[Editors] MIT, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company sign cooperative agreement ,

[Elizabeth Thomson]

MIT News Office
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Room 11-400
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA  02139-4307
Phone: 617-253-2700
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www

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MIT, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company sign cooperative agreement

--Joint effort will help establish region's first-ever
research-driven graduate program

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For Immediate Release
MONDAY, FEB. 26, 2007
Contact: Elizabeth A. Thomson, MIT News Office
Phone: 617-258-5402
Email: thomson at mit.edu

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--MIT and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (ADFEC) 
today announced the signing of a cooperative agreement preparing the 
way for MIT's Technology and Development Program to help develop the 
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi.

The agreement paves the way for MIT faculty, coordinated by MIT's 
Technology and Development Program, to assist Masdar in the 
development of a postgraduate educational and research institute, 
making it the first institution dedicated to research-driven graduate 
programs in the region.

The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology is envisioned as the 
centerpiece of a multifaceted, regional economic development 
program-the Masdar Initiative-announced in April 2006 by the Abu 
Dhabi government.

"MIT faculty and staff will provide advice, scholarly assessment and 
assistance in connection with the establishment of the Masdar 
Institute," said MIT Chancellor Phillip Clay. "This includes working 
with ADFEC to develop collaborative research and create indigenous 
academic programs, to create a strategy for commercializing Masdar 
Institute's research results and to build the institute's 
organizational and administrative capabilities."

Efforts are presently under way for MIT faculty to assist Masdar with 
recruiting faculty and administrators, developing joint research and 
designing educational programs. Student recruitment will follow. The 
Masdar Institute plans to admit its first postgraduate students in 
Abu Dhabi in the summer of 2009.

"The Masdar Institute will serve as the nucleus of the Masdar 
Initiative, feeding it with talent and innovative technologies to 
enhance economic development and promote new industries using 
renewable energy and resources in the emirate and the region," said 
Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of ADFEC.  "This cooperative agreement will lead 
to a superior relationship between the Masdar Institute and MIT to 
jointly address global energy issues."

Al Jaber highlighted the importance of developing indigenous R&D 
capabilities in Abu Dhabi to address issues of particular regional 
importance, such as energy, water and sustainability. "The guiding 
philosophy of Masdar is to transform the natural resource wealth of 
the country to a long-term, sustainable knowledge economy through the 
development of human capital that can effectively compete in the 
global marketplace," he added.

The collaborative research programs between MIT and the Masdar 
Institute will be interdisciplinary and will focus on areas central 
to the mission of the Masdar Initiative's goal of diversifying the 
region's economy.

The Masdar Institute will operate as an independent, non-profit 
research and educational institution, conducting courses in English 
and offering postgraduate degrees to men and women in the United Arab 
Emirates, Middle East, North Africa and the South Asian region.  It 
will augment academic resources of the region by providing a suitable 
vehicle for expanding R&D, developing strategic alliances with global 
corporations, providing entrepreneurial opportunities for startups 
and training and educating a work force to compete in the global 
market.

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