Date of the exchange:
September 2023
Partners:
Sending Institution: Majan University College, Oman
Hosting Institution: Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand
Dr Ammar AlBalushi
Head of the Faculty of Business Management
Scope of project:
- Capacity-Building
- Facilitating links between Member Institutions
United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals:
#4 Quality Education
Summary of the visit:
Dr Ammar AlBalushi is Head of the Faculty of Business Management at Majan University College. Interested in enhancing the entrepreneurship and innovation within education and research at his home institution, Dr AlBalushi used the WTUN Exchange Programme funding to visit Suranaree University of Technology. Suranaree University of Technology provided Dr AlBalushi with valuable insights, knowledge and expertise in best practices and initiatives to develop and embed entrepreneurship and innovation into curriculum at Majan University College.
Dr AlBalushi participated in several activities during his exchange visit, including visiting campus hubs for entrepreneurship, including their Student Entrepreneurship Development Academy whose ecosystem connects across Suranaree University of Technology’s faculties and schools, fostering innovation throughout curriculum and teaching. He also visited Technopolis’s Ecosystem which demonstrated how startup ideas are then converted into enterprises and offered insight into intellectual property management within an academic context. To see the output of innovative ideas, Dr AlBalushi visited Momentra, a partner business of Suranaree University of Technology, offering real-world context to how academic ventures can excel in industry. These visits provided Dr AlBalushi with the opportunity to learn how best to implement and embed entrepreneurship and innovation back at Majan University College by providing him with the knowledge to develop policy and guidelines, especially in intellectual property and research data management.
Dr AlBalushi also met with faculty members and attended the 2nd Thailand Entrepreneurship Education Network, allowing him to build networks with fellow researchers and academics within the context of entrepreneurship in curriculum.
In his own words, the visit “provided me with insights into the dynamic role technology universities play in advancing innovation and entrepreneurship. Moreover, this visit is an eye opener in terms of the difference between an entrepreneurship university vs a traditional university.”
Highlight of the Visit:
This visit allowed Dr AlBalushi to learn best practices and deepening his understanding of a “technical university” to be able to foster the “entrepreneurship university” environment of Suranaree University of Technology at his home institution, Majan University College.
Significant Outcomes:
- Dr AlBalushi was able to return to Majan University College with the knowledge and capacity to strengthen the way entrepreneurship and innovation is delivered in their curriculum. This has created immediate benefits such as the development of a new Bachelor’s Program in Tourism Innovation Technologies and a training program, supported by staff from Suranaree University of Technology, to develop the human capital needed to effectively manage and operate the planned Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre at Majan University College.
- The visit has sparked future collaborations such as MUC students visiting Suranaree University of Technology’s Global Entrepreneurship Camp and a future development wherein Majan University College will act as a soft landing space for Suranaree University of Technology innovations and startups to penetrate the Omani market. A plan is also in place to develop a Global Entrepreneurship Education Forum at Majan University College with Suranaree University of Technology staff as key speakers.
Further Developments:
- Planning for an MUC Global Entrepreneurship Camp in November 2024, following feedback from MUC students’ visit to SUT’s Global Entrepreneurship Camp.
- Further outreach including applications from other colleagues to the WTUN Exchange Programme to explore women’s entrepreneurship and further connections with universities in the area.
Watch Dr AlBalushi discuss his experience below: