% 50 20% 58 23% 66 32% 78 33% 74 30%
Petroleum
Geosciences
9 15% 27 33% 31 40% 32 42% 46 49% 50 57%
Polymer Science
& Eng.
0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 2 67% 1 100%
Total Students
Enrolled
104 11% 211 20% 283 26% 337 33% 375 35% 382 36%
Total Nationals/
226/57 256/79 284/91 283/99
Expats
104/0 206/5
(79.8%) (75.9%) (75.7%) (74%)
(%Nationals)
(100%) (97.6%)
With the appointment of a full-time Activities
Coordinator, student activities that support
community spirit have increased. In addition
to our established annual events, new
activities such as ‘Honor the Falcon Day’ and
International Women’s Day were introduced,
three new student clubs were established and
cultural and social events organized.
In the past year, more guests were invited
to Arzanah and our Arzanah Ambassadors
(student volunteers and representatives) have
met Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
Sheikha Al-Yaziya bint Saif Al Nahyan, H. E.
Christian Wulff (past President of Germany),
Lady Barbara Judge (British Business
Ambassador), H. E. Mr. Abdulla Al Suwaidi
(Director General of ADNOC), as well as several
CEOs from ADNOC’s operating companies.
Our students also impressed visitors from the
PI’s Institutional Advisory Board, the ABET
Team and visitors from Stevens Institute of
Technology. There were also trips to partner
universities (CSM and Johannes Kepler
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
University) which have encouraged many
students to consider undertaking graduate
studies.
Arzanah celebrated the launch of its Alumnae
Association, “Danat Arzanah”. Alumnae
addressed WISE students as “Big Sisters”
in the “Freshman Success Seminar” course
and the “Danat Arzanah Forum” where they
shared their work experience with students.
During Abu Dhabi’s ‘Leaders of the Future
Summit: Bridging the Gender Gap in the Oil
& Gas Sector’ in April, alumnae and senior
students spoke on “The Petroleum Institute’s
WISE Program: What Makes Us Different!”
Efforts Focused on Curriculum,
Student Learning and Opportunities:
In the past year, thanks largely to outside
sponsors, students have been given the
opportunity to travel and to have authentic
work and research experience.
• JODCO/INPEX Group sponsors five
WISE senior students from Petroleum
Engineering and Petroleum Geosciences
for a 3-week summer workshop in
Japan.
• PI Research funds two Petroleum
Geoscientist senior students on a
17-day American workshop on different
geological formations.
• Wintershall, together with the PI, funded
an 8-day industrial visit to Germany for
10 junior and senior students.
• Borouge sponsors a Chemical
Engineering senior student in a 2-day
visit to the European Petrochemical
Association Conference (EPCA) and
Students’ Workshop, Berlin.
Three alumnae have enrolled full-time in PI’s
graduate programs and five as part-time
students. Two PI graduates are currently
studying in the US (MIT and University of
Minnesota). Two more students are about to
enroll in Stanford and Cornell Universities and
fifteen senior students are currently enrolled
in the PI’s 4+1 program.
Commencement:
The 6th Commencement celebrated the
graduation of the Class of 2011 which included
60 female engineers and geoscientists. By
the end of Academic Year 2011-2012, over 100
WISE alumnae will have joined the ADNOC
workforce, of which 81% are Emiratis. Table
II reflects the profile of the Class of 2011 and
partial projection for Class of 2012.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Table II: WISE Alumnae (Spring 2011-Summer 2012)
Major
Spring
2011
Summer
2011
Fall
2011
Spring 2012
(projected)
Summer
2012
(projected)
Total
Chemical Engineering 11 3 5 25 8 52
Electrical Engineering 14 0 5 7 2 28
Mechanical Engineering 4 0 4 6 0 14
Petroleum Engineering 2 0 6 2 0 10
Petroleum Geosciences 5 1 0 0 2 8
Total Alumnae 36 4 20 40 12 112
Total Nationals/Expats 34/2 2/2 17/3 29/11 9/3 91/21
Of the 60 members of the Class of 2011, 48 are
working in the ADNOC Group of Companies,
two are completing their research fellowship
at NASA’s Ames Center in California, five are
pursuing other graduate studies and three are
working outside ADNOC.
Academic Honors:
Our annual Honors Day’s speaker was Mr.
Ali Jarwan, CEO of ADMA. This ceremony
acknowledges the academic achievements of
the PI’s students in general and –in particularrecognizes
the AP Scholar Awards. These
awards are granted by the College Board-
Advanced Placement Program (US) to
students completing the Advanced Placement
exam.
Table III: Students Honored for Academic Achievements
Major 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
Chemical Engineering 9 25 21 31
Electrical Engineering 3 6 14 10
Mechanical Engineering 0 0 8 5
Metallurgical Science &
Engineering
0 0 0 1
Petroleum Engineering 6 6 12 18
Petroleum Geosciences 0 0 9 9
Advanced Placement 0 0 7 10
Total Students Honored 18 37 71 84
Extra-Curricular Awards:
The WISE Program rewards students who
are active in campus life. Table IV reflects the
increase in students’ involvement through the
number of certificates awarded especially in
the service category (assisting with teaching,
tutoring, research, grading, and office
assignments).
