Rochester Institute of Technology launches new $136m Dubai campus

American university Rochester Institute of Technology has launched a new Dhs500m ($136.1m) Dubai campus to meet increasing demand from students.

The new facility in Dubai Silicon Oasis will span a total of 129,000 square metres and have the capacity to accommodate up to 4,000 students.

RIT Dubai will be completed in two phases. The first will has an estimated cost of Dhs200m ($54.4m) and is scheduled for handover next year. The second Dhs300m ($81.6m) phase will be completed in 2023.

Features include an interactive learning courtyard with an innovation and entrepreneurship centre, student housing separated by green land, a library commons and an auditorium.

The campus will host the School of Electrical Engineering and Computing, the School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, the School of Science and Liberal Arts, and the School of Business and Management and administration, facilities and operations.

“Science and technology play a vital role in achieving the UAE Vision 2021, and I am confident that educational opportunities with esteemed international academic institutions that boast world-class facilities, such as RIT Dubai, will shape a scientific mindset in our students,” said Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority chairman HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

“I hope to see more such projects in the UAE in support of the country’s innovation drive.”

Investment bank Alpen Capital said in a 2016 report that there were more than 500 educational projects worth $50bn in various stages of development across the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Read: GCC education spending reaches $50bn but teacher shortage looms

The number of students in regional education is expected to increase to 15 million by 2020.