Khalifa University of Science and Technology can trace its origins back to 1989, when Etisalat University College was established by the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation, the UAE’s telecommunications and phone provider, in Sharjah, UAE, to develop a pipeline of human capital in the fields of engineering and applied sciences.

Eleven years later, the Petroleum Institute was established as a leading international educational and research center for the oil and gas industry. Funded by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its international partners, the Petroleum Institute graduated its first group of engineers in summer 2006 and witnessed the enrolment of the first female students in the fall of the same year.

In 2007, Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR) was established by Presidential decree to offer a broader range of engineering programs to the nation’s budding engineers. The same year, Etisalat University College was acquired by KUSTAR. Also in 2007, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology was established by Presidential decree, as the region’s first research-intensive, graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies.

In 2017, UAE President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, issued a decree to merge KUSTAR, Masdar Institute and Petroleum Institute under one university called the Khalifa University of Science and Technology. 

Khalifa University is now a comprehensive research-intensive university with three colleges, three research institutes, 18 research centers, and 17 departments covering a broad range of disciplines in science, engineering, and medicine. It will continue to evolve with the UAE’s rapidly developing national goals and needs and nurture the innovation ecosystem required for the country’s targeted knowledge economy transformation.

• 1989 – Etisalat University College Established.
• 2000 – Petroleum Institute Established.
• 2007 – Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR) and Masdar Institute of Science and Technology Established.
• 2017 – KUSTAR, Petroleum Institute and Masdar Institute merge into one university.