Doha, February 04 (QNA) - Building on their shared commitment to strengthening national capabilities in advanced electronics, semiconductor technologies, and intelligent systems, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and the Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation (QRDI) Council have entered into a strategic partnership.

Under the collaboration, QRDI will fund the University's newly launched master's program in Integrated Circuits and Intelligent Systems Design.

Formalized through a funding agreement signed on the sidelines of Web Summit Qatar 2026 by President of HBKU Dr. Ahmad Mojahed Omar Hasnah and Secretary General of QRDI Eng. Omar Al Ansari.

Under the agreement, QRDI will provide funding of up to USD 1 million.

Commenting on the agreement, President of HBKU Dr. Ahmad Hasnah said: "This funding agreement with QRDI reflects a shared commitment to advancing Qatar's capabilities in semiconductor and intelligent systems technologies. Through this partnership, we are preparing a new generation of highly skilled talent equipped with the expertise and innovation mindset required to lead in critical fields that will shape Qatar's knowledge based economy and global competitiveness and be responsive to evolving technological needs and trends."

For his part, QRDI Secretary General Eng. Omar Al Ansari said: "This partnership reflects QRDI Council's focus on building deep technical capability in areas where advanced skills are critical to long-term competitiveness."

"We are supporting engineers with practical experience in semiconductor design, intelligent hardware, and system-level integration by funding HBKU's master's program in Integrated Circuits and Intelligent Systems Design. These skills are necessary to promote the development of advanced industries and convert research into deployable solutions. Talent development is directly linked to actual technological and industrial priorities when academia and the larger RDI ecosystem work well together," Al Ansari added.

For his part, Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean of College of Science and Engineering at HBKU Dr. Amine Bermak said: "This master's degree underscores HBKU's commitment to strengthening Qatar's knowledge economy through world-class education and research in advanced integrated circuits and AI-enabled hardware. Enabled by strategic collaboration with QRDI and Invest Qatar, this initiative translates academic excellence into practical capability."

Together, HBKU and QRDI are putting in place a sustainable talent pool that converts advanced education into technological leadership. This cooperation strengthens the university's position as a catalyst for national capacity building, facilitating Qatar's shift toward developing homegrown expertise in key technologies that will define the future.

By combining HBKU's academic and research expertise with QRDI's advancement of Qatar's RDI ecosystem, the program will cultivate a highly skilled workforce aligned with national priorities in emerging technologies.

Led by renowned faculty and researchers in electronic and computer engineering, the program will provide students with rigorous theoretical grounding alongside applied training in integrated circuits, embedded systems, intelligent hardware architectures, and hardware-to-software co-design. A state-of-the-art curriculum emphasizes experiential learning, industry-relevant projects, and research-driven instruction, high-tech industry, and national research endeavors. (QNA)