Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart University celebrates graduation of 396 learners of undergraduate and postgraduate programs

The event celebrated the graduation of 26 learners with first honors degrees, 30 with second-class honors degrees and 42 with third-class honors degrees. This achievement reflects the University’s success in developing creative approaches aimed at redefining the future of teaching and learning through smart technology, innovation and quality to hone qualified national talents and prepare them to lead the ambitious development process.

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum have met at the graduation ceremony with an elite group of entrepreneurs who are HBMSU’s learners and alumni. The HBMSU President said he is proud of the learners for being a model for young national talents armed with knowledge, innovation and the determination to achieve excellence, which will help build the country’s future, under the directives of the wise leadership of H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. H.H. Sheikh Hamdan was also presented with the creative ideas that have turned into promising projects that will add value to the national economy. This achievement adds to the university’s record of excellence in preparing entrepreneurs capable of creating job opportunities that meet the challenges of the 21st century instead of generating job applicants.

H.E. Lt. General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim explained that the graduation ceremony is an advancement for the graduates as they move on to share and implement their ideas that will contribute to social progress and the country’s overall development, as well as prepare local entrepreneurs capable of leading technological development. He said that he is proud for the graduates who are joining many of the country’s promising youths.

Khalfan added: “Today, and under the unlimited support of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the HBMSU continues its role towards graduating entrepreneurs rather than job seekers through raising the quality of scientific research, entrepreneurship and innovation, with focus on enriching knowledge and driving the progress of the smart education sector. This is in line with our strategic plan 2018-2020, which aims to support the UAE Vision 2021 in building a competitive economy led by Emiratis equipped with knowledge and innovation. In response to the wise guidance of our leadership to be positive and to work on promoting education, we look forward to continue our efforts to lead the way in re-engineering higher education locally, regionally and globally, in pursuit of creating an incubator environment for the youth’s creations as they represent the foundation stone to explore and build the future.”

Dr. Mansoor Al Awar opened the graduation ceremony by launching unprecedented initiatives aimed at redefining the future of global higher education, particularly the ‘Zayed Cyber Palm for Education’ initiative, which was named after a distinguished leader who had a deep insight and wise vision to establish the pillars of giving to ensure that the goodness of the UAE reaches the entire world.

Al Awar further reiterated that Zayed Cyber Palm for Education is inspired by the vision of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan and the launch of the project comes in the occasion of the declaration of 2018 as the ‘Year of Zayed’, a leader whose legacy and achievements remain a guidance for the University to continue pushing for excellence and prepare a generation of future builders. He said that this first-of-its-kind initiative will pave the way to achieve the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, who said in 2002: “I want the University to be a solid foundation for future institutes and universities.”

Al Awar added: “HBMSU gears up for a new level of engagement that would undoubtedly witness broad and positive changes in higher education regionally and globally. We are preparing to be a palm that provides emerging electronic and smart universities with knowledge and a range of expertise that would enable them to benefit from smart education. We provide a massive cloud platform that provides technological services required for intelligent transformation, including the Student Portal, Student Information System, Virtual Classrooms, Online Payments and Technical Support Services, in addition to facilitating educational services and establishment of schools on the cloud delivering world-class education.”

Al Awar also announced the launch of the School of Artificial Intelligence, which is based on an ambitious vision that aims to create and apply AI knowledge based on research and innovation which will bring about positive social and economic change at the local and international levels. This pioneering move is part of HBMSU’s commitment to build skilled generations that will make the UAE a new hub for developing AI mechanisms, techniques and legislation, in line with the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence launched by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The strategy aims to capitalize on AI as a platform to improve government performance, accelerate achievements, and create highly productive environment. The new school is a major drive towards re-engineering the future of education through quality programs such as Master of Science in A.I. and Robotics Engineering, Master of Science in A.I. and Game Design, and “Master of Science in A.I. and Computational Data Science.

During his speech, Dr. Al Awar added: “The graduation of this batch coincides with the Year of Zayed, which marks the centennial of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s birth, in commemoration of his memory, principles and noble values ​​as one of the greatest leaders in the world. H.H. Sheikh Mohammed once talked about the wise vision of Zayed that resulted in the achievements and successes that put the UAE on the world map, describing him as the father, the leader and the builder of the modern UAE. Zayed began to make a radical change in the concepts of education, and this is what we are considering today in our efforts at comprehensive re-engineering in education and make a fresh start to the future guided by the wise directions of H.H. Hamdan bin Mohammed, who said: “The world is changing, and we have to adapt with this change by changing education, so that we can be ready for the future,”. The process of re-engineering began when we succeeded this year in obtaining the accreditation for the ‘Master of Science in Change Management and Creativity’ from the Academic Accreditation Authority at the Ministry of Education as a fully online program.”

“Today, we started reaping the first fruits of this unique educational approach as we witness the graduation of these young people, which would normally wait in queue to secure a job, whether in government or the private sector. However, we have succeeded in implementing the principle espoused by H.E. Lt. General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, who instructed that the university should provide society with “entrepreneurs, not job seekers”. In line with this, HBMSU has provided the UAE community with a large number of businessmen of about 70 graduates who have embraced the principle of “Entrepreneurs, not job seekers”, and have succeeded in setting up their own projects with a capital of more than a few millions each. We are confident that our graduates will continue the march of scientific and practical achievement, and I wish them all the best, with faith that they will keep in touch with the University for more professional and cognitive support,” said Al Awar.