Alya Al Suwaidi, Media Relations Officer, Communications Department, briefing the media at QF headquarters yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Qatar Foundation (QF) will mark the academic achievements of the Class of 2017 at its annual Convocation ceremony tomorrow, with a record number of 765 graduating students.
The total number of students is up 18 percent from last year – will attend the celebrations at Qatar National Convention Centre - which will honour graduates from Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and QF’s eight partner universities located within the Education City.
The graduates will hold Bachelor and Masters degrees and PhD in various specializations that are geared towards the Qatari youth in fields that are crucial to the country’s future economic development and growth, as well as tailored to address the grand challenges facing Qatar, said Alya Al Suwaidi, Media Relations Officer, Communications Department during a media briefing held at the QF headquarters yesterday.
Since 2008, QF has collectively celebrated the graduation of students from its partner universities and HBKU. The total number of students graduating has shown and increase from 122 in 2008 to 765 this year.
Mayan Zebeib, Chief Communications Officer, QF, said, “At Qatar Foundation, we strive to provide our students with a range of unique learning opportunities designed to enhance their academic, professional, and personal skills, ensuring they are equipped with the knowledge and tools to face the challenges of tomorrow as global citizens - they are empowered, they are ready, and they are capable.”
The Class of 2017 includes students qualifying from 19 undergraduate programs and 20 graduate programs. Among the universities two post graduate institutes have a higher number of students graduating this year.
The ceremony will honour 150 graduates from homegrown research institute HBKU, which represents the largest percentage of graduates from the different universities in Education City. They will be graduating from HBKU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Science and Engineering (CSET) and Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS). HBKU’s academic portfolio is tailored to meet the needs of the local community, inspiring Qataris to continue their pursuit of education with a diverse offering of degrees, Master’s and PhD courses.
It will be followed by the HEC Paris in Qatar with 137 students graduating from management related post graduate programs.
From Texas A&M University at Qatar 124 students will graduate with Bachelor’s Degrees in Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical and Petroleum Engineering, or with a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering.
From Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, 109students will graduate in Business Administration, Information Systems, Computer Science and Biological Science. A group of 62 students will graduate from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in International Politics, Culture and Politics, and International Economics programmes which will allow them to pursue high positions in new careers.
Forty-seven journalism and communication graduate this year from Northwestern University in Qatar. From the University College London in Qatar (UCL Qatar), 34 students will graduate in Museum Studies and Archaeology. From Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar (WCM-Q) 45 doctors are graduating, benefiting from high-level medical programme.
A total of 57 students will be graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in the fields of fashion design, graphic design and interior design, in addition to Master of Fine Arts in Design Studies.
