Professor Ammar Kaka graduated with an Honours degree in Civil Engineering and a PhD in Construction Management. On completion of his PhD, he joined the University of Liverpool as a faculty member and in 2000, joined Heriot-Watt University as a Professor of Construction Economics and Management. During the years he spent at the Edinburgh campus, he assumed a number of roles including leader of the Construction Management research group and Director of Learning & Teaching.
In 2010 he joined the Heriot-Watt University Dubai campus as the Provost and Vice Principal. Professor Kaka’s contribution to transnational education in general and to Dubai’s education landscape in particular has been immense. With a student population of 4000 and a growing research culture, the Dubai campus is recognised as one of the UK’s leading providers of transnational education.
Professor Kaka has an international reputation for research on the assessment, planning and control of construction projects. Author of more than a hundred research papers, he has held numerous funded research grants with impact demonstrated by the extent of citation and direct industrial application. He is a fellow of RICS, the Conseil International du Bâtimen Lead for the Middle East and North Africa and a member of the editorial boards of a number of international academic journals. He has supervised more than 30 PhD students to completion, many of whom have developed into senior roles in governments, industry, and academia.