Dr. Saeed Salim Jabob
Dean

It is a great pleasure to introduce UTAS-Salalah as an academic institution that had defied all odds and scaled to new perpetual heights over the past successive semesters. This has been possible due to the prevailing ecosystem that nurtures as well as rewards talent and innovation. This system has evolved and sustained through continuous and untiring efforts of our students, faculty members, and staff that constitute the edifice of academic excellence. We as an institution are proud of our research output which has quadrupled each semester on an average. From building research liaisons with international universities to the execution of national funded projects, we have broken the proverbial glass ceiling on all fronts. The institution has been able to publish its research in world-class journals and conferences, the majority of which are peer-reviewed and indexed in SCOPUS, IEEE, and other popular repositories. We intend to continue the momentum with an exceptional focus on AI-related technologies and carve out a niche in the field of data analytics, machine learning, and similar AI-led streams.

Our primary focus is on our students who have been very active with their inane sense of curiosity, and inquisitiveness in all academic events thus galvanizing the very process of teaching and learning. Many among them have brought laurels to the institution by winning positions in both national and international events in the form of contests, hackathons, debates, and competitions. We have a dedicated team of faculty members that coach, mentor and motivate such participation.

I derive immense pride and honor from leading an institution that has shone through the tough challenges of pandemic and is now resurging forward in the direction of growth and excellence. All departments have been influential in playing a vital role in the growth and hence each of them has a special significance in the accomplishments. They are information technology, mass communication, business administration, English, and the general requirements which indeed are the epitome of our joint success.

We are always on the lookout for tweaking our pedagogy as we believe that it is imperative that learning in the classroom is delivered using the latest tools both in terms of state-of-the-art teaching aids as well as refining the methodologies that are so critical for learning. The majority of the tasks allocated to students are project-based and therefore hands-on learning is encouraged and supported in all domains wherever feasible. We believe that theoretical learning is antithetical to the overall learning paradigm and, thus a big emphasis on task-based collaborative learning. Digital education is another such domain that is bound to transform the deliverance, evaluation, and execution of the teaching process. We anticipate that future universities shall emanate increased versatility in terms of program delivery both online as well as in offline mode. We are committed to introducing advanced digital tools such as virtual/ augmented reality studios, AI-powered simulation testbeds, virtual classrooms, and labs, thus bridging the well-known divide that currently exists in the form of technology adoption in contemporary universities.

In the end, I reiterate that this momentum shall be kept, and together with our team aspire for more success in the near and far future.