5 July 2009 The School of Engineering of the American University in Dubai (AUD) was awarded a AED 500,000 competitive lab development grant by the Emirates Foundation. When the Foundation announced its request for proposals for development or upgrade of laboratory facilities for a range of engineering disciplines, AUD Professor Hosni Ghedira presented a proposal to upgrade AUD's environmental engineering lab into a Water & Environmental Technology Laboratory (WET-Lab). The proposal, indended to support advanced environmental research and water resources monitoring, was one of only two selected for funding by the Foundation during this cycle.

On being awarded the grant, Dr. Ghedira stressed AUD's place as one of leading institution in applied research in the UAE. The award, according to Ghedira, "reinforces the fact that AUD faculty are able to produce leading-edge research in advanced technology and environmental sciences." The new WET-Lab will provide students and researchers with hands-on experience in environmental monitoring, allowing them to learn about and take advantage of the state-of-the-art measurement instruments for sea, drinking and waste water testing and analysis. The new lab will also support AUD’s ongoing research activities with the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology, a Dubai government agency focusing on developing new satellite-based tools to forecast, detect and monitor different environmental hazards in the UAE and the Gulf region. .

Dr. Ghedira added that the new WET-Lab will help better prepare AUD's undergraduate students in their future engineering careers by "exposing them to real life problems in which they can combine theory and practice." It is anticipated that more than fifty undergraduate students will benefit each year from the existence of the new WET Lab facilities, through practical and hands-on experience with the equipment and methods.

About The Emirates Foundation: The Emirates Foundation is a nationwide initiative led by private and public sector partnerships. Through institutional grants, fellowships, research awards, and philanthropy-led initiatives in various key areas, the Emirates Foundation aspires to raise the profile of UAE people and their institutions, as well as the reputation of its corporate citizens. As a national initiative, the Foundation uses a variety of mechanisms to identify and support qualified individuals, organizations, and community projects in every region of the United Arab Emirates.