A reception was held on Saturday September 12, 2015 at the University’s Conference Hall to celebrate the first cohort of Biomedical Engineering students who just completed a one month long program in the United States and Saudi Arabia. These 14 trainees from the College of Engineering at the University of Dammam attended the celebration with their families and representatives from the companies that trained and supported them, including: Saudi Aramco, the Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare Hospital and GE Healthcare. This event was hosted and attended by UoD’s President, Dr. Abdullah M. Al Rubaish, the Vice President for Studies, Development and Community Service, Dr. Abdullah Alkadi, Mr. John A. Ulatowski, Vice President and Executive Medical Director for Johns Hopkins Medicine International, Mr. Jamil Al Dandany, Director of Saudi Aramco’s Education and Academic Programs Department, Mr. Abdullatif A. Al Ghanim, E&P Continuing Excellence Director in charge of UPDC development and GE representatives from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
The Dean of the College of Engineering, Dr. Abdulrahman Bin Saleh Hariri mentioned in his address, “Our 14 trainees are in their fourth level of Biomedical Engineering studies with one more year until they graduate. This valuable training program has helped them choose their graduation projects and prepare them for the labor market. The students spent two weeks in the USA and two weeks in KSA, studying theoretical subjects and receiving practical training on the latest medical equipment at the GE Healthcare Center. The training program is based at the College of Engineering and the GE Center for Research, Training and Development and is the latest in administrative, leading and business pioneering programs.”
The Chair of the Biomedical Engineering Department, Dr. Abdulhakeem H. Al Omari, noted that, “Our Biomedical Engineering Department is the first of its kind in the Kingdom and the College of Engineering at the University of Dammam was the initiator of this groundbreaking department. UoD is also the first university in the Kingdom to have an all-female engineering specialty. Our first class of graduates will graduate next year and it appears that the labor market is prepared to recruit our students immediately! Biomedical Engineering is practiced in hospitals and medical research centers and this provides a great opportunity for woman. The Biomedical Engineering program is unique in the Kingdom since it connects the disciplines of Medicine, Engineering and Biology. Therefore, the graduates of this specialty could be able to practice medicine in the future.”
