GUtech welcomes new students via virtual orientation sessions

GUtech campus is typically abuzz this time of the year, but new students are experiencing the university life differently this time. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the department of Student Affairs has re-created the orientation experience virtually via MS TEAMS for the academic year 2020/202 to provide proper induction and ensure a smooth academic journey at the college. The virtual orientation programme had included virtual components showcasing the different services the University provides, allowing over 370 online participants to get acquainted with the services available on campus.

After welcoming the participants to the virtual orientation sessions, GUtech Acting Rector, Dr Hussain Al Salmi, provided a recap on the precautionary measures the University is observing for the health and safety of students and staff and highlighted the availability of all necessary information on the University website, social media platforms, besides the introductory email sent earlier to all students explaining the plans devised by the University to navigate the current situation.

Head of Student Affairs department, Nawal Jawad led the virtual orientation by providing an overview of the services offered by the different departments. “We want to make sure that every student knows we are here for them.” Jawad assured participants. Students got then the opportunity to an extended questions and answers session addressing all their concerns.

Addressing the concerns of new students over the teaching formats, Al Salmi explained: “in September we are required to conduct teaching online only. Starting from October, three teaching formats will be applied from face-to-face, and virtual teaching to online classes which don’t require real-time session meetings.” “Exams will be conducted both online and on campus.” He added.

The virtual orientation allowed participants who are enrolled to embark on the foundation programme to learn about its structure and its different levels and to pose a range of questions, from changing the programme of study, academic advising, student advisory council, and student clubs, to accommodation and eateries options on campus.

 

OES and Eduten Collaborate to Bring AI-Supported Gamification Mathematics to Oman

Oman Educational Services signs exclusivity agreement with Eduten to bring Finland’s no 1 AI-supported mathematics digital learning platform to Oman

Oman Education Services (OES, LLC) has signed an exclusivity agreement with Eduten, a Finnish company with more than 15 years of proven expertise in gamification-based mathematics learning, to bring Eduten Playground into the Finland Oman School (FOS), the GUbridge Foundation Programme of the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) and beyond.

The virtual signing ceremony took place yesterday, Wednesday 9 September, between Dr Hussain Al Salmi, the Chief Executive Officer of OES, and Henri Muurimaa, the Chief Executive Officer of Eduten joining from Turku, Finland; along with the virtual presence of Makke Leppänen, Eduten’s Head of Partnership joining from Helsinki, Ahmed Al Salmi, OES General Manager, and Terhi Merenski, FOS principal.

Eduten, a spin-off of the globally ranked top 1% University of Turku, is behind Eduten Playground for primary and secondary students. Eduten Playground is supported by artificial intelligence and offers a library of more than 200,000 high-quality pedagogical online mathematics practice tasks for students aged 6-15 years.

Commenting on the exclusivity agreement with Eduten, OES CEO, Al Salmi said: “Recognising the significant role of the digital education in boosting pupils’ learning and believing in the importance of equipping our students with the Fourth Industrial Revolution skills, our agreement with Eduten goes hand in hand with our vision to providing quality education to the people of Oman and to empowering our students, in FOS and GUtech, to learn mathematics through Eduten Playground, Finland’s no 1 motivational digital learning platform that encourages autonomous learning.” “Math performance in Oman has been a challenge and we believe that Eduten Playground, when deployed properly, can improve Omani students’ Math results.” He added.

The platform complements FOS approach of pedagogical differentiation and offers teachers opportunities for setting up highly individual learning pathways for students and generating detailed learning analytics for each student.
From his side, Eduten CEO, Henri Muurimaa, stated: “With this venture, Oman will be joining the growing list of countries benefiting from the extensive research and proven effectiveness in digital mathematics learning while simultaneously helping us to achieve our ultimate mission of offering students worldwide the opportunity to reach their academic potential.” “OES is a perfect partner for us and together with OES we are ready to expand in Oman for modernising the teaching methods and for transforming the learning journey for higher results among FOS students and many other schools in Oman.” He concluded.

Capitalising on the expertise of Eduten and leveraging FOS growing reputation, the agreement appoints OES as the exclusive distributor in Oman and paves the ground for undertaking research that will expand the digital platform to address other regional needs in Arabic and Arabic related subjects.

Oman Educational Services (OES) is a 100% Omani-owned limited liability company, established in 2006. In the past 14 years, OES has ventured into different projects with a core interest in education – The German University of Technology (GUtech) in 2007, History of Science Centre in 2017, and Finland Oman School in 2018 – allowing OES to be established as a leading educational ecosystem in Oman.

