The Faculty of Engineering at The British University in Egypt was established in 2005 by a Presidential Decree, as the result of inter-governmental agreement between Egypt and the UK. The BUE is an Egyptian private university within the framework of Egyptian educational law and regulations providing a British style of education with an ethos consistent with UK quality assurance and academic standards.

The Faculty of Engineering’s ambition is underpinned by a clear vision and mission, and the adoption of a number of core values and operating principles.

The BUE Vision

BUE will be highly ranked and internationally respected, making a significant contribution to the development of Egypt and the MENA region.

The Faculty Vision

The Faculty of Engineering strives to be regionally recognized as a leading institution dedicated to professionalism, research and community development, while offering students and researchers internationally accredited engineering programmes.

The BUE mission

Operating on a vibrant 21^st century university campus, offering a modern innovative British style education producing distinctive, highly employable and high caliber graduates contributing to the development of Egypt and MENA region.

The Faculty Mission

To provide a broad spectrum of education and research with a British ethos, working with UK and global partners to offer internationally recognized quality degrees that enable graduates to develop their knowledge and entrepreneurship skills and to contribute to the community development.

To promote our unique identity through:

• Mutual respect in a multicultural environment.
• Academic honesty and integrity.
• The maintenance of high academic standards.
• Continuous quality improvement.
• The development of the Faculty’s community and contribution to society.
• The full engagement and involvement of staff, students and alumni.
• Open and transparent leadership and management.
• Concern for sustainability.

In accordance with the founding principles our operating principles are characterised by:

• Governance that ensures a dual Egyptian/British board and a credible system that ensures transparency and academic independence.
• Quality assurance mechanisms that ensure that standards are equal to those of the British validating institutions and that students have a comparable experience to those in the UK.
• State of the art programmes that underpin our graduates’ abilities to achieve their potential in a highly evolving and developing profession.
• Emphasizing student’s self-learning and critical thinking, in order to allow them the ability to excel and continuously develop their creative problem solving skills.
• A research lead education with the majority of our staff engaged in state of the art relevant research that informs their teaching and curriculum development.
• Industrial engagement and integration with the faculty’s activities and objectives.

1. The Size & Shape of the Faculty

The Faculty of Engineering student population in 2017 exceeded 2,500 in eight Programmes: Architectural Engineering (14.7% of students), Chemical Engineering (4.4% of students), Civil Engineering (16.8% of students), Construction Engineering & Management (4.5% of students), Electrical Engineering (6.7% of students), Computer Engineering, started in 2016/17 (1.3% of students), Mechanical Engineering (17.8% of students) and Petroleum Engineering & Gas Technology (12% of students), in addition to the Preparatory Year with 543 students representing 21.5% of student population.

The Faculty of Engineering student population currently exceeds 1,900 in eight Programmes: Architectural Engineering (17.7% of students), Chemical Engineering (4.9% of students), Civil Engineering (21.6% of students), Construction Engineering & Management (8.8% of students), Electrical Engineering (8.5% of students), Computer Engineering, started in 2016/17 (5.8% of students), Mechanical Engineering (23% of students) and Petroleum Engineering & Gas Technology (9.8% of students), in addition to the Preparatory Year with 540 students representing 21.9% of student population.

Currently the faculty offers three M.Sc. degree programmes in Renewable Energy, Advanced Materials and Sustainable Design and Construction.  We also offer three M.Eng. degree programmes in the same three specialty areas.  The student population in these programmes is about 80 students.  New post graduate programmes are planned to be developed and presented for approval during the planning period.

In order to support the student population and maintain the staff student ratio within agreed norms, the faculty is continuously expanding its academic staff base which has now reached 251 staff members, teaching assistants, lab engineers and administrative support staff.

By the end of the planning period, the FoE should continue to grow by introducing new undergraduate and post graduate programmes. In addition, the establishment of the research labs which started in 2017, shall continue to set the stage for a comprehensive research facilities.

2. Validation & Accreditation of Engineering Programmes

All engineering degree programmes are accredited by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Universities (SCU). Accreditation of programmes also will be sought from International Professional and Statutory Bodies, where appropriate.