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Table IV: Students Recognized for Extra-Curricular Activities*
Category of Activity 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
Service 24 46 58 62 96
Sports 16 17 14 27 25
Volunteering 22 31 99 75 69
Total Students
Recognized
62 94 171 164 190
* A student may be recognized under more than one category.
Academic Integrity Week - Best
Practices
The WISE Program has been commended
by the UAE’s Commission for Academic
Accreditation, who commented: “Academic
integrity is a major issue for all institutions
around the world – the differentiating factor is
how each of those institutions deals with the
problem. This submission is a really imaginative
approach based on a positive and public
celebration of honesty and integrity.” (Source:
https://www.caa.ae/caa/Images/gp_3.pdf)
Student Accolades:
Student participation in professional
conferences and competitions at home and
abroad has brought excellent exposure to the
WISE Program. Examples include:
• The UAE Youth Ambassador Program
Delegation to South Korea (Summer
2012).
• The 3rd SPE Abu Dhabi Young
Professional Paper Contest, Abu Dhabi
(June 5, 2012).
• Ebtikar: Senior Design Projects Exhibit
and Competition, PI (May 22, 2012).
• The 1st ADNOC R&D Annual Conference
(ARDAC 2012), Abu Dhabi (May 16-17,
2012).
• The Oxford University Press Short
Story Competition – in conjunction with
Emirates Literary Festival, Dubai (March
2012).
• The IPTC International Educational Week
– in conjunction with 5th International
Petroleum Technology Conference
(IPTC), Bangkok (February 7-9, 2012).
• The Annual World Future Energy Summit
(WFES 2012), Abu Dhabi (January 16-19,
2012).
• The Annual International Design
Competition and Forum – in conjunction
with Strategies for Team-based
Engineering Problem Solving (STEPS)
Program, PI (December 18-20, 2011).
• The World Petroleum Congress
Excellence Awards for Youth, Best
Paper/Poster Session Category, Doha
(December 4, 2011).
• The SPE Regional Educational Week
– in conjunction with 17th Middle East
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Oil and Gas Show (MEOS), Manama
(September 23-26, 2011).
Library). A “WISE Workshop” is planned where
senior students will show their design projects
in Arzanah and an outdoor projection screen
to be set up under the Falcon Field dome.
Service:
A team of students from Arzanah visited 10
high schools in Abu Dhabi and also hosted a
high school delegation in order to encourage
female high school students to consider
professions in science and technology. Our
efforts resulted in an increase in applications
for academic year 2012-13.
VI. Summary
The PI’s WISE Program is unique and has
pioneered its own path while supporting
ADNOC’s mandate and its students’
aspirations. The challenge has been in securing
equal access to the academic resources of
the institution while creating an independent
female-oriented campus life. We continue to
streamline our facilities and processes while
maintaining the physical separation between
male and female undergraduates. The WISE
Program remains committed to being a model
for female undergraduate education in science
and engineering in the region and beyond.
V. Future Plans/Initiatives
Current initiatives include a new publication-
“WISE Times” - and a regular lunchtime event
which features short films (set up with the PI
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Administration Highlights
Senior Admin. Staff Service Award
Mahmoud Shehada
Facility Maintenance
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Facilities
Mr. Michael Giblin, Manager
I. Executive Summary
2011-2012 was a hectic year with a number
of important initiatives carried out with the
support of the Governing Board and the
PI senior management. We were also wellsupported
by the Campus Master Plan Liaison
group and a team of faculty and staff who
came together to add to the momentum
generated by a change management program
implemented in early 2011:
• The facilities team embarked on a
major effort to improve the image of
the PI through upgrading the students’
dormitories, recreation facilities and
work spaces. This had a great impact on
student morale.
• The PI’s catering services are undergoing
a strategic change: breaking away from
the standard model and establishing a
more student-friendly, service focused
agreement.
• Organizational changes have made FMS
leaner and more concentrated on its
core business.
• The department has been redeveloped
in accordance with its business functions
and this allows closer collaboration
among colleagues.
• Security was enhanced through car park
developments at Habshan and Arzanah
and through the installation of CCTV in
Zarkuh, Bu Hasa and Ruwais buildings
• A new PI Brand Image has been
introduced.
II. Department Mission and
Program Goals:
To support the academic and research mission
of The Petroleum Institute by fostering an
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inviting environment for learning, living, and
research for all members.
In doing so, we shall operate and manage
our facilities and services in a responsive and
cost effective manner; strive to exceed our
customers’ expectations; and pursue a culture
of continuous improvement in all aspects of
our business.
III. Highlights for Academic
Year 2011 – 12
Current Accomplishments
• Plans for new dormitory blocks have
been drawn.
• The PI Research Centre is ready.
• The Asab Examination Hall will have
seating for 280 examination candidates
• The Student Centre “mess hall” has
been upgraded in order to create a
more student-friendly atmosphere.
• The furniture in the Student Centre
canteen, Bu Hasa and in Zarkuh cafeteria
has been replaced.
• CCTV coverage is complete.
• Zarkuh & Bu Hasa classrooms floor
coverings and blinds are being
refurbished.
• The carpets throughout the offices in
Zarkuh & Bu Hasa will be changed.
• The student clubs are now fully
equipped.
• The new catering services are
operational.
• The PI’s new brand image has been
successfully introduced.
• The Independent Learning Centre (ILC)
will be expanded in early 2013.
