SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT - UAE Interact

244 U N I T E D A R A B E M I R AT E S Y E A R B O O K 2 0 0 8On completion DIAC will be able to accommodate 20 to 30universities and house between 30,000 and 40,000 students andwill be designed to provide a quality of student life and servicesthat is international, culturally diverse and dynamic.The objective of thePetroleum Institute isto provide the UAE andits oil and gas industrywith engineerseducated and trainedto the higheststandards.OTHER INSTITUTIONSIn addition to the higher level institutions outlined above, theUAE also has several vocational and technical educational centresfor those seeking practical career training. These include theEmirates Institute for Banking and Finance, the Dubai School ofGovernment, Etisalat’s colleges and university, Etihad’s trainingcentre, The Emirates Aviation College for Aerospace and AcademicStudies and the Petroleum Institute (PI).The PI, which admitted its first class in 2001, is financed andgoverned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and itsinternational partners. The objective is to provide the UAE andits oil and gas industry with engineers educated and trained tothe highest standards. The first group of female students wasenrolled in 2006. Currently, there are nearly 850 undergraduatestudents (748 men and 96 women) studying at the PI but it willultimately cater to more than 2500 students, of whom some 750will be female.June 2006 was a major milestone with PI’s first 44 graduatesemerging from the engineering programmes and commencingcareers within the ADNOC group of companies. The 2006/07academic year also saw the launch of the first postgraduateprogrammes and the PI plans to offer a complete suite of Masterof Science, Master of Engineering, and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)degrees in the near future. As indicated above, the Colorado Schoolof Mines is providing academic guidance and support to the PI, andis assisting in the process of achieving international accreditation.EMIRATES FOUNDATIONOfficially launched in 2005, the Emirates Foundation is anindependent corporate body headquartered in Abu Dhabi.Continuing the late Sheikh Zayed’s legacy, the foundation ismandated to foster a philanthropic culture of public-private