On Wednesday 1st of March 2023, the Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) and Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) of the USA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the opening ceremony of the Second (Middle East and North Africa) MENA Regional Engineering Education Conference in Dubai. 

The aim of this MoU is to promote cooperation between both parties on matters related to natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology education, and higher accreditation activities. 

According to the MoU, the areas of collaborations between CAA and ABET are to facilitate the exchange of representatives to observe both ABET’s and CAA’s accreditation evaluation activities and the interchange of experiences between CAA and ABET; in the development of accreditation workshops and seminars to promote accreditation principles; to promote and facilitate each other’s participation in seminars and workshops about accreditation systems worldwide; and to exchange information including documents, papers, and surveys concerning accreditation processes and higher education quality assurance.

The official signing of the MoU was attended by Prof. Mohamed Baniyas, CAA Director, and Dr. Michael Milligan, Executive Director and CEO of ABET, who delivered the opening remarks and appreciated each efforts in ensuring the quality of engineering education in the UAE. 

Worth mentioning, ABET is a recognized U.S. accreditor of college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. ABET also provides leadership internationally through workshops, memoranda of understanding and mutual recognition agreements.