• Two Takreer Studio Physics Labs have
been installed.
• The new cladding for the outer walls of
Zarkuh, Bu Hasa and Ruwais is being
added.
• The admission area/ VIP business centre
on the ground floor of Habshan has
been completed.
• Eight open IT labs for general use by the
students are operational.
• Funding was secured from 3 ADNOC
operating companies (OPCOs) for
facilities upgrades:
o Takreer has funded 2 innovative
Studio Physics labs to enhance
teaching and to foster an independent
approach among students.
o ADMA has sponsored the renovation
of the main auditorium at Arzanah,
which is now known as the ADMA
Auditorium.
o ADCO has sponsored the upgrade of
the auditorium in Zarkuh , which is
now known as the ADCO Auditorium.
• Activities that have focused on student
retention, such as dormitory, study
and recreation area upgrades have
all contributed to improving student
morale.
IV. Current Initiatives
Our initiatives include the PI campus Master
Plan. The plan will give us a clear road map
for the period up to 2030 and it reflects our
determination to continue to be a vibrant
community focused on research and education.
V. Summary
Much has been achieved in the last 18 months
and great momentum and energy has been
generated among the team involved in
the provision of services at the PI. With the
continued support of the Governing Board,
the PI Senior Management and our industrial
partners, the facilities team continues its
efforts to offer the best support services
possible to the PI community.
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Finance Department
Ms. Fatima Al Shaali, (Acting) Director
I. Department Vision, Mission
and Values
Vision
We aspire to create a pioneer financial services
organization and to be a leading benchmark
for other institutes.
Mission
• Promote sound financial management.
• Develop and maintain effective and
efficient financial planning, reporting
and central support systems in order
to support the operating departments
in achieving their program objectives.
• Support the teaching, research, and
public service mission of the Petroleum
Institute.
• Provide the finest quality service to staff
members, faculty members, students
and external users.
Value Statements
Excellence/Quality:
We are
• committed to providing a superior
quality services and systems using
inventive, timely, efficient, resourceful,
solution-oriented, and cost-effective
strategies and procedures.
• dedicated to achieving the highest levels
of faculty, staff, employee and student
satisfaction by significantly exceeding
their expectations.
• devoted to delivering proactive financial
solutions and services that support the
Petroleum Institute’s strategic plan.
Employee Focus:
We are committed to the success of our
employees as they are our most valuable
resource.
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We promote personal development to ensure
a high level of competence, expertise, and
satisfaction.
Teamwork:
We greatly value our staff’s efforts and
contribution in achieving our mission.
We support and encourage teamwork and
team building activities.
Integrity:
We provide services in an ethical, transparent,
courteous and caring manner.
We respect everyone and we welcome the
free exchange of ideas.
Stewardship:
We practice sound financial management and
are devoted to ensuring an efficient use of
PI resources to ensure its financial long-term
sustainability.
Communication:
We communicate externally with ADNOC
shareholders and internally with all users in
order to meet their expectations.
We are dedicated to the effective use of
various means of communication.
II. Finance Department
Highlights, Roles and
Functions
New Staff
Mr. Sultan Al Shamsi joined the PI Finance
Department in 1st April, 2012 as Financial
Accountant. He has over 10 years’ experience
in various business fields. Before joining the PI,
he worked for 5 years in the communications
industry, 3 years in the finance industry and
another 3 years in media. He achieved his
bachelor degree in Abu Dhabi University.
Sections
There are three sections in the PI Finance
Department
- Management Accounts
- Financial Accounts
- Financial System & Reporting Analysis
The Role of the Management
Accountant
Assistance in Planning
The management accountant assists planning
by providing information. This information can
be about pricing, capital expenditure projects,
product costs or competition. In the short-term
planning process of budgeting (less than one
year), the management accountant provides
information on past costs which can be used
as a guide. The management accountant also
manages the budgeting process itself.
Assistance in Controlling
The management accountant supplies
performance reports which compare actual
performance with planned performance and
which therefore highlight those activities
which are not conforming to plan.
Assistance in Organizing
By ensuring that the accounting system
is tailored to the organizational structure,
the management accountant reinforces the
objectives of the organizational framework.
Assistance in Motivating
Budgets prepared by the management
accountant serve to motivate managers and
subordinates to achieve the PI’s objectives.
Formalized targets are more likely to motivate
than vague comments.
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Performance reports produced by the
management accountant for the control
process also motivate managers by
communicating performance information in
relation to the targets which have been set.
Assistance in Decision Making
The management accountant is a vital
component in the PI’s decision making
process. He or she collects and analyses data,
and presents information to managers to help
in decision making.
The Role of the Financial Accountant
Assistance in Payroll
The responsibility of the Financial Accountant
(for salaries, wages and other approved
personal and ad-hoc payments) is to ensure
that all staff appointed by the PI receive the
appropriate payment, as laid down in their
contract of employment and that in making
such payments the PI complies with relevant
statutory legislation.
Assistance in Payable Payments:
For effective assistance in processing
payments, all invoices should be addressed to
the PI with a valid finance account code which
must be specified on all payment requests and
stamped, authorized and sent to the financial
accountant.
Assistance in Account Codes
For effective assistance in account codes,
the codes and other relevant documentation
should be in a format prescribed by the Finance
Manager. All financial activities recorded
using the financial system must be related to
an activity code. The Finance Department is
responsible for setting out the procedures for
creating such codes.
