Engineering and Technology Talent for Innovation and Knowledge-Based Economies: Competencies, Leadership, and a Roadmap for Implementation

This book introduces and analyzes the models for engineering leadership and competency skills, as well as frameworks for industry-academia collaboration and is appropriate for students, researchers, and professionals interested in continuous professional development. The authors look at the organizational structures of engineering education in knowledge-based economies and examine the role of innovation and how it is encouraged in schools. It also provides a methodological framework and toolkit for investigating the needs of engineering and technology skills in national contexts. A detailed empirical case study is included that examines the leadership competencies that are needed in knowledge-based economies and how one university encourages these in their program. The book concludes with conceptual modeling and proposals of specific organizational structures for implementation in engineering schools, in order to enable the development of necessary skills for future engineering graduates.

About the Author

Dr. Mahmoud Abdulwahed: Dr Mahmoud holds BSc, MSc, and PhD in electrical, control and systems engineering; he completed his postgraduate studies in Germany, Sweden, and the UK. His main expertise is in Innovation, Transfer, and Education; he is ranked among the top 25 globally in the field of Engineering Education research in last three years in terms of indexed publications in Scopus (2013-2016 period). Mahmoud joined Qatar University in fall 2011 as a faculty member; from spring 2013 till spring 2016 he worked as Adviser and then Manager of Strategic Initiatives & Innovations; his role focused on inception, coordination, and/or management of several strategic initiatives and innovation-based practices across campus and in selected colleges. He also worked with the College of Engineering on the inception of the “Technology Innovation & Engineering Education (TIEE) Department ” where he moved in Spring 2016 to work on its implementation. Mahmoud received several fellowships Australia, Malaysia, and USA. He published 60+ peer-reviewed conference and journal articles, 3 books/chapters, and attained a number of industry research funds, academic recognitions, awards, and best papers distinctions.

Dr. Mazen O. Hasna: Dr. Hasna received the B.S. degree from Qatar University, Doha, Qatar in 1994, the M.S. degree from the University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles in 1998, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in 2003, all in electrical engineering.

In 2003, Dr. Hasna joined the department of electrical engineering at Qatar University as an assistant professor. He served as the head of the electrical engineering department, the associate dean for academic affairs, and the dean of engineering between 2005-2012. Currently, he serves as the vice president and chief academic officer of Qatar University. Dr. Hasna is a founding member of the IEEE section in Qatar and the society of Qatari engineers. He is a member of the joint management committee of the Qatar Mobility Innovation Center (QMIC), and a board member of Qatar National Library (QNL).