Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) Class of 2020 students.
Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ), a Qatar Foundation partner university celebrated academic achievements of its Class of 2020 in a virtual commencement ceremony held yesterday. The historic virtual commencement ceremony, saw 105 Aggie engineers earn their bachelor and master degrees.
They included 95 who graduated with bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and petroleum engineering. The branch campus also awarded 11 with master’s degrees in chemical engineering. Of the total graduating class, 43 percent are female and 42 percent are Qatari.
Graduates represented 23 nationalities. Many guests joined to watch the live stream of the event. Dr César Octavio Malavé, dean of Texas A&M at Qatar presided over the ceremony. “This is not how we wanted to celebrate this milestone,” Malavé said, “but I can send you into the world with the knowledge that you have a c h i e v e d s o m e t h i n g remarkable: Not only have you earned a degree from one of the top engineering programs in the world, but you have done so under difficult and unprecedented circumstances.
So much has changed in such a short time, and yet learning — and life — goes on. You adapted to your new normal, and you kept yourselves on track. You persevered, and more than that, you succeeded.” “The proof is that you’re here today, ready to leave university behind and head on to your next adventures.
With challenge comes change, and each of you has shown your strength and resilience, and your commitment to being an engineering leader in Qatar. Remember that you are now among more than 500,000 graduates of Texas A&M University around the world.
Show the world how Aggies live their core values — not just in the workplace, but also into your communities and your families. We could not be more proud of you,” he said. Texas A&M President Michael K. Young sent his video greetings to the graduates and honored their parents, families and mentors who encouraged them during their studies. Abdulkarim Mohamed, a Class of 2020 petroleum engineering graduate addressed his classmates and fellow graduates.
To date, Texas A&M at Qatar has granted a total of 1,161 degrees. Dr Dhabia Al Mohannadi, a Class of 2012 graduate of Texas A&M at Qatar and now an assistant professor in the Chemical Engineering Program inducted the new graduates into The Association of Former Students, Texas A&M’s alumni organization that comprises the 500,000 graduates of the university and is known worldwide as the Aggie Network.
Syeda Manahil Akhter, who was awarded as mechanical engineering student of the year, speaking to The Peninsula about future plans said, “I had originally planned to purse a job after graduation to get experience before I went to do graduate school. TAMUQ has provided many amazing opportunities and facilities that helped me develop both technical and soft skills. It has helped me become an all rounded person.
The careers services also played an instrumental role in helping me secure internships which introduced me to the industry. Those internships gave me experience for the future. I had planned to remain in Qatar for the start of my career. “With the current situation, there is an equal chance that I will pursue graduate studies.
The different research opportunities and the internships have helps that narrow down and identify the field of study I want to continue in if I went on to do graduate school,” said Syeda, also an undergraduate research scholar. Fatima Al Janahi, electrical engineering undergraduate and undergraduate research scholar, said, “I chose to study engineering when I was in high school, then I looked up for different universities.
However, chose TAMUQ because it is one of the best engineering schools and will offer me a quality education in my country. Speaking about her experience at TAMUQ Fatima said, “It was a very rich experience, I learned a lot from the journey at TAMUQ. I had different opportunities to improve myself as a person and as a future engineer.”
