Continuing UTAS-Ibri’s mission to engage with the local community, the CPS Management embraced the initiative to provide a Basic English Crash Course for continuing students. The course ran from September 3 to September 7, 2023. The week-long course reintroduced the most basic concepts in English and provided ample time for the students to practice. Five participants, all from Level 3, attended the course. The course gave these students the chance to reset to English and academic mode without the pressure of a formal classroom.
The participants practiced common phrases, basic numbers, free-time activities, daily routines, and places around town. The course provided a rare opportunity for teachers and students to meet in a no-stress atmosphere. Many thanks to the instructors, Mr. Abdullah Al Balushi, Mr. Muhammad Aslam, Mr. Muhammad Amir Abbass, Mr. Tatha Rao Mukiri, Mr. Jabez Syam, and Mr. Humaid Rashid Al Mamari
The Centre for Preparatory Studies (CPS) of UTAS-Ibri hosted a series of transformative IELTS courses for IELTS test-takers and the general community in Ibri in August 2023. The classes were aimed at empowering students and professionals with the skills and confidence needed to conquer this essential test. To attend to the specific IELTS needs of the students who were taking the IELTS test on the 25 of August, the in-person classes were from August 21 to August 24, while the online classes were held on the 23 and 24 of August, respectively. The online classes held from August 27 to August 31 catered to students aspiring to study abroad and professionals aiming to enhance their career prospects.
A needs analysis was done to find out the specific needs of the IELTS students before the start of the classes. This approach allowed participants to focus on areas where they needed improvement, be it in reading, writing, speaking, or listening skills. This also enabled teachers to prepare suitable IELTS exercises and make the session interactive and engaging.
The course had experienced instructors with a good understanding of the IELTS exam format and assessment criteria. They brought a wealth of knowledge to the classroom, ensuring that participants received high-quality instruction. We thank Mr Dennis Corbita, Mr Michael Cassidy, Mr T.Rao, Ms Zumrut Cassidy, Ms Adeebah Al Sawafi, Mr Jabez Konatham, Ms Heba Qureshi, and Dr Mohsin Amiri for their hard work.
We are thankful to the CPS Management Team, Dr Abdusalam Al Manthari, Dr Maryam Al Ghafri and Dr Sultan Al Ghafri for their guidance and encouragement to the Community Engagement Committee and all the teachers who volunteered to take the free IELTS classes.
There were more than 80 students who attended both the in-person and online sessions and let us know through their feedback that they wanted more such sessions. This is a testament to UTASIbri's commitment to nurturing its students and helping them achieve their aspirations
Continuing UTAS-Ibri’s mission to engage with the local community, the ELC Management embraced the initiative to provide a Turkish Culture and Language course in June 2023. The week-long course introduced Turkish culture in terms of well-known places, traditional drinks and food and taught some basic language. Seventeen participants attended the course with professions ranging from students, teachers, architects, and business people. The popularity of the course stemmed from the students’ enthusiasm for Turkey and its culture acquired from frequent visits to the country.
The participants practiced common daily phrases, basic numbers, and the names of popular food and drink through highly interactive activities led by Ms Zumrut and Mr. Michael Cassidy. It was a fantastic experience for both the teachers and the students. Many of the students picked up the language quickly. Their passion for learning made the lessons more fun, fruitful and productive.
One of UTAS-Ibri’s missions and goals is to serve the community. The ELC management of the University decided to provide an English Proficiency Course for Entrepreneurs. This course was advertised on Social Media platforms. This course is designed for entrepreneurs who need to communicate effectively in English and improve their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in entrepreneurial contexts. Twenty-five candidates appeared for the course and they were inducted by Dr. Maryam Al-Ghafri. The placement test was conducted via online mode and students were also provided with reading transcripts for the reading part. Ms. Heba Qureshi and Ms. Adeebah Al-Sawafi invigilated the placement test. The results were later on shared with the teachers by Dr. Maryam, and as per the result all learners were placed in the beginner level. The teachers who taught the course were Ms. Heba Qureshi, Ms. Samyia Al Ghafri and Mr. Humaid Al Mamari.
The material was created and compiled based on students’ needs. The course ran from June 11 to June 22, 2023) The classes were packed with highly interactive student-centred activities focused on Grammar, Reading, Writing, and Speaking.
Unquestionably, the English Proficiency Course for Entrepreneurs was a great success as there was evidence of enjoyment and cheerfulness on the faces of the students and the fact that they were asking for an extension for the course.
The Research and Consultancy Committee of the IT Department organized an enlightening workshop titled "Introduction to R Programming" on May 18th. Aimed at providing IT professionals with a comprehensive understanding of R programming and its applications in data analysis, the workshop was well-received by participants seeking to enhance their skills in this crucial field. Dr. Dilwar, a respected lecturer from the IT department, delivered an engaging session, sharing his expertise and insights with the attendees.
R programming is a powerful language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. With its widespread usage in data analysis, visualization, and machine learning, R has become a must-know skill for professionals in the IT industry. Recognizing this, the Research and Consultancy Committee organized the workshop to cater to the growing demand for R programming knowledge and proficiency.
Dr. Dilwar, a highly regarded expert in the field of IT and Mathematics, led the workshop, guiding participants through the fundamental concepts of R programming. His extensive knowledge and practical experience allowed him to deliver a session that combined theoretical understanding with hands-on exercises, ensuring participants gained a holistic understanding of the subject matter.