As a strategic objective, all undergraduate engineering students shall be eligible, on entry to the Faculty, to study on a dual degree track and obtain a BUE degree and a UK degree awarded by a leading UK University, subject to satisfying the regulatory requirements for the award of each degree. The faculty continues in partnership with London South Bank University as its main strategic partner in validating all undergraduate and post graduate programmes.  This partnership also extends to joint PhD programmes, research collaborations, staff and student exchange programmes.

The faculty is also awarded the accreditation of all its programmes from the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation (NAQAAE).

3. Research Framework

Faculty of Engineering academic staff are currently pursuing research in a broad range of areas across all departments. This is strongly encouraged and supported by the Faculty through several incentive and support mechanisms. There are key research areas aligned with our stated mission and the Faculty wishes to see critical mass established (or existing critical mass maintained) in these key areas.

In addition to the individual research plans and activities within each department, the faculty established multi-disciplinary research groups in order to ensure the development of research teams working towards writing of research grant proposals, in addition to encouraging multi-disciplinary research activities.  The following lists the main research groups within the faculty:

1. ENERGY
   • Fossil Fuels
   • Energy Saving & Integration
   • Renewable Energy
   • Nuclear Energy
2. WATER
   • Water Resources
   • Water Treatment
3. ENVIRONMENT
   • Nuclear Pollution
   • Visual Pollution
   • Water Pollution
   • Electro-Magnetic Pollution
   • Noise
4. ADVANCED & NANO-MATERIALS
   • Advanced Materials
   • Nano-Materials
5. ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
6. ROBOTICS & SMART SYSTEMS
   • Robotics
   • Smart Systems

4. Knowledge Transfer & Commercialisation

The faculty established an industrial linkage platform that is aimed at engaging the industry with the research community within the Faculty of Engineering.  The platform is designed to achieve several objectives, as follows:

• Engagement of industry in developing and updating our programmes;
• Directing our research activities to solve industrial challenges;
• Engaging our senior students in developing innovative solutions to persistent industrial challenges;
• Offering our consultation expertise to solve challenges and/or design innovative products;
• Offer our expertise through knowledge transfer media to relevant industries.

The launch of the new BUE Science Park adds a new dimension to such activities.

5. Internationalisation

The faculty currently has several international collaborations with a range of researchers across the world.  However, such activities are individual efforts that are not formulated within a structured framework.  As one of the main six themes that are underpinning the new BUE strategic plan, internationalisation shall be taken forward by the Faculty of Engineering through an internationalisation implementation plan that aims at developing a platform for engaging staff and students in international collaborations and activities.

The Faculty of Engineering has identified strategic objectives and specified targets in order to achieve the six themes which are underpinning the new BUE strategic plan.  The objectives and corresponding targets are listed in the following discussion in three main areas that represent the platform for the faculty’s activities.  In addition, the required enabling structures and mechanisms are also identified in order to provide the needed support for achieving such objectives and targets.

I. Teaching & Learning

Enhancing the quality of the student experience is a primary goal of the Faculty of Engineering at BUE that will help raise our profile as a Faculty of high quality and standards. There are several facets to achieving this status: attracting the highest quality students; attracting a multitude of research active academic staff capable of delivering UK higher education in accordance with the British ethos and standards; developing effective, communicative and innovative teaching; providing a learning environment that stimulates our students to become independent learners and to realise their potential.  Each of the set objectives is mapped to the themes and their corresponding objectives and/or targets, in the BUE strategic plan, to ensure and demonstrate alignment of both plans, this is indicated between brackets at the end of each objective to reflect the theme number and the corresponding objective number.

Objectives

T1                   Develop new undergraduate programmes to support Egypt’s development (1.1);

T2                   Embed entrepreneurial skills as an integral element within all programmes (1.2);

T3                   Introduce the concept of sustainable design in all programmes (1.5);

T4                   Raise student intake standard;

T5                   Reward innovative and creative teaching activities;

T6                   Introduce online learner support resources relevant to programmes of study (2.1);

T7                   Convert all frequent student services to online media (2.2);

T8                   Propose alternative furniture options to allow for flexible classroom settings (2.4);

T9                   Enhance Student Support Officer role (2.5);

T10                 Develop staff and student exchange programmes (3.2);

T11                 Redesign the faculty staff development programme (3.3);

T12                 Reinforce the Alumni office at the faculty (3.6);

T13                 Enhance research impact on teaching & learning (4);

T14                 Review employability skills development activities within all programmes (3.6)

T15                 Identify modules to be delivered in BUE London Campus (5.6);

T16                 Reinforce student centred learning approach through the delivery of modules, where possible.

