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   Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises is constructing a new, state-of-the-art science laboratory at the UAE University in Al Ain to help prepare thousands of national students for their future careers, Ben Smalley reports.

   The UAE University in Al Ain will soon be equipped with one of the country’s leading science laboratories, providing an ideal teaching base for the thousands of national students attending the university each year.

The contract to construct the laboratory was awarded to Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises, part of the Al Habtoor Group of Companies, which has an unrivalled track record in specialist construction and engineering projects throughout the Middle East.

“We are extremely proud to be working on a project of this type, which will assist the education of future generations of UAE nationals and give them the very best facilities to learn as they prepare for their future careers,” said project manager Nidal Habib.

The three-storey laboratory is being constructed at the university’s Al Maqam Campus in Al Ain, where its 6,000 square metres of space will be used by both, science students and teaching staff.

It consists of seven teaching labs for general and analytical chemistry on the ground floor; eight teaching labs for organic, bio, inorganic and physical chemistry on the first floor; and ten research labs for inorganic, general, analytical, physical, bio, and organic chemistry on the second floor.

Along with the laboratories, there are also a number of supporting rooms, including a computer room, dark room, cold room and ultra-violet spectrophotometer room, as well as a substation block and external works, including a service road, sidewalks and external MEP works.

The building has been designed with practicality in mind, but also consists of a number of distinguishing hi-tech architectural features.

“It is one of the first projects in the United Arab Emirates where a special cladding system of clay tiles will be used for the external facades which gives it a unique appearance,” Mr Habib explained. “It has many other architectural features, such as the special fabric structure on the west elevation which is made of Teflon-coated fabric, which is shaped like ten sails.”

The project manager heads a versatile team of professionals at the construction site, including a project coordinator, planning engineer, quantity surveyor, draftsman, foreman, secretary, storekeeper, timekeeper, nurse and safety officer - who are supported by around 150 tradesman.

   “With such a major project and sizeable number of staff onsite, great care has been exercised to ensure there has been no disruption to students studying at the university while the construction has been taking place,” Mr Habib said.

The Jordanian project manager joined Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises in October 1999 as a Construction Manager on the prestigious Abu Dhabi Marina Mall project, having previously worked for one of the biggest contracting firms in the UAE capital.

He has a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Alabama in the USA and also worked with several international companies in Jordan, including working on major construction projects such as the new US Embassy compound in Amman, before moving to Abu Dhabi at the beginning of 1994.

The new science laboratory promises to be a great asset for the UAE University, which was established by President His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan by virtue of Federal Law No. 4 of 1976.

His Highness envisioned the university becoming a federal institution with an Arab-Islamic identity, and a focus of intellect, culture, and science, while the university’s stated mission is to ‘realise the aspirations of society, deepen its ambitions, and consolidate its foundations.’

Eng. Mohammed Al Owain, Director of the Campius Development Department, said: “Within its first twenty years, the university has become a leading and pioneering institution in the region in education, research, and community service. These achievements are the best evidence of the great wisdom of the educational policies and the accurate vision of His Highness the President.

   “Since its establishment, the university has always given a very high priority to the development of its academic program and curricula responding to the needs of society, while keeping pace with international academic developments and trends and preserving the values, policies and strategies of the country. The new laboratory of the Faculty of Chemistry is just the first phase of the development of a new laboratory complex, which will include another five buildings and will be used as a master plan when constructing the new phases of the laboratory in the future.”

The university has grown from four Faculty (colleges) in the academic year 1977/1978 to its current eight, while the number of students enrolled in the university has increased from 502 in its first academic year to the current figure of more than 15,000 – a substantial growth which has required the construction of new facilities, such as the dedicated science laboratory.

The awarding of the contract to Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research reflects a continuation of the company’s commitment to the future of the UAE.

Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises has been at the forefront of developments in the social fabric of the country since the company was formed in 1970, including construction of hospital projects such as the main extension to Rashid Hospital, Al Wasl Hospital and the New Dubai Hospital.

The company’s experienced international management team is also capable of undertaking massive construction projects ranging from hotels to residential apartment towers and villas, as well as special projects such as military bases and camps.

In 1994 Al Habtoor Engineering completed the prestigious Holiday Centre complex on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, which includes an office block, shopping mall, residential apartment block and a luxury hotel; and in 1995, the 29-storey Dubai Creek Tower - an impressive high-rise residential and office complex - was completed. Many more prestigious projects followed, The Jumeirah Beach Hoterl, The Airport Free Zone, The Airshow Complex, Dusit Hotel, just to mention few of them. The latest achievement of HEE is the recently completed Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, which is featuring the largest roof canopy in the world!

Other landmark projects include both the Burj Al Arab, which rises 321 metres from the waters of the Arabian Gulf, completed as a Joint Venture with Murray & Roberts, and the 600-bedroom Jumeirah Beach Hotel; the Metropolitan Palace Hotel, as well as residential towers, a palace and military works in Abu Dhabi.

The Dh 540 million Sheikh Rashid Terminal Concourse at Dubai International Airport was another structure completed as a Joint Venture with Murray & Roberts, and has elevated the airport’s status to one of the most modern in the world.

The company, along with the Joint Venture, has even succeeded in spreading its expertise overseas and, together with its Egyptian partner SIAC, is constructing the Dh 825 million San Stefano Residential Complex in Alexandria, while closer to home the Joint Venture is continuing its work in the leisure industry with the Jaber Complex/Shangi-La Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai - which is due for completion next year at a cost of Dh 302 million.