Eduten Ltd is a spin-off from University of Turku that provides Finland’s most popular digital learning platform Eduten Playground to educational institutions around the world. Eduten Playground has proved its worth as a scientifically validated mathematics platform since 2011 by more than 450,000 users in Finland 40+ other countries, including Hong Kong, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, United Arab Emirates, various countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and now Oman.

GUtech and PhazeRo bring in real-world artificial intelligence skills into the classroom and beyond

The German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) signed on Tuesday 8 September a cooperation agreement with PhazeRo at GUtech campus to offer artificial intelligence, AI, courses to equip GUtech students with much needed AI skills and to bridge the gap between AI theory and real-world AI applications through project-based learning with real industry challenges.

Dr Hussain Al Salmi, GUtech’s Acting Rector, and Mr Masood Al Rawahi, PhazeRo Executive Director, signed the agreement, in the presence of Dr Nabil Al Sahli, Dean of the Engineering and Computer Science faculty at GUtech.

PhazeRo is a specialist consultancy and future-oriented technology education group, building the region’s largest engineering team out of local software talent. PhazeRo handles digital consulting, software development, talent onboarding, and continuous improvement for corporate clients so they can get back to focusing on their core business.

Al Salmi announced that the signing of the agreement establishes a solid partnership ground with PhazeRo, as it will contribute to bring in real-world AI applications to the classroom. He added that GUtech spares no effort to provide students with the right practical skills they need to be ready for the job market. “collaborating with PhazeRo to infuse our curriculum with hands-on learning opportunities is an example,” he said, before adding that GUtech always seeks to bring in the industry into the learning process of students.

GUtech is finalising all requirements to launch the Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence programmes, he stated. “It is extremely important to bring in the practical aspects of AI into our Computer Science curriculum and beyond.”

Through the expertise of PhazeRo, GUtech students will get to explore the real-life applications of AI in different sectors. Al Rawahi “We believe that high-performing tech talent is at the heart of a thriving innovation ecosystem. Our mission is to accelerate the development of the next generation of software engineers and data scientists to realise the ambitious goals laid out in Vision 2040. To achieve this, deep integration between industry and academia is necessary. We are excited to co-create a programme, with the GUtech, that infuses our industry experience with a rigorous academic curriculum that is very practical in nature.”

In the pilot stage, PhazeRo will deliver introductory AI courses to third year Computer Science students in September 2020. Al Sahli explained that “With the AI boom, it was necessary for GUtech to find an industrial partner who can support our vision in forming local AI experts.”

He continued: “PhazeRo is a young and very promising Omani company which we think can connect GUtech to the AI market and support us in improving our academic programmes by offering the opportunity to our students to practice AI concepts in real-world applications. We will start this partnership as soon as this month with a course that PhazeRo will offer to our third year CS students. This course will focus on machine learning and will give students the opportunity to plan and execute real machine learning projects to solve real-world problems.”

The collaboration with PhazeRo will also benefit students who will be joining the recently approved GUtech’s Bachelor of Artificial Intelligence programme. Upon launching the programme, PhazeRo will be engaged to deliver specialised courses.

The collaboration also aims at extending AI courses and trainings to passionate professionals seeking to upskill their technical knowledge in machine learning and AI applications.

The signing ceremony was held at GUtech campus in the presence of Mr Talal Al Nabulsi, responsible for training at GUtech’s training unit (TSSC), and Ms Reem Al Taei, the Business Development Executive at PhazeRo.

GUtech Commemorates 7th Anniversary of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Visit

The German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) commemorated on Tuesday 24th December the 7th anniversary of the visit of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said to its campus.

The 24th of December marks the private visit of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said to GUtech campus in Halban. The commemoration of the private visit of His Majesty is annually observed by GUtech community. Students and staff remember the day to reflect on the importance of the visit in GUtech’s history and on the vision of His Majesty the Sultan for Oman’s academic and research development.

In the late afternoon of December 24th, 2012, the founders of GUtech and members of the rectorate welcomed his majesty to GUtech campus and its facilities, few weeks only after its opening.

In visiting GUtech campus and meeting the founders and the rectorate, His Majesty confers upon it an unusual distinction. “We welcome His Majesty’s private visit to GUtech campus as a gracious expression of his trust in our university and a vital catalyser enticing us to work harder and faster for further progress” proudly declares Dr Hussain Al Salmi, Deputy Rector for Administration and Finance.

