Planning of a RTI park for the American University of Sharjah

Figure: Illustration of the planned research park with 5 research institutes in the center

Project Title: Developing a Contemporary Business Plan for a Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI) Park in Sharjah
Client: American University of Sharjah (AUS)

The American University in Sharjah (AUS) was founded in 1997 by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qassimi and has about 6000 students. For further structural development, a financially self-sustaining research, technology and innovation (RTI) park is being planned. During a 6-month project with permanent on-site presence, Fraunhofer IPK has created a business plan. For the creation of the business plan, the demand of applied research in Sharjah was determined by a detailed market analysis and workshops with local experts. Subsequently, the internal resources of the AUS as well as local competitors were analyzed. The goal is to connect researchers and students of the AUS with applied research topics that are pursued in the affiliated RTI park.

Following 5 themes have been defined for the planned research institutes:

    ⇨ Production design technology and architecture
    ⇨ Water
    ⇨ Energy
    ⇨ Transport und Logistics
    ⇨ Digitalization

The Research Park is meant to be a living landscape with residential homes, shopping facilities, schools, event center, museum, exhibition space, hotel as well as cultural and spiritual retreat possibilities. These modules were taken into account in the planning and integrated into the sustainable financial plan.