COMMITTEES

This committee is responsible for policy making and approval of key strategic decisions that impact AEIC and meets once every quarter.

PERMANENT

Dr. Lance de Masi

Interim President, AUD

Dr. Sabrina Joseph

Provost and Chief Academic Officer, AUD

Dr. Sunitha Kshatriya

Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Center) Director and Associate Professor of Management

ADHOC

Ms. Tala Makhlouf

Associate Executive Vice President, AUD

Mrs. Maya Amiouny

Chief Financial Officer, AUD

Mr. Elie Sawaya

Director of Central Services, AUD

This committee is responsible for ensuring that Key Performance Indicators of the Incubator are being met and achieved as desired. This committee meets once every two-three months in the year.

Abdelaziz Daoud Al Maazmi

Director of Business Incubation Department, Dubai SME

Yousuf Khalifa Lootah

Senior Manager – Hamdan Innovation Incubator (HI2)
Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economy and Tourism in Dubai

Dr. Sunitha Kshatriya

Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Center) Director and Associate Professor of Management

This committee is responsible for advising and recommending on the strategic direction of AEIC, and for evaluating new AEIC startups for membership. This committee meets once every month during Spring and Fall semesters.

Supports on administration,

trade licenses and operations of the incubator

Mr. Ayman Al Awadhi

Group Managing Director – The Corporate Group

Facilitates and evaluates ideas, business models, prototypes and funding

Dr. Vinod Pangracious

Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering & Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering

Facilitates and evaluates ideas, business models, prototypes and funding

Mr. Hassan Khayal

Senior Internal Audit Specialist in Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence

Has overall responsibility
Works through all committees
Available on the incubator at all times
Manages daily work

Dr. Sunitha Kshatriya

Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Center) Director and Associate Professor of Management

Responsible for building networks, partners and for facilitating digital training

Dr. Ruchi Dana

Partner, Dana Group

The Blockchain Committee is responsible for creating a technology park and framework to support students, startups and technology partners in the area of Blockchain and aligned services. This will help bring current eco-system developments in the space of Web3 (NFT, Crypto, Metaverse...) to AUD’s vast community.

Dr. Vinod Pangracious

Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, AUD

Mr. Muhammed Ashraf Thalakkottiri

Application Developer, AUD

Dr. Sunitha Kshatriya

Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Center) Director and Associate Professor of Management

This panel is responsible for the academic evaluation of AUD students and AEIC members, who may wish to join AEIC’s Level 2 (BUSI 251) directly through the alternate pathway, without completing Level 1. The panel convenes twice during each Spring and Fall Semester.

Dr. Assaad Farah is Dean of the School of Business Administration (SBA). In addition to his academic responsibilities, Dr. Farah is an executive trainer and consultant mainly for the United Arab Emirates’ public sector. He is also a Board member of the UNDRR ARISE and a member of the AACSB International Middle East & North Africa Advisory Council.

Assaad Farah, Ph.D.

Dean, School of Business Administration and Associate Professor of Management

Dr. Hassan Zeineddine holds a PhD in computer sciences from the University of Ottawa in Canada. Prior to becoming a full time academic, he worked with various R&D units in the telecommunication sector in North America, working with firms such as Cisco Systems, Alcatel-Lucent’s affiliates, and Spirent Communications. He is experienced in the fields of program management, project management, network management, service level agreement, quality assurance, and service testing.

Hassan Zeinneidine, Ph.D.

Chair, Department of Decision Sciences & Economics, Associate Professor of Management Information Systems

Dr. Vinod Pangracious joined AUD in Fall 2014 as Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering. He has been giving backbone support to AEIC from the beginning as a facilitator, technical expert and mentor.

Vinod Pangracious, Ph.D.

Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering & Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering

Dr. Sunitha Kshatriya is the director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center at AUD since its inception in June 2019. She is the chief architect of AEIC and the mind behind its mission, vision, strategy & growth.

Dr. Sunitha Kshatriya

Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Center) Director and Associate Professor of Management

Professor Dina Faour is a Professor of Advertising, she is also the Academic Coordinator for the advertising program and the outreach coordinator for the Visual Communication Department. She also holds the position of Chapter Lead for the SheSays.Dubai Group, a group concerned with empowering women in the creative industries, and President of the MEDEA, Middle East Design Educators Association.

Dina Faour

Outreach Coordinator - Visual Communication and Professor of Advertising (Creative)

AEIC Faculty Committee is represented by a Faculty from each of the 6 AUD Schools of Business, Engineering, Arts & Sciences, Communication, Education and Architecture. The role of the Faculty Committee is to bridge the gap between various schools and AEIC.