History
The department of architectural engineering was established in 1981. The academic year 1985-1986 witnessed the first graduating class from the department. Our continuous effort to improve, utilizing our past experiences in meeting future challenges, has made the architectural curriculum at UAE University a benchmark program across the region, and has attracted international attentions. Inspired by achievements and experience gained over the past twenty some years, the department's future depends upon our continuous collective effort to develop and improve our professional and educational services in such a way that we will always be ahead of the UAE society's needs and expectations.
The department's architectural engineering program and curriculum are truly relevant to the needs of the country. Our graduates are highly qualified national architectural engineers, serving the nation's ongoing commitment to urban, industrial and economic growth. Our department mission is to provide market-driven and community-oriented professional degree programs. Our students are well-exposed to state-of-the-art content and knowledge delivery suitable to the professional needs of the 21st century, and have become knowledgeable and skillful professionals.
Curriculum
The architectural program curriculum has a strong base of science, humanities and engineering fundamentals upon which intensive specialization courses, graduation projects and professional training are built. The program focuses on developing students' abilities to think, analyze and identify appropriate solutions. The department takes pride in providing outstanding architectural program characterized by the development of students' higher order thinking, analysis and problem-solving skills. It also emphasizes on lifelong learning skills and personal development. AE program provides core competencies so that our graduates are able to manage resources, work with other professionals, acquire and use information, master architectural design and construction systems and work effectively with related technologies. Additionally, the department provides students with practical training experiences that include numerous opportunities to use the most recent technologies and to develop professional and managerial skills.
Learning Environment
The academic quality of our students is a result of the shared responsibility between our students and faculty. In the department, students' learning is the center point of our efforts. The department places emphasis on faculty facilitation of students' self-learning through experimentations and discoveries. The department provides effective academic advisement to guide students toward achieving their academic goals. Throughout our program, students are given opportunities to innovate and identify non-traditional design solutions. Students also learn about environmentally-conscious practices, heritage preservation and natural resources conservation.
Our Faculty
As a department, our education goals are tied directly to faculty research and community services, which we consider to be important assets to our curriculum and to the overall UAE community. The department makes great efforts to disseminate cutting edge relevant architectural knowledge within the UAE society and maintain its academic stature within the region and internationally. The department has well defined plans to continue to recruit the highest qualified faculty and staff, to develop and expands its educational services, and to enhance its active role within the society.
Our Graduates
Due to the special status and emphasis given by the government to urbanization and modernization of the UAE cities and towns, our graduates are highly in demand. They work as architectural engineers in the government's various ministries, municipalities, departments of town planning as well as the private sector in construction and contracting companies, design and engineering consulting firms, and many other commercial authorities and businesses. Many of our former graduates hold senior positions in many organizations, departments, and authorities at federal and emirates governmental offices as well as private firms. Job opportunities for graduates are promising in large architectural and engineering firms, construction firms, property development and management organizations, property investors and banks and other major institutions. Our graduates are well-trained and able to utilize the state-of-the-art architectural knowledge and technologies. Our graduates are architectural engineers with the imaginative visions needed to help shape the UAE its built environment of the future.
Conclusion
Our continuous effort for improvement, and our successes in achieving our goals, as well as our accomplishments in serving the needs of UAE and the region, would hardly have been possible without our students' deep commitment, hard work and enthusiasm, faculty devotion and effort, and the university's continuous support of our goals. We believe we have good reason to call ourselves a department designed with inspiration and engineered for the built environment.
Finally, I take this opportunity to thank our students, alumni, faculty and college and university administrators for their distinguished collective efforts in making our department not only a success story but above all a leading center for architectural engineering education and research in the region. Last but not least, I thank all of those who contributed to the development of our department website.