Assistance in Internal and External
Audits
The Internal Audit works closely with the
Finance Manager, functionally reporting to
the PI Governing Board, and administratively
reporting to the PI President until the
finalization of the Internal Audit Service and
until the establishment of an Internal Audit
Charter, an Internal Audit Manual and the
development of a risk-based Internal Audit
Plan within the PI are functional.
The activities of the Internal Audit include:
• establishment of an internal audit
function
• risk assessment and risk based internal
audit Plan
• internal audit execution reporting and
follow-up; to execute internal audits
based on the risk based internal audit
plan
The external auditor (KPMG) is a completely
independent body that monitors the
effectiveness of the PI’s internal controls, and
has authority to access the PI’s financial system
to report on its financial statements and to
carry out such examinations of the statements
and underlying records and control systems as
necessary.
III. New Changes and
Accomplishments
• Internal Auditor: - KPMG provides an
audit to help the Petroleum Institute
negotiate risks and perform in dynamic
and challenging environments.
• Budget: the budget period has been
changed from academic year to financial
year, i.e. from January to December.
• The Finance Department holds
meetings with The Petroleum Institute
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Finance Committee (PIFC) twice a
year to report on the new budget and
the actual incurred Opex and Capex of
the financial year.
• Meetings are held twice a week to
discuss any pending or new issues.
• Oracle ERP System: Oracle for Financial
Services delivers comprehensive,
pre-integrated business applications,
including key functionality built
specifically for the PI’s financial
operations.
• Financial Systems and reporting: a new
unit was created within the Finance
Department to set, monitor and adjust
the workflow of all finance transactions
and processes.
IV. Training and Professional
Development
The Finance Department supports staff
development within our budget. Clearly,
Finance Department employees have a
responsibility to keep up-to-date with
developments through private study. Where
formal training is appropriate, we will provide
training courses from our own resources.
We can provide managerial and organizational
training for courses like Supervisory Skills,
Presentation Skills, Time & Stress Management,
Creative Problem Solving & Decision Making,
Leadership & Team Building, Effective
Project Management, Developing Emotional
Intelligence for the Workplace, Mastering
Business & Financial Modeling.
We have also created a cumulative training
plan for our staff as follows:
Step 1: Professional Development Program
(PDP): Qualified senior staff members
nominated by the department manager are
selected to coach and train staff members,
and each coach has one trainee. The selected
coaches carry out training session and
evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of
their students. Based on any weaknesses,
they can schedule external training courses in
coordination with the Development & Training
Section.
Step 2: External Training: the Development &
Training Section handles communication with
external training sources to schedule external
training.
PDP coaches, the Development & Training
Section and the external training institution
are integrated to form a comprehensive
development program so that staff members
can reach their full potential.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Human Resources Department
Ms. Salama Al Ameri, (Acting) HR Manager
I. HR Mission
“Strive to excel in HR Services by fostering
strategic partnerships with our customers and
stakeholders.”
HR Business Drivers:
1. Develop and maintain Policies, Processes
and Procedures Manuals
2. Implement the HR System (part of ERP
project)
3. Foster and promote a culture of
performance excellence among staff
4. Provide employee relations support
services to employees and their eligible
dependents
5. Develop and implement compensation
and retention strategies
6. Manage, execute and control the PI’s
corporate annual training plan and
budget
7. Meet manpower requirements
II. HR New Employees
There has been a remarkable increase in the
number of our HR staff which is indicative of
hectic HR activities related to hiring, retention
and development programs.
Mrs. Raja Mohammed Al Mamarri – Employee
Relations Officer. She holds a Bachelor’s
degree and has 4 years of experience in the
telecommunication industry.
Ms. Salama Mohamed Jaber Qassim – Sr.
Competency Framework Developer. She
holds a Bachelor’s degree and has 5 years of
experience.
Ms. Aisha Jamal Harib Hassan Alzaabi –
Recruitment Officer (Developee). She has a
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
diploma in Human Resource Management
and is currently pursuing her Bachelor degree
course. This is her first job.
Mr. Naveed A Shaikh – Travel Assistant. He
holds a Bachelor ‘s degree in Commerce
and has 20 years of experience with Omeir
Travel Agency serving in different roles as
Corporate Accounts Supervisor and Business
Development Executive.
Mr. Mohammed Naser Al Braik – Sr. Recruitment
Officer. He holds a diploma in Human
Resources and has 4 years of experience with
the Health Authority. He is currently working
towards his CIPD qualification.
New Recruitment
We have successfully recruited 67 employees
for the academic year 2011-2012. It is a matter of
pride that the PI is a multi-cultural environment
with over 57 nationalities currently among its
personnel.
III. Current Initiatives
HR interim system
The in-house basic HR system was successfully
developed with the assistance of the IT team.
The HR focal point for this development was
Mr. Abdulla Al Ameri and Ms. Inish Issac. The
1st payroll through the new system was sent to
Finance in April 2011.
