Architecturally Arresting 32,000 Square Foot Facility Will Serve as Region’s Most Advanced Center For Scientific and Technological Research, Education and Scholarship
Kabul, Afghanistan—March 15, 2018—The Bayat Foundation (bayatfoundation.org), Afghanistan’s largest, private philanthropic Health, Education and Social Development organization, announced today that the Foundation has completed the construction of The Bayat Institute of Technology (BIT), a new, 32,000 square foot Science and Technology Teaching and Research Center, located at The American University of Afghanistan (AUAF).
The Bayat Institute of Technology is located at the heart of AUAF’s flagship campus in Kabul City. The mission of The Bayat Institute of Technology is to enable members of the AUAF community to undertake rigorous teaching and research which increases Afghanistan’s collective engineering, scientific and technical knowledge, while also providing strong support for Afghan led scientific and technological innovation and entrepreneurship.
In addition to underwriting the construction of The Bayat Institute of Technology, The Bayat Foundation has established a ten-year, $1,000,000 endowment fund which will be used to defray the building’s operational costs.
When The Bayat Institute of Technology officially opens to the AUAF community in Spring 2018, AUAF’s students and faculty will have access to BIT’s seven new laboratories, including three Media and Technology Labs, an IT Lab as well as new Chemistry, Physics and Biology Laboratories. AUAF students will learn about the latest developments in Science and Technology within BIT’s six new lecture halls. In addition to these state of the art teaching and research facilities, The Bayat Institute of Technology will provide AUAF Faculty and Students with additional services and amenities, including:
- Two Prayer Halls
- 22 New Faculty Offices
- Lecture Hall
- Library
- A Rooftop Leisure Center
- Atrium Social Center
The Bayat Institute of Technology’s advanced facilities are contained within the newest and most architecturally distinguished academic building within the region. With its gleaming alabaster colored exterior and its interiors bathed in natural light cascading through the buildings numerous windows, The Bayat Institute of Technology was developed using a portfolio of forward-leaning methods of sustainable design and construction. The building’s centralized Atrium enables the natural circulation of air, and the building’s illumination is provided with a combination of LED lighting and natural light. Repurposed marble, together with gypsum, aluminum and porcelain were incorporated within the building’s earthquake resistant structure.
“The Bayat Institute of Technology at AUAF is among the most architecturally distinguished and structurally sound academic buildings developed by—and built by—Afghans,” said Mr. Hamid Rahin, the Vice President of Infrastructure for The Bayat Group. “The building is a remarkable example of Afghan skill, craftsmanship and determination.”
“The Bayat Institute of Technology at The American University of Afghanistan is a powerful example of the partnership between The Bayat Foundation and AUAF—a partnership that is providing AUAF’s students with an academically rigorous and valuable scientific and technical education,” said Dr. Ehsanollah Bayat, the Co-Founder and Chairman of The Bayat Foundation.
“And it is together, in the spirit of enduring and unbreakable partnership, that The Bayat Foundation and AUAF will help educate a new generation of Afghan leaders,” Dr. Bayat said. “We are committed to provide opportunities for learning to all Afghans living everywhere throughout our nation.”