AIUB is committed to provide an enriching undergraduate and graduate experience: VC Dr Carmen Z. Lamagna

What is the vision of the university?

The American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) envisions promoting professionals and excellent leadership, catering to the technological progress and development needs of the country. 

AIUB is committed to provide quality and excellent computer-based academic programmes, responsive to the emerging challenges of the time.  It is dedicated to nurture and produce competent world class professionals imbued with a strong sense of ethical values, ready to face the competitive world of arts, business, science, social science, and technology. 

To achieve the vision, the university has set strategic goals and plan of action for 10 years. Some of the strategies are faculty-based, while others are university-wide initiatives - all are designed to attract the best and brightest scholars, expand research and creative activities and provide unmatched teaching to prepare our students for the globally-connected world. 

In doing that, what are the challenges you see?

 One daunting challenge is ensuring that all students have access to quality education.  Another challenge is ensuring that graduates are able to find good jobs.  With the economy growing quickly, there is high demand for skilled workers, but not all graduates are able to find jobs that match their skills.

The higher education sector in Bangladesh faces significant challenges.  However, there are also some positive developments. As a result, the future of the higher education sector in Bangladesh is likely to be more positive.  

What is the specialty of AIUB? 

● AIUB's strength is in IT Education: When it comes to producing IT/CS graduates, AIUB is one of the best (if not the best) Universities in the country.

● Up-to-date Curriculum: The Department of Computer Science is constantly working to improve its undergraduate curriculum in order to better match with the demands of today's industry. Many of the courses include laboratory components and project-based learning as well. Students are also encouraged to explore industry-sponsored graduation projects and must complete an industry internship prior to their graduation. The CSE curriculum is the most up-to-date and unique in the country offering four major areas i.e., Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Software Engineering and Computational Theory, which enables students to choose their track based on their interest and expertise.

● Qualified Teachers: The university always guarantees that qualified teachers are recruited for all of its' departments, and the Department of Computer Science is no exception. There are currently 79 faculty members in the Department of Computer Science, with 18 holding PhD degrees as well as others holding various world class degrees (at least Masters) from home and abroad.

● State-of-the-Art Resources: To ensure quality learning, students are always provided with the best resources available. Precisely -  30 computer labs, each with cutting-edge facilities and 40 workstations, supported by a world-class IT infrastructure, keeps AIUB way ahead of others in the country. It houses the largest Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution equipped with 25 powerful servers running on Citrix, VMware, and Microsoft Hyper-V virtualization platform. The VDI solution hosts 1200 virtual machines in the university private cloud. 19 cutting-edge engineering labs are capable of delivering a world-class hands-on learning environment to up to 40 students at once.

● Supportive Management: The Department of Computer Science's progress in IT education has been tremendous to observe. The graduates are achieving national and international recognition and acknowledgement in a variety of sectors across academic and administrative boards, which would not be achievable without the management's ongoing support and guidance.

Institute of Continuing Education at American International University-Bangladesh is an award-winning center of excellence providing short-range specialized courses in various disciplines.  

AIUB have partnered with industry-leading vendors and professional bodies from home and abroad such as Cisco, Juniper, Microsoft, Fortinet, Amazon, Redhat, SAP, EC-Council, ISCEA, IMRT, BSHRM, BASIS etc. to deliver internationally recognized professional courses so that our students can acquire the skills they need to enter the competitive job market. The Institute offers certification programs in CISCO routing and switching, network security, cybersecurity, infrastructure automation, emerging technologies, to mention a few.

Are you producing market-oriented graduates? And do you have any initiative to link the graduates to the industry?

At AIUB, the initiation in to the corporate arena of the graduating class starts with a mandatory minimum of 12 to 14 weeks of internship.  Different grooming sessions on various topics, annual Job Fairs involving many of the leading corporate houses, introduction of certain practical courses in the curriculum, industrial visits, are all worth mentioning.  In fact, the Job Fair 2022 held last 12 November  saw almost 100 companies.

The University also works with different companies to organize campus "roadshows" with the aim of promoting Management Trainee positions in those companies.  It is important to mention that many of the companies are now represented by AIUB alumni during the on-campus hiring programs. There are also an increasing number of alumni running their own businesses and startups.

Given below are some facts and figures about the way AIUB students and alumni have benefitted from the steps mentioned above. 

AIUB Employment status

• Employed: 59% 
• Self employed and family business: 8%
• On higher studies: 9%
• Looking for employment: 26%

AIUB's Office of Placement and Alumni or OPA carries out regular Tracer Studies of its alumni. These numbers are based on those findings.

Caption: A panoramic view of the AIUB campus. Photo: Courtesy

As a leading University of the country, AIUB has an alumni strength of 32K+. Many of them are in responsible positions in leading companies of the country and they now play an important/vital role in working closely with their alma mater for providing ease of access to the fresh graduates in their employment-hunting journey. This "passing on the baton" is indeed facilitating the good employment results that we have.

Why choose AIUB?

Since its inception, AIUB has been committed to provide, maintain, and enhance an educational environment that is conducive to learning, not only for those who come to learn but also for those who impart it.  

Prioritising sustainability even on the campus premise, the open architecture, uniquely-designed layouts, and ample 'green' spaces make AIUB not just one of the most photographed university campuses in the country, but also enables energy-utilization, minimizing carbon emissions, and naturally breaks free from the 'concrete jungle'.

For over a decade, we have been committed to provide students with an enriching undergraduate and graduate experience, with the right combination of all the essential components required for attaining excellence in learning. 

All our infrastructural and research facilities, along with the support of competent and compassionate faculty, make AIUB a truly dynamic learning environment, where tomorrow's leaders are created. If you are looking for a state-of-the-art academic program and a faculty that is second to none, aiming to acquire an educational experience that will propel you towards the future, then AIUB is where you want to be. 

What is the future plan of the university?

We have a 10-year strategic goal which focuses on:

Academic Leadership: AIUB is committed to provide a quality undergraduate and graduate education that offers a global perspective and is characterized by outstanding teaching, high-quality scholarship, and distinctive curricular and co-curricular programmes.

Sustainable development: AIUB is committed to enrich our learning and work environment by providing an accepting, inclusive community that attracts and supports a diverse faculty, staff and student body.

Internationalisation: This allows AIUB students to grow as global responsible citizens, which promotes collaboration in research to find answers to most pressing challenges at global level. AIUB is committed to expand transformational education experiences through community service, societal engagement, global outreach and innovative study-abroad opportunities.

Digitalisation: AIUB is committed to harness the potential of digital technologies to improve the quality of higher education and to increase access to knowledge and education for all.

Innovation and Research: AIUB is committed to leverage the University's unique, emerging strengths to create a strong culture and opportunities for cross-disciplinary research, scholarship, innovation and creative activities that have economic and societal impact, and which contribute to the University's teaching and service mission. 

Do you think that education migration can be reduced by the existing education system at private universities?

Yes, it is possible to reduce migration and mobility through the existing education systems at private universities, particularly in AIUB. We provide OBE based curriculum, which is accepted globally, and credits earned are accepted by the major HEIs across the globe. 

AIUB offers diverse disciplines. All the academic activities are conducted in English, resulting in a drastic change in skills in speaking and writing English. AIUB students can attend different summer programs abroad to have better exposure.  

Also, some HEIs in Bangladesh enroll foreign students at an increasing rate, resulting in creating diversity. The university is focusing on QA, accreditation by global systems and ranking for their own survival and progress.  

Through collaborations, AIUB offers online classes by foreign teachers on the local campus, student and faculty exchange program, and other arrangements of teaching-learning and certifications, which again creates a bridge between global standards and local universities' offerings.