THE HISTORY OF OGTECH
OGTech has developed from many years of strong ties between German professors and the Omani government. In 1995 Professor Michael Jansen, archeologist and architect at RWTH Aachen University, was asked to plan and establish an archaelogical park in the old frankincense port of Al Balid in Salalah (Dhofar region). Before this, Jansen had collected some experience at historical sites in Pakistan and in Julfar (UAE). In a Five-Year-Plan, Prof. Jansen and other experts from Germany, Oman and other countries participated in the Al Balid project. In addition to the Al Balid project, a memorandum of Understanding was signed in 2000 between Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, RWTH Aachen University and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). In this context, Prof. Jansen established an architectural study programme at Sultan Qaboos University. In 2005, an agreement between the Ministry of Higher Education and DAAD was signed to send Omani students to Germany for studies. Some months later, in October 2005, the first batch of five Omani students arrived in the German city of Dresden.
 

One year later, in December 2006 the Oman-German University of Technology (OGTech) was founded. During a ceremony at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Muscat, Prof. Burkhard Rauhut, Rector of RWTH Aachen University, and Abdullah Al Salmi, Managing Director of Oman Educational Services (OES), signed the agreement to establish the Oman-German University of Technology in Muscat, under the auspices of Her Excellency Dr Rawyah bint Saud Al Busaidiyah, Minister of Higher Education of the Sultanate of Oman. The first German University in the Gulf was born. In October 2007, the first batch of 60 students started their Foundation Study Programme at the new campus in North Al Gubrah.