His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Supreme Council Member, Ruler of Sharjah and President of American University of Sharjah (AUS) met in his office at AUS today, November 2, with Patrick Decker, President of Tyco Flow Control and the delegation accompanying him.

During the gathering, His Highness briefed his guests about the history of Sharjah and his vision behind building the University City of Sharjah in general and AUS in particular. He also stressed the importance of providing various types of educational institutions beside schools to better train and qualify the young generation.

Sheikh Dr. Sultan then enlightened his guests about other projects he was involved in from saving the Arabian leopard to restoring endangered plants. Furthermore, he briefed them about the Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qassimi Center for Gulf Studies in University City, which also houses maps from his personal collection.

The meeting was attended by Hamid Jafar, Member of the AUS Board of Trustees, Chairman and CEO of Crescent Petroleum Company in Sharjah; Dr. Peter Heath, AUS Chancellor; Salem Al-Qaseer, Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs; Dr. Moza Al Shehhi, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs; Dr. Nada Mourtada-Sabbah, Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Affairs and Dr. Cleve McDaniel, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration. Also present at the meeting were Faizal Kottikollon, founder and CEO of UAE-based KEF Holdings and other members of the Tyco Board of Directors.

The meeting was a followed by an engaging panel discussion entitled "Succeed in a multinational, multicultural, multigenerational organization" as part of the prestigious Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Series.

After being introduced by Dr. Heath, Decker began his energetic discussion with a large audience comprising students, faculty members, senior university officials as well as industry and corporate leaders.

When a company grows at the rate we are growing, we need to establish a sustainable base here and need to be the employer of choice for the new generation. Our vision is to become the undisputed leader in the market we serve," said Decker. "We need to draw on new generations such as yourselves to help us be global, yet local," he added whilst also commending KEF Holdings for its involvement with the local community.

As President of Tyco Flow Control, Decker manages the world's largest manufacturer of flow control products and heat-tracing solutions for industrial, residential and commercial customers in the oil and gas, power, food and beverage, chemical, water, and other process industries. The company has more than 15,000 employees in over 300 locations around the world. Prior to his current assignment, Decker was Chief Financial Officer of Tyco Engineered Products and Services.

Organized by the AUS Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, the panel also included Bruce S. Gordon, Rajiv L. Gupta, R. David Yost, and Dinesh Paliwal, members of Tyco's Board of Directors, along with Faizal Kottikollon, founder and CEO of UAE-based KEF Holdings, which is an integrated valve manufacturer and provider of steel castings to oil and gas, chemical, mining and power industries. Tyco International recently acquired a 75 percent stake in the company.

The panel discussion, which was moderated by Dr. Nicholas Jeremy Ashill, Professor of Marketing at AUS, concluded with a lively question and answer session involving faculty members, students, alumni and other members of the audience.