HR Workshop
The HR Workshop was held at the Fairmont
Hotel in May in order to discuss the HR Mission
and Strategic Plan for 2011-2012. This was a
very successful event which focused on key
areas such as:
1. Understanding the strategic role of HR
2. Defining our own individual set of
objectives aligned to our HR Department
Objectives and identifying Objective
Owners and Data
3. The time frame for each objective
4. The performance appraisal to be
designed reflecting those objectives
5. The work program highlighting the
steps/actions (milestones) to achieve
those objectives
6. Aligning objectives to the defined
mission, vision and strategy
7. Introduction to BSC (Balance Score
Card)
ERP system
The PI’s Management decided to introduce
a full-fledged ERP system, integrating the
activities of HR, Finance and Supply Chain
departments. Alongside consultant Ms.
Salama Al Ameri and Ms. Inish Issac were
the focal point for the development of the
system in accordance with the PI’s business
requirements. The project took off in December
2011 and the first payroll was released in May
2012. Subsequently, the payroll function was
moved to the HR department.
Policy Manual
The first HR Policy Manual was approved and
published on the intranet in November 2011
for employee access. Various other guidelines,
procedures and best practices were developed,
which are published on the HR intranet.
Inductions for new employees and Policy
Awareness sessions were conducted.
Structural Changes
The HR department was reorganized and
currently consists of the following sections:
Recruitment & Employee Relations: This
section has 12 employees and combines the
activities of Academic and Non-academic
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A year of transformation, growth and success
recruitment along with the Employee
Relations activities. This section is the first
point of contact for recruitment and employee
benefits.
Policy & Compensation: This section, with
two employees, is a new development that
arose as a result of payroll activities being
transferred from the Finance department. We
have been focusing on the Policy Manual, on
documenting procedures and on introducing
new allowances/policies/procedures and
establishing salary structures.
Capabilities Development: This is also a
new section, formed to meet training needs,
employee development, and the assessment
of employees as per job requirements. This
department has four employees.
Organization Development: This is yet another
new section which focuses on manpower
planning, job evaluation and the preparation
of job descriptions.
Activities Focused On Employee
Retention
Several measures have been taken to ensure
employee welfare and satisfaction. The
modification of housing, education and air
fare benefits for female employees was a
significant step in this regard.
IV. Future Plans
The plan to create an HR Helpdesk is on the
table. Once it is operational, the Helpdesk will
enable us to log all our activities and provide
higher quality services as well as track and
reduce any delays. The Helpdesk will also
function as a tool for performance evaluation.
“Leave no vacancies unfilled” is one of the
highlights of our HR strategy. Procedures that
are vital to timely hiring will be streamlined
and amended as necessary.
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Information Technology Department
Dr. Gemal Seede, Manager
I. Executive Summary
This academic year has seen major milestone
achievements for the Information Technology
department at the PI. These landmark
accomplishments include the deployment
of new systems, customer service offerings,
cost saving projects, and improvements in our
internal processes.
It would be difficult to list all of the projects,
but some of the highlights are:
• The launch of our new ERP system
based on Oracle E-business Suite
• The launch of our new Library
Management System called Symphony
• The deployment of a re-engineered
student application portal and applicant
screening system
• The expansion of our Trackit helpdesk
system to other departments
• The expansion of Internet bandwidth to
1 Gigabit per second (20 times more
bandwidth)
• The launch of 1 Gig research network
(ANKABUT) tying UAE universities
together
• The building of a server Infrastructure
(Private Cloud)
• The rollout of Digital Signs
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A year of transformation, growth and success
• The adoption of Performance Contracts/
Balanced Score cards
• The introduction of major IT organization
chart changes including the addition of
two departments: Enterprise Systems
and Planning & Policies
• The enhancement of web mail
• The creation and initial meeting of the
Computer and Information Technology
Committee, which will eventually help
provide the department with strategic
direction.
PI community. Therefore the IT Departments
mission is to serve the PI community by:
II.
Department Mission and
Program Goals
a. Enhancing and supporting teaching,
learning, and research mission
b. Providing, securing, and maintaining IT
structures and IT related academic and
administrative services at the PI
c. Managing and controlling IT investment
and contributing to savings opportunities
and eco-friendly sustainable initiatives
d. Developing a responsive governance
for the IT department that
promotes accountability, discipline,
communication and collaboration both
within IT and with all functions of the PI
community
The IT department formalized a Vision
statement, a Mission statement, and a set of
strategic objectives
Vision: Infuse innovative technology services
into all aspects of teaching, learning, and
research at the Petroleum Institute.
Mission: Committed as an enabler to the
PI core mission by providing high quality
infrastructure, exceptional support and
innovation in the delivery of IT services to the
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Strategic Objectives:
In order to serve the vision and mission of the
IT department, all projects and tasks that IT
works on must adhere to at least one of the
following strategic objectives:
• Align the IT Strategy with the PI Strategy
and business requirements
• Support the teaching, learning, and
research mission of the PI through
innovative IT services
• Enhance business operations through
process automation, analytics, and
business intelligence solutions
• Offer secure and reliable IT infrastructure
and services
• Identify and adopt information
technology that enhances security and
environmental sustainability at the PI
• Manage and control IT investment, and
contribute to savings opportunities at
the PI through effective technology
adoption
III. Highlights for the
Academic Year 2011 – 12
IT is very pleased to announce the addition of
several new employees, including new hires
and employees transferring to IT from other
departments. These include:
New Employees
o Sajna Samad (ERP Specialist)
o Ruqaiya Mohammed Al Shehhi
(Administrative Assistant)
o Salwa Alkaabi (Support Analyst)
o Nasma Al Jaberi (Support Analyst
o Shereef Cherikkallan (transferred as
Web Developer)
o Jason DeTagle (transferred as Audio
Visual Technician)
o Shaik Dawood (transferred as Telecom
Technician)
Structural Changes
IT underwent significant reorganization this
year. We now have two new departments
and we transferred services from other
departments to create a better experience for
our PI stakeholders. The new departments
include Planning and Policies, which will
handle IT budgeting issues, identify and
document needed policies, and help other
IT departments with project management
and methodologies. Additionally, the new
Enterprises Systems department will oversee
the growth and maintenance of the new
ERP system, as well as Business Intelligence
(advanced reporting) for all levels at the PI.
