The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (Masdar Institute), building on its long-standing relationship with MIT, has become MITEI’s inaugural founding public member. This collaboration will support ongoing research and development of alternative and renewable energy technologies and solutions, and will pursue new opportunities to help meet the world’s need for sustainable energy supplies and practices.
MIT President Dr. Susan Hockfield and Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, signed the agreement at the World Future Energy Summit 2009 in Abu Dhabi on January 19, where MITEI exhibited in the Masdar booth. In addition, Hockfield presented a speech entitled “Sparking an Energy Technology Revolution” during the summit’s first-day keynote session, which focused on World Future Energy Policy and Strategy.
“As we press for bold answers to the world’s energy challenges, we actively seek global partners who share our commitment to excellence and innovation,” said Hockfield. “Given its demonstrated commitment to renewable energy research and experimentation at scale, the Masdar Institute will be a valuable partner in MITEI.”
“The Masdar Institute is excited to be deepening our relationship with MIT by joining this initiative. This is a natural extension of our mandate to help advance research and development in Abu Dhabi and worldwide,” said Jaber. “Our partnership with MIT has been at the forefront of our drive toward executing the wise vision of our leadership: growing Abu Dhabi into a centre of knowledge for alternative energy.”
MITEI Director Ernest Moniz, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, said, “MITEI is excited that Masdar is strengthening its relationship with MIT. To date, most of Masdar’s work with MIT has had an energy focus. Joining MITEI as a founding public member will create new opportunities for Masdar and MIT to work together to help address global energy challenges through research and education.”
The Masdar Institute is one of several public and private organizations in the alternative energy sector that have joined as members of MITEI. As a founding public member, Masdar will have a seat on MITEI’s governing board, which provides input on the direction of the Initiative’s overall research portfolio.
The Masdar Institute will also be directly involved in identifying sponsored research programs, and will join with other MITEI members in supporting the MITEI Energy Research Seed Fund program, which funds innovative early-stage research projects solicited from across the MIT campus. Also, as a founding public member, Masdar will appoint postdoctoral fellows to MIT and will explore opportunities to bring postdoctoral fellows to Masdar to further enhance its intellectual infrastructure and capabilities.
The Masdar Institute, which commences its classes in September 2009, was developed in cooperation with MIT’s Technology and Development Program to be the world’s first graduate-level institution dedicated to the study and research of advanced energy and sustainable technologies. The Masdar Institute’s long-standing partnership with MIT includes assistance in the development of graduate degree programs and recruitment of faculty and senior-level administration, joint collaborative research, and outreach that encourages industrial participation in research and development activities.
The Masdar Institute is part of the nonprofit operation of parent company Masdar Initiative. Masdar is designing Masdar City, the $22 billion zero-waste, zero-carbon-emissions cluster city being built outside of Abu Dhabi. The 6.5-square-kilometer (2.5-square-mile) city, which is set for completion in 2015, will house 50,000 people and will be run entirely on renewable energy, mainly solar. Ultimately, the Masdar Institute will be located in Masdar City. To watch a video featuring the zero-waste, zero-carbon-emissions Masdar City, click here.
In addition, Masdar has established Abu Dhabi’s first hi-tech company, Masdar PV, with an investment of $600 million with a plant in Germany, a leading country in solar industries, to be followed with a plant in the United Arab Emirates. The Erfurt plant will produce amorphous thin film photovoltaic modules of an annual capacity of 210 megawatts.
It is also developing the Masdar High-Tech Manufacturing Cluster Abu Dhabi, an approximately four-square kilometer zone that is designed to attract companies from solar industries and other related industries.
“We still have an appetite to look for further opportunities,” Jaber said on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit 2009 in the United Arab Emirates’ capital. “We are looking beyond the current economic terms,” he said in reference to the global economic crisis, which has reduced demand for oil.