Targets

T1-1               Design at least two new programmes that are relevant to Egypt’s vision 2030;

T2-1               Identify at least one module, in each programme, where entrepreneurial skills are introduced and amend the module contents, as per the module changes cycle;

T2-2               Develop at least two faculty wide events each year to engage students in an extracurricular entrepreneurial exercise;

T3-1               Identify at least one module, in each programme, where the concept of sustainable design is introduced and amend the module contents, as per the module changes cycle;

T4-1               Raise the student intake standard 5% annually up to 90%;

T5-1               Develop a faculty council teaching excellence award scheme;

T6-1               Engage the CELT in developing online interactive tools for at least 50% of the modules in each programme;

T7-1               Establish a faculty-based online platform for student-related processes;

T8-1               Select at least one classroom and propose an alternative furniture design to allow  flexible classroom settings then use as a pilot testing bed for innovative teaching methods;

T9-1               Expand the role of Student Support Officer to integrate with the University Academic Success Centre;

T10-1             Develop a student summer internship programme at LSBU;

T10-2             Develop a one year off/on mechanism to allow students to spend one year, non-credit, at LSBU, in at least three programmes;

T10-3             Form joint BUE-LSBU student teams to compete in robotics and hybrid car international competitions;

T11-1             Introduce at least five new interactive workshops within the staff development programme;

T12-1             Launch an alumni newsletter;

T12-2             Offer at least two professional workshops for alumni, in each programme, as per their needs;

T13-1             Ensure that at least 50% of graduation projects are related to industry instigated challenges;

T14-1             All modules to have clear mapping to specific set of employability skills according to the level of knowledge developed in each module;

T15-1             Identify at least three programmes to offer their modules in BUE London Campus;

T16-1             Increase modules that are employing student centred learning approach to reach 80% of delivered modules in each programme.

II. Research

The Faculty of Engineering at BUE is aiming to position itself, among the academic institutions in Africa and the Middle East, as a research-led faculty where teaching is informed by the research activities of its academic staff.  The Faculty promotes applied research as a ‎necessary and vital part of its role within both academic and wider ‎communities. ‎

The Faculty of Engineering conducts broad-based, internationally competitive research that is relevant to the technological development of Egypt and the MENA ‎region. It is building a strong academic base for interacting with industrial and local communities for research-based problem solving, education, knowledge transfer and commercialisation, which shall integrate with the new BUE Science Park.  It is establishing up-to-date central research facilities and infrastructure to support high quality national and international research teams and support the activities of the science park.

The Faculty of Engineering at BUE aims to be recognised internationally as providing centres of excellence in a select set of research themes which fit within the strategic objectives of Egypt and the MENA region. It encourages the identification of areas of research strengths with the intention of developing further centres of excellence on which to focus its strategic support for research.  Each of the set objectives is mapped to the themes and their corresponding objectives and/or targets, in the BUE strategic plan, to ensure and demonstrate alignment of both plans, this is indicated between brackets at the end of each objective to reflect the theme number and the corresponding objective number.

Objectives

R1                   Develop new postgraduate programmes to support Egypt’s development (1.1, 1.5 & 4.7);

R2                   Embed entrepreneurial skills as an integral element within all postgraduate programmes (1.2);

R3                   Develop online registration application for postgraduate programmes (2.2);

R4                   Develop industrial training components within MEng postgraduate programmes (4.4);

R5                   Continue to support and expand the joint Ph.D. scheme for the Faculty’s Teaching Assistants with UK partners (4.6);

R6                   Develop faculty-Science Park integration scheme (4.1);

R7                   Attract, develop and support research active staff (4.10;

R8                   Attract significant research funds from external sources (4.8);‎

R9                   Attract UK and internationally leading figures for externally funded collaborative research activities (4.8); ‎

R10 Attract international funding to support international events;

R11 Establish an international medium to disseminate research outcomes;

R12 Encourage applications for engineering patents;

R13 Encourage publications in high impact research journals (5.7).