The functions that have been transferred to
IT include telecommunications to be handled
by our Infrastructure and Communications
department, audio visual services now handled
by Client Support Services, and web and
graphic design handled by our Applications
Services department.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
IV. Future plans/Initiatives
a) Continued Enhancements to ERP
b) Business intelligence and reporting
services
c) Executive dashboards
d) Expand High Performance Computing
Cluster
e) Rollout of desktop virtualization
f) Student Mobile applications
g) Promotion of Active learning spaces
h) Launch of a Distance learning pilot
i) Enhance AV function (recording,
creating, manipulation and display of
digital media)
j) Investigate and pilot Unified
Communication to integrate email,
voicemail, chat, video conferencing,
SMS together
k) Continued implementation of ITIL
framework for the adoption of best
practices in delivering IT services
l) Continued rollout of intranet portal for
all departments at the PI
m) Increase IT training services and
offerings for PI end users
V. Summary
The last two years have marked a focus in the
IT department on building the capabilities of
our staff and our infrastructure and on the
deployment of major new operational systems
such as the Library and the ERP system to
facilitate the administrative functions of the PI.
The next two years will be defined by projects
that focus on enhancing managerial decision
making, enterprise communications, enhanced
audio visual services, innovative teaching
and research technologies, and continued
efficiencies in administrative systems. We
look forward to participating in the further
success of the PI.
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Supply Chain Department
Ms. Hala Al Suwaidi, Manager
I. Introduction
Until recently, there was no Supply Chain
Department (SCD) at the PI. There were just
two procurement employees who handled all
the purchasing and supply requirements so
that only the minor procurement tasks were
handled by the PI itself; the bulk was dealt
with at ADNOC HQs.
A thorough study was made of the issues faced
by users. This was followed by brainstorming
and discussions to find the best solutions not
only for the past issues but also to build a
better framework for the future.
We wanted a department that was wellplanned,
organized and focused on goals that
were achievable and that could enhance the
quality of the supply chain services at the PI.
The Supply chain time-line below illustrates
the transformation that was initially planned.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
II.
Department Vision and
Mission
Procurement and Contracts Policy can be read
on the Supply Chain Intranet Site.
As a part of the SCD transformation plan, a
team-building exercise was conducted in the
last quarter of 2011. The aim was to bond the
members of the Supply Chain team together
and to cultivate well-defined goals for the
future of the department. As a result, we
developed our Vision and Mission Statements:
Vision Statement: Proactively supporting the
PI mission through world-class Supply Chain
services.
Mission Statement: Committed to deliver
Supply Chain services in an Optimal Time,
Quality and Cost effective manner while
upholding PI Interests and striving to exceed
customer’s expectations.
III. Highlights Of Academic
Year 2011-2012
New Employees
The biggest change was to enable the PI to
handle all their procurement and contracts
requirements independently. The new Supply
Chain Department was formed in 03.05.2011.
Mr. Hassan Farouk was seconded from
ADCO as the Acting Manager, Supply Chain
Department and further nurtured the supply
chain team as shown below:
IV. Current Initiatives
Policy and Procedures
Good organizations run on sturdy and
proficient policies, so in order to complete the
formation of the Procurement team, another
milestone in our journey was accomplished
– The Procurement Policy Manual (issued on
13.07.2011). The Contracts Unit was completely
formed by October 2012 and both the
Road Shows
Following our organizational changes, it was
crucial for our Users to understand how the
new Supply Chain policies and procedures
work. From February to May, 2012, road Shows
were conducted with every department which
also helped us understand and acknowledge
the issues and problems faced by our
Users. The exercise was included in the PCR
(Performance Criteria Report) for Supply
Chain Department.
New Checklists, Forms and
Templates
To help Users, we have prepared and issued
• Service Request Forms
• Checklists for Service Requests
• Service Order Templates
Establishing Relationships with
Local Universities
Recently, the PI has been undergoing several
changes to reinforce its image as one of
the best universities in the region. Hence,
initiatives like branding and so on have been
implemented by management.
The SCD has established good relationships
with universities like the American University
of Dubai, the American University of Sharjah,
Khalifa University, and the Higher Colleges
of Technology. This has been a significant
development as it has helped us to compare and
bench-mark the PI’s services. Accomplishing
these relationships, we have also been able to
obtain good references of other companies in
the market who were not previously known to
the PI.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
Procurement Team:
Contracts Team:
Commercial Planning Team:
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Weekly Update Report and On-Line
Monitoring Tool
Currently, we issue weekly status reports for
procurement. This has been an added value
for the users, in that it allows them to manage
their planning in good time.
