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Dr. Mahmoud Fotuhi, President of SUT, participated in the meeting of university presidents of countries involved in the “One Belt, One Road” initiative held on May 22, 2017 in Shanghai. In the meeting, Dr. Fotuhi gave a presentation of Sharif University of Technology, including its current achievements and future aspirations, to the participants consisting of university presidents and deputies of countries involved in the mentioned Initiative. On the sidelines of this meeting, Dr. Fotuhi and Dr. JIN Donghan, President of Shanghai University, signed an MoU for academic and research cooperation. In this MoU, the intention of both parties to promote the exchange of faculty and students, along with joint research activities and joint degree programs have been stressed.  Moreover, the Chinese party noted that since Iranian students of Shanghai University are among the best of its students, Shanghai University is more than willing to expand its scholarship quotas for Iranian students in the coming years.
It is worth mentioning that Sharif University of Technology was the only university from Iran invited to, and thus Iran’s sole representative in, this prestigious international Forum. Furthermore, a high-ranking delegation from National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC) visited Sharif last month. “One Belt, On Road”Initiative, which has been introduced by President XI Jinping in 2013, is a revival of the historic Silk Road Trading Route and Iran is one of the 65 countries which will be along the Belt and Road.

On Tuesday, 16^th May, 2017, a high ranking delegation from Danieli Persia Company came to Sharif. In this meeting, which took place in SUT’s International Affairs Office, Dr. Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs, Dr. Massoumian, International Affairs Consultant, Dr. Mokhtari, Dean of Industrial Relations, Dr. Halali, Associate Professor at the Department of Material Science and Engineering, and Ms. Benmorad, Head of Strategy at International Affairs Office, hosted the delegation. The delegation consisted of Mr. Michael Cottin, Managing Director of Danieli Persia and Mr. Mehdipour, HR Manager of Danieli Persia. During the meeting, the previously signed MoU between SUT and Danieli was discussed and the parties decided to plan a long-term roadmap to implement the MoU.

The lines of cooperation discussed and agreed upon in this meeting were the establishment of an R&D center at Danieli Company with the cooperation and consultation of SUT, training the managerial team of Danieli Persia in MBA programs by SUT, and providing internship programs for SUT students at Danieli Company along with scholarship.

It is worth mentioning that Danieli Group, having its headquarter in Italy, is a leading company in the metal industry which is active and well-known worldwide. Danieli Persia is the official agency of Danieli in Iran which has been established recently and produces state of the art metal equipment. Moreover, SUT and Danieli Group have signed MoU last year.

Dr. Jane Knight, Associate Professor of Comparative, International, Development Education, at the University of Toronto, came to Sharif on May 3, 2017. Professor Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs, Dr. Massoumian, International Affairs Consultant and Dr. Ahmadian, Professor at Mechanical Engineering Department hosted Dr. Knight in this meeting. During the meeting, the participants discussed the internationalization strategies of Sharif University of Technology with Dr. Knight, as the expert in this field. The next IHES, Internationalization of Higher Education Seminar, which will be held at SUT in the 2018 was another topic of the meeting. Dr. Knight shared her ideas about Internationalization of SUT and the participants discussed the general framework of the next IHE Seminar with her.

In a meeting that was held on May 1, 2017 at SUT’s International Affairs Office, Dr. Ren Yi, the Executive Director of International Research Training Partnerships of Macquarie University came to Sharif. From SUT, Dr. Mokhtari, Dean of Industrial Relations, Dr. Massoumian, International Affairs Consultant, Dr. Mehrany, professor at Electrical Engineering department, and Ms. Benmorad, Head of Strategy at International Affairs Office participated in the meeting. During the meeting, the recently signed jointly supervised PhD agreement between SUT and Macquarie University was discussed. As Dr. Yi stated, Macquarie is keen to start this program and he asked SUT to introduce several PhD students to enter into this program. As he put it, this program is research-based. Following the meeting, Dr. Massoumian suggested the establishment of a joint research center at Sharif with the cooperation of Macquarie. She pointed to a similar cooperation that has happened with the University of Melbourne- another prominent Australian university. Dr. Yi accepted the suggestion happily but said that it can be done after SUT’s students come to Macquarie and do some research. This can help to build trust between the two institutions which can, in turn, lead to the establishment of such joint research centers.

Moreover, Dr. Khashayar Mehrany, professor at SUT’s Electrical Engineering Department, was chosen as the SUT’s representative to take care of issues related to SUT-Macquarie relationships. Finally, Dr. Yi said that in a near future, he will introduce Macquarie University and its opportunities for SUT’s PhD students through a webinar via SKYPE.

It is worth mentioning that SUT and Macquaire have already signed an MoU and a Dual Degree Program Agreement. The details of this agreement can be found here

Dual Degree Programs between the Universities in a Near Future

A meeting was held on April 24, 2017 at SUT’s Presidential Office with the presence of an academic delegation from USM, Malaysia. Dr. Asma Ismail, Vice Chancellor of USM, and Mr. Ahmad Farhan, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academic and International Relations, were leading the Malaysian Delegation. Dr. Fotuhi, President of SUT, Dr. Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs, and Dr. Massoumian, International Affairs Consultant, played host to the delegation. After a brief introduction of universities, possible collaborations between them were discussed by the participants. Dr. Ismail expressed her desire for the formation of Master and PhD dual degree programs between the universities. As she put it, because of the lower financial burden, dual degree programs are suitable channels for international collaborations.

