On March 4 UC Berkeley announced a wide-ranging, $28 million partnership with a Saudi Arabian university.

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and UC Berkeley have started a partnership that would include joint research, collaboration on curriculum and nomination of faculty members in mechanical engineering.

KAUST will partner with UC Berkeley to:

• Jointly organize the graduate course curriculum and monitor performance
• Create and conduct joint research projects at UC Berkeley and at KAUST
• Collaborate in setting the requirements for the M.E., M.S.E., and Ph.D. degrees at KAUST
• Collaborate in the nomination of the initial group of KAUST faculty
• Collaborate in joint thesis advisory committees for Ph.D. candidates at KAUST
• Collaborate in joint programs to host visiting fellows, conduct seminars, and participate in technical symposia
• Collaborate on the design and acquisition of research equipment and facilities

"I am excited and eager to proceed with this agreement," said Professor Al Pisano, chair of the mechanical engineering department. "UC Berkeley has a proud reputation of being concerned with the world at large and this agreement enables our department to participate on the world stage to solve technically problems of interest not only to the Middle East region and to the state of California but to the people of world."...

For much more on this agreement, see the links at left.