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Chip White’s Reflections of a Year in Abu Dhabi
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Chelsea “Chip”
White, the Schneider National Chair in Transportation and Logistics and former
H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair of Georgia Tech’s Stewart School
of ISyE, recently returned after spending a year in Abu Dhabi assisting in the
launch of an industrial and systems engineering department and Logistics Institute
at Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research. In his role, White recruited faculty members
for the department’s first year and helped attain initial departmental
accreditation. Additionally, he assisted
the faculty in identifying research projects and potential sponsors which provided
the basis for the Logistics Institute.
Now back at Georgia Tech, White looks forward to supporting the
development of the academic unit and center at Khalifa University whenever possible.
Abu Dhabi, the
largest of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), approached
Georgia Tech to help build the educational base Abu Dhabi needs to transition
from an oil-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. White was not the only Georgia Tech professor
at Khalifa University; professors in Tech’s biomedical engineering and
aerospace engineering schools also spent last year helping Khalifa University build
academic programs and recruit faculty.
Learn more about White’s
residence in Abu Dhabi in the interview that follows.
ISyE: Describe
the student body and campus at Khalifa University. How does it compare to Georgia Tech?
CW: As this is only their third year, Khalifa
University has a small student body population, and most are undergraduates. Compared to Georgia Tech, the student body
and campus itself is much smaller, comprised of only six buildings. Unlike other academic institutions in the
region, Khalifa University is research intensive and multi-cultural, and the
first public co-educational university in the UAE. Seventy percent of the
students are Emirati, citizens
of the UAE.
ISyE: What are some of the challenges involved in building a university from
scratch?
Coming from Georgia
Tech where regulations, policies, administrative procedures, and faculty
governance have been established for decades, it was challenging to develop and
implement such practices in a new university.
Some things that
are very common in the university system here are issues there because of their
culture and laws. For example, in the
UAE, non-Emirati can have work visas for a maximum of three years, which brings
into question whether or not tenure, in some form, is a viable concept. It will be interesting to see how they
grapple with this and other challenges.
ISyE: What
would you consider your most significant accomplishments while in Abu Dhabi?
My most significant
accomplishment was hiring the new faculty and achieving initial accreditation. Also, we were able to begin the process of
getting the new faculty started on research projects. I made contacts with several government
agencies and private firms to solicit what research would help them better
perform their missions. We are off to a
good start for what we have set out to do.
ISyE: Now
that you’ve spent a year in an oil rich country, what is your opinion on fuel
conservation?
I think we would be
very wise to be a more energy independent country. Interestingly, the UAE is more invested in
solar energy than we are per capita, and they realize the limitations of fossil
fuels. Also, they are very interested in
conservation and have tremendous respect for the environment, providing a good example
for the rest of the world to emulate.
ISyE: What
are some of the challenges you faced working in a different time zone and a
different work week structure?
The weekend in Abu
Dhabi is Friday and Saturday, with the work week being Sunday through
Thursday. That means there were only
three overlapping days between here and there, which made my work week stretch out
to almost seven days a week as I was very actively engaged in research with
Eastern Time Zone colleagues. In
addition to the work week difference, I was eight hours ahead of my research
colleagues and graduate students in the United States, making it challenging to
communicate. In a way, my day started
twice. I would get up and be at Khalifa
University at 8:00 a.m. UAE time. When I
left work at 5:00 p.m., it was 8:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m. in the U.S. As my day was ending in Abu Dhabi, the day
for my colleagues and graduate students back in the States was just
beginning. This is when emails would
start coming in and I would have Skype meetings with those in the Eastern Time
Zone.
ISyE: Did
you stay in the expat bubble or immerse yourself in the nation’s culture?
Only 10% of people
in Abu Dhabi are Emirati, the rest are expats. We lived in the Shangri-la Hotel which would
be considered an expat bubble.
Three blocks away
from the Shangri-la was a co-op where one could buy food or clothing. When we
shopped there, we were often the only non-Emirati there.
Dubai was less than
two hours north of Abu Dhabi. There, we
would shop at one of their large souks, which is a traditional Arabic market. We attended the Al Dhafra Camel Festival, an
annual celebration where locals participate in activities such as camel races,
trading, and camel beauty pageants. It
was one of many very interesting opportunities for us to engage in the Emirati
culture.
During Ramadan, the
Crown Prince of UAE, hosts Iftar lectures, which occur right before Iftar, the
evening meal when Muslims break their fast. I attended two lectures in Abu Dhabi. One lecture was on the Future of
Sustainable Transportation, and another lecture I attended was entitled Fundamentalist
Islam versus Modernist Islam. There
were approximately 400 people there, mostly Emirati. The lectures and the related social
interactions were fascinating.
We also enjoyed
expat activities in Abu Dhabi. During
our stay, we were able to experience events such as a Formula 1 race, a tennis
match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the world's top two tennis
players, and attend a concert guided by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. We were within
seven minutes of walking distance to 14 restaurants. Several of them were noted
as being the finest in the region.
The expat culture
is quite different than living here in the U.S.
In the expat community, there are only other expats. So, it promotes a
social cohesion that we do not experience here.
While we are delighted to be back, we miss the friends we made while
there.
ISyE: What
did you enjoy most about the culture of Abu Dhabi?
It is a very
exciting time to be in the Middle East and Abu Dhabi and experience its healthy
and vibrant culture. The people of the UAE
are very family oriented and have strong family traditions. I respect them tremendously for that. I enjoyed getting to know them and look
forward to going back.
ISyE: Was
the trip a success?
No matter how you
define success, the answer is yes. Professionally and personally, it was a
success. We are still basking in the glow of an idyllic year in Abu Dhabi and
the sense of accomplishment as well.
ISyE: How
will you apply what you learned in Abu Dhabi to your work at Tech?
One thing I became
aware of while working at Khalifa University, is that if you are building a
university to be an agent of social and economic change, the focus on research
should include, perhaps emphasize, innovation.
After my experience in Abu Dhabi, I am more inclined to believe the
focus of our work should be to continue past the idea stage, and work towards creating
a product, service, or process that will make a societal impact. Rather than stopping after our research has
been published, our goal should be to put our research into practice.
Spending a year in
Abu Dhabi, I have come back with a refreshed cultural and geopolitical point of
view. The more we appreciate and respect
other cultures, the more we realize that there are more similarities than
differences between us. The people of
that region are doing remarkable things and there is much to be learned from
their culture. I wish Khalifa University
all the success in the world.
Status
- Workflow Status: Published
- Created By: Ashley Daniel
- Created: 09/14/2011
- Modified By: Fletcher Moore
- Modified: 10/07/2016
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