The workshop commenced with an overview of R programming, introducing participants to the language's syntax, data structures, and its unique capabilities for statistical analysis. Dr. Dilwar emphasized the importance of R's rich collection of libraries and packages, which enable professionals to perform complex data manipulations, visualization, and modeling tasks efficiently.
Throughout the session, participants had the opportunity to engage in interactive discussions and practical exercises that reinforced their learning. Dr. Dilwar provided real-world examples and case studies, allowing participants to apply their newly acquired knowledge in solving data analysis challenges. Attendees were particularly enthusiastic about the hands-on exercises, which helped solidify their understanding of R programming concepts and techniques.
Participants shared their positive feedback about the workshop, expressing gratitude for the opportunity to learn from Dr. Dilwar and expand their skill set. The feedback score collected from the participants was 4 out 5.
The Staff Development Committee of the Engineering Department organized a seminar program on “Simulation and Analysis using ANSYS” on 15th June 2023 Thursday from 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM in AutoCAD Lab (B117). The program was delivered by Dr.Sivananth Varatharajan, Lecturer / Mechanical Engineering.
He started his presentation with a brief introduction of an element of heat transfer, then explained the conventional practices to calculate steady-state heat transfer using analytical and numerical calculations. He explained the usage of the ANSYS workbench for transient heat analysis. He also explained the step-by-step approach of using the transient analysis module compared with some simple composite wall problems of heat transfer which was carried out in the heat transfer laboratory experiment. At last, he explained the final result comparison of the Simulation software for various applications. It was a useful guide to the college tutor and the student of the Engineering department to get benefitted from the ANSYS products. Totally 20 staff were participated this program.
The Research and Course Project Committee of the Information Technology Department organised a seminar on “Machine Learning using Python” in collaboration with ACM Student’s Chapter UTAS Ibri. It was held on 6 June 2023 at 12 pm and was delivered by Mr. Mangesh Wanjari, Lecturer, College of Computing and Information Sciences, UTAS Ibri.
The speaker started the presentation with introduction to Machine Learning and went on to cover different types of machine learning. He introduced the complete machine learning project life cycle and then conducted hands on experience on different datasets using Python. The linear and multiple regression model, KNN Classification models were demonstrated using Python and general awareness on how to use different packages for any statistical model was given. Then the speaker explained how to evaluate the results using different metrics. The webinar lasted about 45 minutes and attended by ten faculty members.
The Staff Development Committee of the Engineering department organized a seminar program on “An Overview of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines for Standalone Power Systems” on 8th June 2023 from 1.30 PM to 2.30 PM. Dr. G. Kumaravel, Lecturer, Engineering department was delivered the presentation.
He started his presentation with a simulation circuit which reveals the basic concepts and history behind the wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS). He detailed about the different parameters associated with the wind turbines for their design and commission. He briefed about the metrological stations topography in Sultanate of Oman and their nature of work. Also he gave the introduction about Dhofar wind power plant with its special features, then he explained the blade design and different control mechanism behind the horizontal axis wind turbines, neatly with sample videos. Finally, he concluded the session with the case studies which are relevant to the recent trends in this field. The session was interactive and staff members participated in the program with much enthusiasm.
The IT Society of University of Technology and Applied Sciences-Ibri conducted a webinar on ‘Software Testing’ in 15th May, 2023. The speaker was Dr. Mastan Vali Shaik, IT Lecturer and the target audience were the community and software engineering and course project students.
Software testing is a process of evaluating and verifying that a software application does, what it is supposed to do. The objective of this session is to give practical idea on Software Testing using JUnit and Selenium. The session enlightened the importance of testing, testing techniques, testing types and using testing tools in software development life cycle. Apart from theoretical concepts, practical examples using Selenium IDE and JUnit are demonstrated. Especially for course project students, this session was more helpful. The session started at 10.30AM and ended at 11.30AM. A total of 15 participants are benefitted from this session. The IT Department thank and appreciate Dr. Mastan Vali Shaik for his efforts and valuable talk. Towards the end of the presentation, a feedback was collected from all participants. The session gained a feedback score of 4.7 from a scale of 1-5 where 5 is the highest.
The IT Society of University of Technology and Applied Sciences enhanced its IT program that suits to the demands of the current market needs. Through its IT Society, for community development for the benefit of students, staff and alumni, Dr. Rajasekaran.S, an IT Lecturer conducted a webinar on ‘Data Handling & Visualization using Python’ on 9th May, 2023.
With the development in software engineering and programming, Python was opted by many software developers The objective of this session is to give comprehensive information on Data Pre-Processing and Data Visualization Techniques using Python programming. The session started with basics of Python and covered Visualization using matplotlib. The session enhanced participant’s knowledge and enlightened the importance of Data Visualization. This session comprises of both theoretical and practical examples with simple case studies. The session started at 12.30PM and ended at 2.00PM. A total of 15 participants are benefitted from this session. The IT Department thank and appreciate Dr. Rajasekaran.S for his efforts and valuable talk. Towards the end of the presentation, a feedback was collected from all participants. The session gained a feedback score of 4.62 from a scale of 1-5 where 5 is the highest.
