On 9 November 2016, Prof. Tony Chan, President of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology visited Sharif University of Technology. The meeting took place in the President’s office. Prof. Fotuhi, President of the University, Prof. Movaghar, Head of the International Affairs Office, Head of the Graduate School and Chair of the Graduate School of Management and Economics were amongst the participants.
During the meeting and after a brief introduction of Sharif by Prof. Fotuhi, Prof. Chan introduced the HKUST. Dr. Massoumian from the International Affairs Office gave a presentation regarding the entrepreneurship environment in Iran and especially in Sharif. The untapped market of Iran is a strong motive for joint industrial partnership between the two universities.
Prof. Khalaj, Director of the Dual Degree program between the SUT and HKUST, presented what the previously planned Dual Degree program had achieved. This was only limited to certain fields and has faced a fair share of challenges. Prof. Khalaj proposed to expand the program as in the end the results had been successful and encouraging.
An open floor discussion started between the participants to understand the possible fields and areas of collaborations that may be looked into. In this regard, Prof. Chan agreed with Prof. Fotuhi’s idea on joint research internship programs for undergraduate students. He then expressed his inclination towards providing sabbatical leaves for faculty members as well as expanding the Dual Degree program as it will make the bond between the two universities stronger. Promoting executive education and business studies was also discussed and will be followed up by the two universities.
