German University of Technology in Oman, Institutional Standards Assessment, Mar 2019
 
Dr. Achim Hopbach
 
Dr Achim Hopbach has over 25 years of experience in higher education, having served as research assistant, in university administration, higher education policy, and quality assurance. He recently set up his own consultancy business after having retired from leading the quality assurance agencies in Austria and Germany for 15 years. Dr Hopbach has extensive experience in the development and implementation of quality assurance legislation, systems and processes in Europe, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. He has served and serves as panel member and chair of evaluation panels for national audit and evaluation of quality assurance agencies in Germany, Austria, Italy, Ireland, Malta, Oman, Indonesia, Malaysia, Haiti and East-African countries. His consultancy activities focus on the areas of cross-border higher education and branch campuses, design of quality assurance systems and setting up higher education institutions. He held and holds various positions in quality assurance agencies and associations, such as President of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) from 2009 to 2013; member of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) from 2005 to 2013; member of the University Quality International Board (UQAIB), Dubai, since 2015, and on international advisory board of various agencies. He has published numerous articles on the Bologna Process, quality assurance and qualifications frameworks.Dr Hopbach holds a PhD in History (University of Tuebingen, Germany) and a Master in History, Political Science and Law (University of Heidelberg, Germany). 

 
Prof. Hilary Winchester
 
Professor Hilary Winchester was trained at the University of Oxford, UK, and since 1987 has worked in the Australian Higher Education system.  From 2012-2016 she was Provost and Vice-President at Central Queensland University and has been awarded the title of Emeritus Professor from that University and from the University of South Australia, where she was Vice-President: Strategy and Planning until 2010.  She has previously held roles as Vice-President (Academic) at Flinders University and as Chair of the Academic Board at the University of Newcastle (Australia).    She has considerable experience in academic quality assurance,and is a member of the TEQSA Register of Experts (Australia)..  She has chaired numerous audits and has worked with both universities and  private providers. She has significant international quality assurance and audit experience, having participated in university audits and accreditation visits in the Kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as well as in Hong Kong.  In 2010, she participated in an EU-funded project developing discipline standards as part of a project in Upgrading the Higher Education Sector in Syria.   Professor Winchester is Director and Principal of Hilary Winchester Pty Ltd, which is a consultancy company specialising in Higher Education Quality Assurance.  Currently her work consists mainly of training workshops, reviews of corporate and academic governance, compliance audits and preparation for accreditation visits.  She is the recipient of the Australian Higher Education Quality Award for 2011. 


 
Prof Pedro Saravia
 
Dr Pedro has a Diploma from the University of Coimbra, Portugal (1987) and PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT, USA (1993).  He has been Assistant (1993-2001), Associate (2001-2010) and Full (2010-) Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Coimbra; a Member of the Portuguese National Parliament (2009-2012 and 2012-2015); Pro-Rector of the University of Coimbra (2003-2004 and 2005-2006); Vice-Rector of the University of Coimbra (2007-2009) in charge of Quality, Innovation, Entrepreneurhsip and Technology Transfer; Currently he is the Dean of NOVA Information Management School of the NOVA University of Lisbon (2018); Advisor of the President of Portugal for Higher Education (2006-2009).He was the first recipient of the Feigenbaum Award (1998) by American Society for Quality and was an Associate (2010-2015) and then Full Member (2015-) of the International Academy for Quality (IAQ) where he is also the Chair of the Think Tank for Quality in Education (2016-). Vice-President of the Portuguese Association for Quality (APQ), the European Organization for Quality (EOQ) and IAQ. Dr Pedro conducts research activities in the fields of Process Systems Engineering, Data Analysis, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Quality Management, with several books and papers published.  He has also been collaborating with OECD and the European Commission in the development and application of a self-assessment platform for evaluating the innovation and entrepreneurial environments and initiatives carried out by Higher Education Institutions (HEInnovate), as well as with OECD in the country reviews it is conducting on how entrepreneurial are higher education systems and their institutions.  He has participated in several projects regarding Quality Management, Excellence Models, Quality in Education and Quality in Higher Education, both in Portugal and abroad (e.g. Poland, United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia). 
 
Dr Rahul Arora
 
Dr Rahul Arora is Dean of Oman Dental College in Muscat and was appointed in 2006 when the College was formed.  He came to the Sultanate of Oman in 1994 and also works as a dentist with a special interest in Endodontics on a part-time basis. Dr Arora graduated with a BDS degree from The Royal London Hospital, University of London and gained his LDS from the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He subsequently completed an MSc degree in Endodontics as the first indigenous student to graduate from the pioneering programme at the Institute of Dental Surgery, Eastman Dental Hospital, University of London.  Following this he joined a referral practice in Harley Street, London whilst continuing as a research assistant at the Institute of Dental Surgery.  Dr Arora was awarded the MFGDP and subsequently the FFGDP from the Royal College of Surgeons of England and .   is a Founder Fellow of the College of General Dentistry, UK. He is registered with the UK General Dental Council as a Specialist in Endodontics. Dr Arora was Chairman of the British Dental Association Metropolitan Branch Study Circle and lectured as an invited speaker for the British Postgraduate Medical and Dental Federation.  He is a past member of the international faculty at the joint faculties of Manipal & Bapuji Medical and Dental Schools in India where he is was involved with endodontic teaching to postgraduates preparing for the UK General Dental Council International Qualifying Examination. Dr Arora has been invited to speak and conduct hands-on courses in endodontics in the UK, India and the Sultanate of Oman and is actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate dental education and continuing professional development.  He has authored endodontic articles, presented papers and held workshops at several international conferences. Dr Arora currently has served for a number of years as a board member of the American British Academy school in Muscat, an IB World School, where he was also involved with quality assurance and accreditation.
 
Prof. Sam Wamuziri
 
Professor Sam Wamuziri is Professor of Civil Engineering and Dean for the College of Engineering at A’Sharqiyah University. Professor Wamuziri joined A’Sharqiyah University in September 2014 and prior to this, he served as Professor of Project Management and Strategic Development; and Head of Centre for Management Research at Wrexham Glyndwr University in the United Kingdom. Professor Wamuziri is a British Citizen and has 35 years’ experience in teaching, research and practice in Civil Engineering and Construction Management. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Manchester. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Fellow of the American Society of Engineers, Fellow of the Association for Project Management, and Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.  He is chartered civil engineer and in addition, he holds an MBA with Distinction from the University of Edinburgh obtained in 1999. Professor Wamuziri has supervised 16 PhD research students to successful completion. He has authored or co-authored over 90 research papers published in high quality international journals and conference proceedings. He was Chairman of the Editorial Board and Honorary Editor of an International Journal; Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Management, Procurement and Law from 2011 to 2017. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of four International journals. Professor Wamuziri has wide international experience of quality management systems and processes in Higher Education. He served as Academic Advisor to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2013.