about ADMIRE

The Abu Dhabi-Minnesota Institute for Research Excellence (ADMIRE) is a partnership between the Chemical Engineering Program and the soon-to-be established Materials Science and Engineering Program of the Petroleum Institute (PI) of Abu Dhabi, and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CEMS) of the University of Minnesota (UMN). ADMIRE has been founded to promote joint research projects between the two institutions and to foster the continued development of academic programs of the Petroleum Institute. For graduates from both programs, this collaboration will provide an intellectually rich environment conducive to the kind of education and development demanded of future world leaders in engineering, science, and technology.

A primary goal of the partnership is to establish thriving research projects with an emphasis on energy-related topics. Recognizing that petroleum resources will play a vital role in the world's energy portfolio over the next decades, ADMIRE will be at the forefront of making the best use of these limited and increasingly precious resources, while also pursuing innovative projects in the search for energy alternatives of the future.

Through these research projects, faculty and student exchange programs will be established, so that both institutions may benefit from in-residence visits of graduate students, post-doctoral associates, and faculty. About 15 to 20 faculty from each institution will be involved in the research.

Another significant goal of the partnership is to broaden the interaction between the two programs in undergraduate and graduate education, curriculum development, faculty development, and accreditation activities.

In a three-year Phase I, ADMIRE is structured to promote research excellence through several Inter Institutional Research Groups (IRGs) in the areas of hydrocarbon processing (making of liquid fuel and natural gas), modeling and simulation (mathematical analysis), polymer processing (manufacturing of high-value products made from petroleum), and a seed effort in materials science. Non-research interactions will also be established to aid the Petroleum Institute in developing best-practices for academic issues of the Chemical Engineering Program and a newly-developing Materials Science and Engineering Program.

In the future, Phase II is anticipated to grow the interaction between the PI and UMN, especially in the area of materials science and engineering.

Mission

To promote research excellence through inter-institutional research groups (IRGs),
especially in fields relevant to petroleum and energy
To promote educational opportunities between the PI and UMN
To promote the development of best practices as the PI evolves to a world-class academic institution