Looking further ahead, we believed that it will
be an added value if the users could access
the status of their respective jobs anywhere
and at any time. After working on how to
meet this requirement, we have developed
an on-line tool that we anticipate will meet all
the status update requirements for contracts
unit, users and management which will further
enhance our goal of promoting efficiency and
reliability.
the major recent projects such as Oracle ERP,
Catering, branding, etc have been deployed
using this RFI method.
Establishing Vendor Management
As the PI is both a university and a research
center, our requirements are different from
other universities in terms of equipment, raw
materials, facilities and so on. This unique nature
of our requirements does not necessarily help
us in acquiring a good list of bidders/vendors
from the market. Hence, our new Commercial
Planning unit has produced clear guidelines
for pre-qualification requirements, vendor
registration and contacting multiple suppliers
within the region and internationally.
Advance Planning
As mentioned in our vision, we have been
able to update and educate the users on how
to plan and execute their procurement and
contractual requirements well in advance. This
has helped us to process all their needs in a
timely and well-organized fashion within our
proposed Service Level Agreement (SLA).
The finalized SLA will further assist us to avoid
delays and to gain a better quality for the
price.
RFI – Request for Information
One of the long standing issues at the PI has
been that most users have found it difficult
to prepare a comprehensive scope of work/
services. This is mainly because most users
are in the academic field and cannot be
expected to have expertise in the finer points
of procurement. Therefore, we initiated an RFI
by which contractors / consultants from the
market will only submit technical submissions.
After reviewing the submissions, the Users will
be able to consolidate the best value. Some of
V. MAJOR ACHEIVEMENTS
We are very proud to announce our
accomplishments of the new PI Supply Chain
Department:
1. Recruited 8 new candidates into the new
organization in addition to the existing
3 (including 2 UAE Nationals).
2. Cleared the old procurement backlog
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
(orders were placed for almost all PRs
raised before 1st July, 2011).
3. Enhanced the quality of the commercial
submissions.
4. Established the expediting role within the
Warehouse Controller’s responsibilities
to ensure timely delivery of goods.
5. Initiated the proposal of MODA
enhancements (Rev. 3) to Finance with
respect to Supply Chain activities.
6. Developed Performance Monitoring
Systems based on a predetermined
SLA.
7. Supported successful implementation
of Oracle ERP.
8. Achieved approx. AED 1.6M savings in
procurement activities as well as AED
1.7M in contracts activities.
9. Initiated and executed a new catering
agreement.
VI. Future Plans
Having completed our fire-fighting phase, we
are now in the phase of executing our policies
and procedures to effectively meet the
user requirements. None of this would have
happened, however, without the unconditional
support of the PI Management and the
directives from ADNOC HQs.
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A year of transformation, growth and success
Public Relations
Ahmed Rashid Al Rashid, Manager
I. Executive Summary
The highlights of the year for the PI Public
Affairs department (PR) include:
• Formally established the department
and identified its role, functions and
activities
• Coordinated the PI Branding and launch
of the new logo
• Facilitated the activities for the ABET
Review Teams’ visit
• Coordinated the visits of dignitaries,
delegations and teams within/outside
UAE
II. Mission and Goals
The Public Relations Department is committed
to foster a relationship of mutual trust,
cooperation and respect between the PI
and the government, media and community.
As an official voice of the Institute, the PR
department helps articulate PI’s mission and
image to its partners, media and the public in
clear, consistent and compelling ways so that
the desired image of the PI is promoted.
The primary responsibilities of Public Relations
are designed to foster close relationships
with the media, government agencies and
the public they interact; to enhance internal
communication on campus with students,
faculty, staff and alumni; and to coordinate
marketing, advertising and public relations
activities to promote PI’s identity as one of
the UAE’s finest higher education institutions
to internal and external constituencies.
The PR Department coordinates PI’s media
relations and communications activities. The
department responds to media inquiries and
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
informs the media about major events of PI
students, faculty, staff and alumni.
November 2011
PI Khalifa Award for Education Workshop
III. Highlights of Academic
Year 2011-2012
New Employees:
• Mr. Ahmed Rashed Al Rashed – Manager
• Mr. Yaqoob Al Hammadi – Head of
Government Relations
• Mr. Mohamed Mehair Al Qubaisi – Head
of event Management
• All receptionists and campus security
personnel
Changes:
• The Public Relations department is one
of the new departments which evolved
during the reorganization of the PI. This
structural change moved PI’s reception
and security services under the new PR
department.
• The new positions of ‘Manager of Public
Relations” and “Head of Government
Relations” were established to enhance
operational efficiency.
Major Events and Activities
Annually the PR manages projects ranging
from coordinating marketing and advertising
to media and public relations activities.
The projects are prioritized based on the
department’s mission, the potential impact
on PI’s image, and the needs of the other
departments and programs. The following list
highlight key events managed by the PR in the
academic year 2011-2012:
September 2011
ADNOC DG Visit to PI
Korean Delegation
January 2012
PI Commencement for Class of 2011
Alumni Lunch
World Future Energy Summit
February 2012
Fujairah Academic Delegation visits the PI
April 2012
The visit of Mr. Al Mulla, Group CEO Tecom
Investments
March 2012
Tamura
The visit of University of Tokyo Delegation
May 2012
Open Day
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A year of transformation, growth and success
July 2012
End of the Year Party for PI Faculty and Staff
Farewell Parties:
Dr. Shawket Ghedan
Dr. Karl Berteussen
Mr. Bart Daems
IV. Current Initiatives
The PR department established new practices
and procedures for various events and activities
at the PI. Some major initiatives include:
• Arranging special tours etc for the
guests visiting the PI from outside the
UAE
• Gifts for PI personnel on special
occasions such as Eid, UAE National
Day, etc.
