Principles of excellence in Engineering education applied to GCC/MENA Engineering Colleges and comparison with Australia and France: A thesis with analysis, results, observations

This invited paper aims at reviewing the current status of Engineering education in the GCC countries and proposing a few guidelines for reform and improvement. The principles applied to this process have been developed by the author over the years and they arose from experience in several leading universities in France and Australia, as well as more recent experiences in universities in the UAE and Qatar. The author´s expertise to make such a review and recommendations is best demonstrated by its achievements as both leading educator and researcher that include a research citation index of about 10,000 (source: Google Scholar) as well as developing new courses attracting the top students in the state of Queensland, and founding successful conferences and research centers. In order to conduct the review, basic rigor and objectivity were maintained even when the findings may not be liked; these are retained because self-criticism is the key to improvement, provided it is objective, constructive and justified. The essence of these findings is that for Engineering Education to be internationally competitive in the GCC/MENA, it needs to be research based and culture-compatible with optimized adaptations. The paper reviews the relevant principles and methods in engineering education based on the author´s expertise and experience and makes recommendations with focus on improving the relationship between Teaching/Learning, Research/Scholarship, Community Service on one hand and the local culture on the other hand.