Marcin Kraśniewski, Ph.D., meets with the authorities of our partner – Skyline University College

On December 7, 2023, a meeting was held at the University City of Sharjah (an area dedicated to academic purposes by the local authorities in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates) between Marcin Kraśniewski, Ph.D., and the authorities of our partner

SUC was represented by:

• Prof. Mohammad Inairat – Professor, Vice-Chancellor,
• Deepak Karla, Ph.D. – Deputy Vice-Chancello,
• Muhammad Rasheed Khalid, Ph.D. – Head of Department I Corporate Affairs & Outreach,
• Ramakrishna Yanamandra, Ph.D. – Associate Dean & Associate Professor,
• other employees in charge of specific SUC departments.

The meetings began with Dr. Muhammad Rasheed Khalid and Dr. Ramakrishna Yanamandra. Employees presented the history of the college, the scope of its activities, the established foreign cooperation (especially European cooperation – SUC has entered into two agreements with a public university and a non-public university – the third agreement being with UEKat), the profile of the students and the primary goals of the academic strategy. A study visit around the SUC campus followed.

A workshop by Dr. Marcin Kraśniewski with selected faculty members and SUC students, which lasted 45 min, was another part of the meeting. Dr. Kraśniewski's presentation focused on the European City of Science Katowice 2024. During the presentation, our representative also referred to the history of Silesia and Katowice, mining and local traditions, as well as the work of Wojciech Kilar and the plan to regenerate the Rawa River, which is to be a meeting place for students, scientists, visitors and residents of Katowice. The workshop included a fifteen-minute discussion, during which students and SUC staff asked questions about the European City of Science Katowice 2024 and about Katowice itself and its attractions.

A meeting between Dr. Kraśniewski and representatives of the SUC followed the workshop. From the Emirati side, the meeting was chaired by Dr. Deepak Karla. The meeting was working in nature, with no commitments made by the partners during it. To start with, Dr. Kraśniewski noted that Polish-Emirati cooperation is essential for our University. He also stressed that UEKat is open to implementing the provisions of the memorandum signed in May 2023 between UEKat and SUC. At the same time, he pointed out that matters relating, in particular, to the exchange of academic staff and students require appropriate formal actions and decisions by our Rectoral Authorities. The discussion with SUC staff focused on three areas included in the memorandum of cooperation between UEKat and SUC, namely:

• faculty exchanges,
• student exchanges,
• joint scientific research.

Another highlight of Dr. Kraśniewski's visit to SUC was a courtesy meeting with Prof. Mohammad Inairat. During the meeting, the parties exchanged gifts with university logos.

A photo session followed the meeting. At the very end, Dr. Kraśniewski was interviewed by the university TV channel, where he thanked for the invitation and invited the SUC community to the European Year of Science Katowice 2024.