AUS establishes UPE honor society’s first chapter in the Middle East

A chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE), an international honor society for the computing and information disciplines, was launched yesterday, November 14, at a special event held at American University of Sharjah (AUS), making the university the first educational institution in the Middle East to host a UPE chapter.

The prestigious honor society, which has more than 270 chapters in the US as well as a few outside the US, was first established at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, in 1967 and is endorsed by The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS), two of the largest computer organizations in the world.

Commenting on the establishment of the chapter and the importance of UPE, Dr. Fadi Aloul, Professor and Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at AUS, said:

“The Department of Computer Science and Engineering is very pleased to be launching UPE’s first Middle East chapter here at AUS. The establishment of the UPE chapter bolsters the university’s enhanced focus on research and innovation. UPE has a distinguished history and acts as an important bridge between academia and professional and industrial organizations in the field of computer science and engineering. We are delighted to welcome UPE officials who have flown in from San Francisco to be with us today.”

The honor society plays a vital role in recognizing and encouraging the academic excellence of students in computing and information disciplines. Apart from presenting a host of networking opportunities to its members, the society also presents scholarship awards to active members and student members of the ACM and IEEE-CS. It also provides a range of scholarships on behalf of its industry supporters. It is also renowned for its Abacus Award, the society’s most prestigious award given to an individual who, over several years, has provided extensive support and leadership to student-related activities in the computing and information disciplines.

Students at the UPE chapter at AUS will form an executive council after being elected to their respective positions in the council and will formulate a schedule to conduct various related activities throughout the year. Undergraduate students who have completed at least 45 semester hours, including 15 semester hours in basic course in computer science and engineering, and have a GPA of at least 3.0 (with a GPA of at least 3.3 in all COE/CMP courses) can apply to be inducted into the honor society. Graduate students who have completed at least 18 semester hours and possess at least 3.6 GPA can also apply to become members.

The launch event was attended by Dr. Orlando Madrigal, Executive Director, UPE; along with several other UPE members; four faculty members and 28 newly appointed UPE students from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.