ANNUAL REPORT - The Petroleum Institute

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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