MIT and Masdar Institute work together to transform an oil-based economy
Mention the economy of the United Arab Emirates to people from outside the region, and the first word that may come to their minds is “oil.” But today, the UAE is striving to change that initial response to “innovation.” As part of a longstanding effort to diversify its economy, the UAE is today focusing on initiatives in a variety of other areas — for instance, finding ways to quench the Gulf nation’s growing thirst for fresh water and develop alternative energy sources. Several MIT faculty members are contributing to those efforts through collaborative long-distance research initiatives with their counterparts at Masdar Institute, a graduate-level technology university in the UAE’s capital city, Abu Dhabi. “This is one of MIT’s largest, longest-standing, and most important international initiatives,” says Duane Boning, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science and director of the Cambridge-based MIT and Masdar Institute Cooperative Program, which helped the UAE launch...