The Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences (FNHS) at Notre Dame University- Louaize (NDU) signed on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, in the President’s Office, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Industrial Research Institute (IRI).
In attendance were NDU’s Vice-President for Academic Affairs Dr. Elie Badr, Vice-President for Public Affairs and Communications Suheil Matar, FNHS Dean Dr. Antoine Farhat, FNHS Chairperson Dr. Jessy el-Hayek, IRI team and IRI Director-General BassamEl-Frenn.
NDU President Fr. Walid Moussa welcomed the attendees, and then El-Frenn highlighted the importance of building bridges between academic institutions and the labor market. He noted that market competition should be based on high quality education, as opposed to the standards currently accepted by the Lebanese market and the consumer.
For his part, the business advisor, Ramzi Bhamdouni summarized the aim of the MoU, which is to create synergy with NDU and to promote economic development to serve small- and medium-sized industries in agro-food manufacturing.
Bhamdouni added that the IRI is setting up an extensive "Food Advisory Unit" whose role is to advise, guide, and eventually implement food development projects for food companies and industrial clusters in Lebanon. NDU and the IRI share a common vision, regarding the importance of the development of the agro-food sector in Lebanon, as a positive factor for balanced regional growth.
NDU will serve as an academic platform and will provide the IRI with the labs, the expertise, and the resources, not only in the FNHS but also in all Faculties.
For his part, Fr. Moussa commended the initiative and its importance, saying, “The main role of the University, through the different majors it offers, is to motivate students to assume social and moral responsibility (…) with moral responsibility being our priority.”
Following the speeches, Fr. Moussa, on behalf of NDU, and El-Frenn, on behalf of the IRI, signed the MoU.