• Coordinating visits of dignitaries from
UAE
V. Future Plans
The PR department is considering remarkable
and state-of-the-art recreational facilities for
PI students, faculty and staff. Following plans
are being studies to be introduced in near
future:
• “Recreation and Entertainment Village”
– the facility will be situated in front of
the Asab Sports Complex covering an
approximate area of 120x70 meters;
featuring paint ball, carting track, etc.
with changing rooms and refreshing
areas.
• “Student Majlis” – a very unique idea
of majlis, which can host 250 people,
containing various mini-majalis inside
and with TVs, computers, and other
entertainment resources.
• Electric cars (air-conditioned) with
drivers will be available to transport
students and employees across the
campus. The aim is to devise a pollutionfree,
environment-friendly and efficient
way of commuting among various
buildings: the system will be designed in
such a way that commute between Asab
and Arzanah will take only 3 minutes.
• Recruitment/hiring of PR personnel
is key to achieving all the planned
activities. Therefore, it is the priority for
Academic Year 2012-2013.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
PI’s Historical Highlights
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A year of transformation, growth and success
The Petroleum Institute (PI) was founded
by an Emiri decree (Law No. 9 of 2000) on
December 30, 2000 under the direction
of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed
Al Nahyan. The Institute is financed and
governed by a board which consists of
members of the Abu Dhabi National Oil
Company (ADNOC) and its international
partners (BP, Shell, Total and the Japan
Oil Development Company). The purpose
in founding the PI as a university was to
provide the UAE, its oil and gas sector
and the broader energy industry with
engineers educated and trained to the
highest standards. The campus is situated
in the Sas Al Nakhl area of Abu Dhabi. The
teaching and research facilities have the
most modern equipment available.
The first class of male undergraduate
students was admitted in Fall 2001 and the
first cohort of female undergraduates in
Fall 2006. The programs offered at the PI
are: Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical
Engineering, Electrical Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum
Engineering, Metallurgical Science &
Engineering and Polymer Science &
Engineering. The Bachelor of Science in
Petroleum Geosciences is also offered.
All the engineering and science programs
are accredited by the Commission for
Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the UAE
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific
Research. In 2012 the undergraduate
programs also received accreditation by
the Accreditation Board for Engineering
and Technology’s (ABET) Engineering
Accreditation Commission and the Applied
Science Accreditation Commission.
The first graduate programs were
established in fall 2007 and include Master
of Engineering degrees in Chemical
Engineering, Electrical Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering and Petroleum
Engineering. In 2009, initial accreditation
was received for the Master of Science
in Chemical Engineering, Electrical
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering,
Petroleum Engineering and Petroleum
Geosciences. Two graduate programs,
Master of Science in Applied Chemistry
and Master of Engineering in Health, Safety
and Environment Engineering, received
initial accreditation by the CAA in 2011.
The first batch of male engineers graduated
in 2005 and the first group of female
engineers in 2012. Including the Class of
2011, over 800 engineers and petroleum
geoscientists have received bachelor’s
degrees and have joined ADNOC and its
operating companies.
In order to encourage academic exchange
(including faculty, research scholars,
research and graduate students) the
Petroleum Institute has signed memoranda
of understanding with leading international
universities including the University of
Texas at Austin (USA), the University
of Minnesota (USA), the University of
Maryland (College Park, USA), Universiti
Teknologi PETRONAS (Malaysia), Tokyo
University (Japan), Stanford University
(USA), Rice University (USA), the
Norwegian University of Science and
Technology-NTNU (Norway), Johannes
Kepler Universitat Linz (Austria), the
Colorado School of Mines (USA) and the
China University of Petroleum (China). In
addition, the PI is collaborating with the
oil, gas and petrochemical industry locally
to promote the sponsorship of on-campus
research activities and to expand facilities.
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
PI through the years
2000 Established by Emiri decree (Law No. 9 of 2000: dated 30 December
2000)
2001 First group of male students admitted
2005 Initial Licensure of the Institute by the CAA
2005 First Commencement
2006 Female students enrolled in the PI
2007 The Graduate School started with initial accreditation of Master of
Engineering degrees
2008 Re-Licensure of the Institute by the CAA
2009 Full accreditation (CAA) of all undergraduate degrees
2009 Initial accreditation of Master of Science degrees
2010 Initial Accreditation of two new undergraduate programs
2011 Initial Accreditation of two new graduate programs
2012 First Commencement for female students
2012 ABET Accreditation for undergraduate programs
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A year of transformation, growth and success
This publication was:
Produced by Institutional Research and Studies Department
Edited by Mr. Eurof Thomas
Layout by Mr. Shereef Cherikkallan
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The Petroleum Institute | Annual Report - Academic Year 2011 - 2012
The Petroleum Institute
P .O. Box 2533, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Telephone: +971 2 607 5100 | Fax: +9712 607 5200
http://www.pi.ac.ae
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