Targets

R1-1               Design at least two new M.Sc./MEng programmes that are relevant to Egypt’s vision 2030;

R1-2               Design at least one multi-disciplinary PhD programme that is relevant to Egypt’s vision 2030;

R2-1               Develop at least one entrepreneurial skills workshop to be required for all postgraduate students before graduation;

R3-1               Develop an in-house online registration application for postgraduate modules;

R4-1               Formulate at least five agreements with industrial partners to offer training for postgraduate students, as part of their MEng degree;

R5-1               Increase the number of BUE TAs under the joint PhD programme with LSBU to reach 5 students each year;

R5-2               Explore the possibility of adding at least two new UK partners to the joint PhD programme;

R6-1               Propose an Engineering-Science Park integration scheme to support students’ and staff innovations and research outcome;

R7/R9-1        Attract at least six new research active academic staff, with international expertise, one in each department;

R8-1               Offer at least two workshops, annually, as part of the staff development programme to support staff applications for research grants;

R8-2               Attract at least 20 M EGP, over the planning period, in research funds;

R11-1             Establish an international peer reviewed engineering journal;

R12-1             Submit at least three applications for engineering patents during the planning period;

R13-1             Offer at least two workshops, annually, as part of the staff development programme to support staff publications in high impact journals;

III. Community Services & Enterprise

The Faculty of Engineering has launched a multifaceted professional dialogue with several industrial partners which resulted in the engagement of both sides in a fruitful collaborative scheme.  This led to a range of successful collaborations through graduation projects in solving persistent industrial challenges.  In addition, the Faculty is aiming at identifying a range of services that could be offered to the community in light of its current expertise.

Within this broad strategy, the Faculty of Engineering at BUE will be recognized, through its integrated operation with the new BUE Science Park, as an active supporter of new and established SMEs (small and medium size enterprises) using the expertise of both the students and the staff by:

• Promoting enterprise (i.e. the ability to innovate, recognise and create opportunities, work in a team, take risks and respond to challenges);
• Assisting new and existing entrepreneurs to launch and grow their own ventures, by providing the necessary technical support;
• Working with stakeholders in Egypt, often with reference to curriculum and programme development, to advance opportunities for students and graduates, fund professorships and sponsor the upgrade of current facilities, etc.

Each of the set objectives is mapped to the themes and their corresponding objectives and/or targets, in the BUE strategic plan, to ensure and demonstrate alignment of both plans, this is indicated between brackets at the end of each objective to reflect the theme number and the corresponding objective number.

Objectives

C1                   Ensure suitability of offered programmes to market needs (1.1);

C2                   Solicit industrial partners recommendations regarding new engineering programmes (1.1);

C3                   Promote the establishment of start-ups for student innovations (1.2);

C4                   Design a range of informal learning platforms aimed at relevant industries (1.3);

C5                   Offer consulting services to relevant industries (1.4);

C6                   Develop integral scheme for Faculty-Science Park collaboration to support innovation (4.1);

C7                   Identify multi-national companies that would establish R&D offices at the Science Park (4.3);

C8                   Expand the Industrial Linkage Platform to employ resources available through the Science Park (4.4);

Targets

C1-1               Request from Industry representatives, in the IFLC, feedback about the components of current engineering programmes and recommendations for amendments;

C2-1               Conduct a survey of required market needs in terms of engineering specialties in relevant industries;

C3-1               Establish at least 2 start-ups each year in collaboration with TICO office and the BUE Science Park;

C4-1               Design at least three professional development workshops in each programme to be offered to practicing engineers as one mode of knowledge transfer;

C5-1               Update the staff expertise directory and engage the CCCS in marketing the faculty’s consultation expertise to the relevant industries;

C6-1               Develop and propose an integral collaborative scheme for Faculty-Science Park operations to support innovations and research outcomes;

C7-1               Invite at least 10 multi-national companies in relevant industries to establish an R&D office in the BUE Science Park;

C8-1               Organize at least four Industrial Linkage events each year, in collaboration with the BUE Science Park.

Delivering and sustaining our academic ambition and strategic objectives will be dependent on the provision of an effective and efficient supporting infrastructure that relates to several key areas:

• To our human resource capital, including staff management, development, progression and reward;
• To our governance, leadership and management structures, including sound financial planning and securing the requisite resources to ensure sustainability;
• To our physical estate, by providing a high quality learning and research environment that supports the student and academic experiences;
• To our internal and external relations, including our marketing, public relations and communication strategies;
• To our internationalisation strategy, by expanding our range of UK and other global partnerships

Objectives

ES1                 Strengthen and embed Governance and Leadership across the Faculty;

ES2                 Increase our sources of revenue;

ES3                 Ensure that our marketing, public relations and communications activities are targeted to meet our developing activities;

ES4                 Support a robust programme of maintenance and upgrading for classrooms and laboratories;

ES5                 Ensure our human resources are adequate and capable of delivering all planned objectives;

ES6                 Strengthen and develop our data collection and analysis mechanisms, to inform planning and decision making.

