EMIRATES Aviation College (EAC) in the UAE is to build a new campus in Dubai at a cost of $38 million to meet increasing demand for its courses. The new premises will meet the establishment’s needs for the next 15 years.
The college hosted its 20th graduation ceremony in May 2011 honouring 450 students. Due to the large number of graduates from the college in 2011, vice chancellor Dr Ahmad Al Ali said there will be two graduation ceremonies to be hosted for 2011 graduates. “The next graduation ceremony will take place in January 2012 and will be largely for our MBA students. The number of student grows every year and since the last graduation ceremony the total number of students that have graduated from Emirates Aviation College has crossed 10,000 graduates,” said Dr Al Ali.
The college currently offers: MBAs in aviation management, logistics and supply chain management, IT management and general management; bachelor degrees in aerospace technology, avionics technology, aeronautical engineering, aviation management and applied business; diplomas and higher diplomas in avionics engineering and computing, aerospace engineering, electronics engineering, computing software development, business management and tourism management.
The latest addition to the curriculum is the higher diploma in airport aviation operation.
“Emirates Aviation College is also in talks with the University of West England about introducing a new MBA programme incourse on aviation safety,” added Dr Al Ali. “We have a lot of UAE-national students enrolled in the college, sponsored by Emirates. Common courses among them would be software engineering and aviation management and business studies.”
In 2012, the college plans to introduce a pilot training programme. “This will be introduced in March 2012 and we are confident that the program will be popular among students. This is the first of its kind in the UAE. The programme will be split into two modules, where theory classes will take place in the college and then practical flying in Lisbon. The graduates, on completion will obtain the European JAA licence together with the Jeppesen Flight Academy, a subsidiary of Boeing.
We have gathered the necessary tools, skills, support and expertise to offer training to produce the highest quality pilots for the industry which will assist in meeting the future demand for highly skilled professional airline pilots,” said Dr Al Ali.
Already about 20 students have signed up for the course. Students enrolling for the programme will also have the choice of pursuing another year to gain an honours degree in aviation management. The course which costs Dh545,000 ($148,388) will include accommodation, travel to Lisbon and college tuition fees.
Meanwhile, a Dh140 million ($38 million) new campus is also on the agenda. Dr Al Ali says: “We have finalised plans for the construction of a new campus at academic city that will meet our needs for the next 10-15 years. We are at tender stage, have obtained all the required licences. The new campus will begin construction in April 2012, will cater to up to 5,000 students, and will be equipped with the latest technology to meet the needs of the future education, in addition to expanding internationally.
We are targeting to open phase one in September 2013.”
A large number of the college’s students are absorbed by Emirates, especially the engineering graduates. “We work together with Emirates recruitment where our top graduates are given preference over other graduates.
We also work with other employers like Gamco in the UAE,” said Dr Al Ali. “With an ever-expanding curriculum, we look forward to welcoming students from all over the world in 2012.”
The college will host the first international aviation management conference from May 3 to 5, 2012. The conference is under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum and is expecting a large number of participants and attendees. MBA graduates from the college will submit their papers and research at the event.
Key speakers from the aviation industry and academia have been invited to take part in the conference.