Following the meeting, the delegation had a visit to Sharif Technology Service Complex. At the end, a Memorandum of Understanding for Scientific Cooperation between SUT and USM was signed by Dr. Fotuhi and Dr. Ismail. In addition, Dr. Ismail gave a lecture entitled “Higher Education without Border: Experience of Malaysia” in which several professors and officials of SUT took part.

It is worth mentioning that USM has more than 30000 students and is one of the best research universities in Malaysia. This university has three campuses in Malaysia and one international campus in India. According to QS, USM is among the top 50 universities in the fields of chemical engineering, mining engineering, environmental studies, and leisure management.

A meeting was held on April 23, 2017 at SUT’s International Affairs Office. Dr. H. C. Man, Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Dr. Pun Zee HUI, Associate Dean of External Relations and Development, and Dr. Saffar, Associate Professor of School of Accounting and Finance constituted the Delegation. Dr. Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs, Dr. Massoumian, International Affairs Consultant, and several professors of Sharif took part in the meeting.

After a brief introduction of the universities by the representatives of both sides, the formation of a joint PhD program between the two universities was discussed. SUT and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University expressed their desire for the formation of such a program. Moreover, it was decided that a MoU be signed in a near future between the two universities. Afterward, the Delegation had a visit to Sharif Technology Service Complex and Nano Technology Lab.

According to QS, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University is 111^th in the world and 29^th among Asian universities in 2016.  In addition, SUT already has a successful joint PhD program with HKUST, which is another important university in Hong Kong.

Dr. Man’s Presentation

In a meeting that was held on April 23, 2017, the managers of several knowledge-based companies of Germany visited Sharif University of Technologies. The Directors of companies like HAVER & BLOCKER, KARL KOLB, KEK, TRANSCO, WITEC, and COMMIT along with their managerial teams were present in the meeting. On the other side, Dr. Mokhtari, Dean of Industrial Relations, Dr. Massoumian, International Affairs Consultant, and several professors of SUT took part in the meeting.

After a brief introduction of SUT and its research activities, German companies introduced their activities and discussed the potential points of collaborations. Advanced research and laboratory infrastructure of Sharif University of Technology was of interest to these German knowledge-based companies. At the end, the delegation visited the SUT’s Central Lab Services Complex.

Dr. Massoumian, International Affairs Consultant, Dr. Mokhtari, Dean of Industrial Relations, Dr. Ejtehadi, Head of Central Lab, and Dr. Ahadian, Deputy of Sharif Energy Research Institute (SERI) accompanied this delegation. At the beginning of the meeting, a brief introduction of SUT and its main activities was presented.  Afterward, the delegation visited Sharif Accelerator, Central Lab, Technology Transfer Office, and Energy Research Institute.

Several officials from different regions of Italy paid a visit to Sharif on April 19, 2017.  Valeria Fascione, Regional Minister for Startups, Innovation, and Internationalization of Campania Region, Guido Fabiano, Regional Minister for Economic Development of Lazio Region, Vincenzo Lipardi, Secretary General of the City of Science, Naples and Raffaela Farrina, Officer for Internationalization of Campania Region constituted this Italian delegation. During the meeting, Prof. Fotuhi, President of SUT, focused on the profound academic affinity between Sharif and Italian universities. As Prof. Futhi noted, Italy is the first in the number of MoUs signed with Sharif University of Technology. Following the meeting, Prof. Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs, mentioned the deep cultural affinity between Iran and Italy and expressed his hope that the academic collaborations between SUT and Italian universities continue to develop in the future.

The Italian delegation expressed their desire to expand economic and academic collaborations with SUT, especially with respect to joint knowledge-based projects.

Today, a high-ranking delegation from NSFC, including its Vice President, Mr. Cong-Qiang Liu, had a meeting with SUT’s officials and professors at SUT’s presidential office. Dr. Fotuhi, President of SUT, Dr. Raschtchian, Vice President of Research, Dr. Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs and several other professors of SUT played host to the Chinese delegation.

As Mr. Cong-Qiang Liu put it, Chinese scientists and academic institutions are more than willing to engage with Iranian scientists and academic society. He continued that the level of high-techs, including Nano-technology and bio-technology is so high in Iran that makes its academic society an attractive partner for Chinese scientists.

Dr. Movaghar, Dean of SUT’s International Affairs, lamented the shortage of formal academic collaborations between Iran and China and expressed his hope that it would be compensated in the near future. By mentioning the strong academic links between SUT and Russian universities, he encouraged Chinese institutions to take a similar path in their relationships with Iran’s academic society. He continued that Sharif already has a successful cooperation agreement with HKUST, Hong Kong and hoped that more academic agreements are shaped with other prestigious universities in China. Following the meeting, Mr. Parsizade, the representative of Iran’s Natural Science Foundation, laid emphasis on the priority of research in the activities of both INSF and NSFC.

It is worth mentioning that NNSFC’s activity is centered on funding researches all around the world. In other words, this Foundation fosters international joint projects by providing funds to the state-of-the-art researches. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Cong-Qiang Liu expressed his hope that SUT, as one of the most powerful and outstanding universities in Iran, can be the target of many international funds provided by NSFC.