Sun, sand, sea and bits and bytes. The UAE is not only a hotspot in terms of weather and tourism, it’s also a great place to study for a computer engineering degree. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah are its three most populous cities, offering between them some of the finest universities in the UAE and in the whole of the Middle East.
Given that it’s the largest metropolis in the country, with a population of around 2 million people, it’s not surprising to find dozens of colleges and universities in Dubai itself, many of them encouraging applicants from overseas. One of the most popular is the international American University in Dubai (AUD), a private, non-sectarian institution of higher learning founded in 1995. AUD’s enrolment in 2012-2013 averaged 2,600 students. In spring 2013, over one hundred nationalities were represented in the AUD student body.
The idea that American education is somehow synonymous with quality perhaps helps explain why AUD and other similar universities, such as the American University of Sharjah (AUS), are such popular choices for students across the Middle East and further afield. AUD certainly seeks to duplicate the American recipe for success.
AUD says, “Syllabi and textbooks are often the same as those used in similar courses taught in the United States. In addition, the predominance of American and American-trained faculty further ensures that the university be American in substance as well as in name. Expectations of academic performance either match or exceed those prevailing on a ‘typical’ American campus.”
However, AUD is at pains to point out that although the university works within an American framework, it has also developed a character of its own. This, it says, is in large part inspired by its sensitivity to the needs of the student populace of the Middle Eastern terrain in which it operates. While the university’s faculty tend to be more teaching than research-oriented, they often enjoy a professional status uncommon among academics.
It’s a similar story over at AUS where the curriculum is organized according to the American pattern of semesters and courses. However, the university is “proud to be a reflection of the progressive spirit of the federation, admitting bright young men and women as students solely on the basis of their academic qualifications regardless of race, colour, gender, religion, disability, age or national origin.”
More than 1,400 students have enrolled at AUS for Fall 2013, a 15 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The university offers 26 majors at the undergraduate level through its College of Architecture, Art and Design; College of Arts and Sciences; College of Engineering; and School of Business and Management.
AUS’s 140-credit Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering degree program involves the study of computer architecture and design, computer networks, databases, software engineering and computer applications in industry.
But it’s not all work and little or no play for students at AUS. Far from it. For AUS encourages students to participate in a huge range of extra-curricular activities. They can form clubs and societies, stage events, work for the university student newspaper and literary magazine and join a range of sports and athletic teams on campus.
