Alberto and Andrea Lecturing at Khalifa University (Emirates)

In the beautiful setting of the Sharjah campus, Khalifa University, Andrea and Alberto are teaching about technology management, and appropriability of Innovation in the Emirates.

A nice class of 25 phd engineering students in the field will hear from us about how to turn the result of their work into  business opportunities, and how to interact with colleagues working in management.

A full week program will feature guest lectures by Finmeccanica, TTVenture, SeedLab, and a welcome message by HE Giorgio Starace, the Italian Ambassador in Abu Dhabi.

The teaching program is supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to introduce students around the world to Research in Italy.   We were greeted by the Vice Presidents of the Sharjah campus of Khalifa University, and we had the opportunity to interact with them and share some ideas about how their university system works.

At the end of the first day of class we took a nice group picture: “As soon as we get to Pisa I will print this one out and hang it on our wall!!” said Andrea.

Here is the text of the  press release about the course by Khalifa University

Khalifa University Holds First Class on Innovation and Technology Management

17/10/2012

H.E. Ambassador Giorgio Starace visited Sharjah campus to mark cooperation between KU and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna

Khalifa University announced today that it has held the first class in a new course in Innovation and Technology Management at its Sharjah campus. The class was designed by the Istituto di Management-Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna for Khalifa University, and will run from October 14th to the 18th, with a second course to follow in 2013.

H.E. Ambassador Giorgio Starace, Italian ambassador to the UAE, , together with Caio Mussolini, the Head of Finmeccanica in the Middle East, a leading Italian industrial group in the high technology sector, attended the opening of the course in order to celebrate the growing ties between Khalfia University and Italy.

The Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna is a public university from Pisa, Italy.  It focuses on the field of applied sciences and the promotion of the development of scientific and technological research and innovation by being involved in university, post-university and continuous education, and is one of the leading academic partners of the high technology industrial group Finmeccanica

The course will be open to current KU post graduate students, and is financially supported by the Italian Ministry of Education and Research.

“We are honored that His Excellency, Ambassador Starace was able to inaugurate this exciting new course,” said Dr. Khaled Mubarak, Assistant Director, Khalifa University’s Sharjah campus. “This course is the result of a promising cooperation between two institutions that are dedicated to modernization and innovation, and finding new and innovative ways to educate tomorrow’s future leaders.”
He continued, “Khalifa University is always looking for ways to further the education of its students, and to create lasting partnerships with like-minded organizations, that will inevitably help the UAE achieve its goals and create a sustainable knowledge economy.”

“Finmeccanica is proud to have facilitated the fulfillment of this first course with an UAE University, as we believe our activities in the country should not be limited to industrial collaborations only” said Caio Mussolini, “Innovation as a constant value for Finmeccanica has been an integral part of our history and evolution. It is the key to our success and has allowed the Group to assume a leadership role in technology at the worldwide level”