Targets

ES2/3-1         Update financial planning mechanisms to ensure the availability of needed funds to cover all faculty’s activities;

ES4-1             Revise lab facilities upgrading plan, annually, to ensure any deferred items are considered;

ES4-2             Update the lab facilities management framework, annually, to ensure maintenance procedures are implemented and consumables are purchased in a timely manner;

ES4-3             Update health and safety risk assessments for all lab facilities, regularly, to accommodate the new additions;

ES5-1             Update the staff development plan, annually, to embed new topics based on staff needs and review reports;

ES5-2             Update staff recruitment plan annually, to ensure the availability of needed staff and the maintenance of the targeted staff/student ratio;

In order to achieve the set targets and objectives, several detailed implementation plans shall be developed as follows:

1. Teaching & Learning plan
2. Research plan
3. Enterprise and Knowledge Transfer plan
4. Internationalisation plan
5. Enabling and Support Services plan

It is essential to monitor the performance of all implementation plans in order to ensure the results are in line with the projected targets.  The following sections outline the mechanism for monitoring the implementation plans and ways to amend and adjust the strategic plan during its implementation.

Implementation Plans Monitoring

In order to ensure the achievement of all targets and objectives, the faculty management team shall monitor the execution of all underlying implementation plans.  The monitoring review is completed once every year to capture the performance of the faculty, as a whole, through the development of the annual faculty report.

In order to formulate an accurate image of the faculty annually, based on its performance, the following steps need to be completed:

1. Data Collection

The monitoring stage relies on sets of data that are usually collected at the end of each academic year.  Data collection is conducted by communications with relevant central departments.  Further data may be extracted from several online sources that are necessary to supplement the decision making process in some instances.

      2. Data Analysis

The next stage that follows data collection is to conduct a thorough data analysis, which is important to achieve two main objectives.  The first, relates to identifying recurring trends, anomalies and new beginning trends.  The second is correlating relevant performance indicators in order to paint a complete image of the faculty’s effectiveness and performance and would isolate potential solutions to under-performing indicators.

      3. Feedback

The results of data analyses are expected to render potential recommendations that need to be taken into consideration within the decision-making process in order to reflect on an improved performance of the faculty in the following planning period, i.e., the following year.

Full Term Strategic Plan Monitoring

The full term monitoring cycle is conducted at the completion of the strategic plan term.  Currently, the faculty is following a five-year strategic plan term.  During the five year term, annual implementation cycles are expected to have been conducted and resulted in updates to some or all of the developed action plans.  Such amendments, updates and recommendations shall be grouped under main categories such as: proposals, new targets, amendments, etc.  Such recommendations are then normally employed in informing the development of the new strategic plan for the following planning term.  

The results of the planning mechanism, as explained in the previous sections, are communicated to the senior management and discussed in relevant committees and administrative bodies within the faculty through a reporting system structured as follows:

Annual reports

The faculty management team shall compile annual reports, submitted and discussed at the Industry-Faculty Liaison Committee and the faculty council.  Both of the referred committees include external members representing the industrial and academic communities in Egypt.  The approved final report shall be submitted to the BUE president to inform the senior management about the status of the faculty.  Such annual reports mainly evaluate the execution of the strategic plan and the progression of all set targets.  The report includes a section about new initiatives which might include recommendations for additions and/or amendments to the current implementation plans.

Full term report

The faculty management team shall compile a full term report linking all proposals and recommendations made through all previous annual reports.  Further analysis and data collections are expected, at this stage, in order to extract strategic implications of proposed amendments and recommendations.  In addition, the faculty management team might suggest one or all of the following and engage the whole community, internal and external, in providing feedback and recommendations:

• Amended vision of the faculty;
• New targets in all faculty’s activities;
• Introduction of new programmes to reflect external changes;
• Terminate programmes that might not be operating at the expected standard;
• Reposition the faculty as a result of its perceived reputation;
• Internationalisation activities.