The significant and ever-lasting contributions His Majesty has made to Oman and to the lives of its people are universally known; not less impressive than the wise introduction of far-reaching reforms which has promoted the development of the education system, and the prosperity of the country in general.

As more as 3000 male and female students enrolled in the university in the last 12 years. More than 400 male and female students graduated from it while there are more than 2200 male and female students are currently pursuing their studies.

(c) GUtech/Text: Fatima El Madkouri

GUtech students completed a unique SAP Training and Certification

HALBAN A group of 25 selected GUtech students from different academic departments  were certified in the application of an intelligent business solution, the SAP S/4 HANA recently. The GUtech students passed the internationally recognized exam as SAP Consultant of Associate Level. SAP is a German global leader in digitalization of organizations. The students were trained for the certification during a SAP Bootcamp earlier this year. “I believe that the SAP TS410 certificate will have a substantial role in my career development and I am eager to learn more about SAP,” said Arwa Al Zadjali who is studying Environmental Engineering at GUtech. SAP supports GUtech students in finding their dream jobs within the SAP Ecosystem, thus providing an ecosystem and linking it with the right talents. The goal is that students understand how organizations operate with SAP and how operational processes are digitalized. With its dual study programme, SAP is geared to tackle youth unemployment worldwide. GUtech has been cooperating within the SAP NextGen Chapter, an initiative that was brought to GUtech by Heiderose Moossen, Training Manager of Oman Education Services (OES) in September last year. “We support our graduates in establishing their own companies by nurturing their entrepreneurial mind-set. SAP consultants are trusted advisors for many companies worldwide,” said Heiderose Moossen. According to SAP, 98% of the top 100 most valued brands in the world are SAP customers and approximately 80% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP system. The software helps employees to realize their competencies and skills and to develop necessary additional skills within a digital environment. “That means for GUtech students, having additional SAP skills, their reliability in getting a fixed employment is very high,” said Heiderose Moossen.

“My major ‘Logistics’ requires a deep understanding of the operational processes and related activities under the umbrella of logistics and supply chain management. Since I have learnt about new, smart technology trends in the market with SAP, I feel prepared to experience and know more about what is happening behind the walls of big logistics and supply chain companies worldwide. Moreover, I intend to achieve more certificates and to become an expert in SAP related logistics topics,” said Tahira Al Balushi, student in the BSc Logistics programme at GUtech.

“I have learned how the various units and departments of a company are interconnected in an efficient and streamlined fashion, giving me a comprehensive overview of the entire modern business process. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity offered to me by Mrs. Heiderose and GUtech, and I look forward to exercising my newfound knowledge and skills in the future,” said Michael Smith, who is studying in his final year of the BSc International Business and Service Management at GUtech. In February Michael and his study-colleagues attended a five day boot camp held by an SAP instructor at GUtech. Later on the students had access to a special SAP learning platform for S/4HANA, where more support was offered to them. “We had access to the learning platform for about two months. All of this was made available to us completely free-of-charge. I think great training is as important as great technology. SAP software is designed to deliver transformative business outcomes and to truly realize this potential, explore your options to get fully equipped with the right knowledge and skills,” said Michael. He added that “it was a time and learning intensive experience, but one that I am glad to have invested in. It was extremely fascinating for me to get a kind of introduction into the way international corporations operate on a day to day basis, and to discover what the future of business will look like.” He and his colleagues learned functions that employees need within an organization within a so-called ‘Enterprise Requirements Planning Business Suite’.

(c) GUtech

 

Student Achievement Awards Ceremony held

HALBAN The annual GUtech Achievement Awards were celebrated in the amphitheatre of the university on Monday. Prof. Dr. Ing. Michael Modigell, Rector of GUtech, stressed in his inaugural speech that the awards recognize the achievements of students and at the same time they encourage all students to work hard and to be involved in the university’s activities. The students were awarded in different academic and non-academic categories. In the category ‘the Dean’s List’, awards were given to students with a GPA higher than 3.5 and who were top 10 achievers in their study-programmes last year. The category ‘Best & Brightest’ honored students for their outstanding performance in extra-curricular, academic activities, research and special projects conducted in their 3rd or final year. In the category GU Student Company a total of 23 students were awarded for being involved in establishing the companies Burjass and ENF. In the category ‘Student Academic Clubs’ awards were given to students who participated in eight different student clubs such as the Computer Science Club, the Applied Geosciences Club, the English Club, the Logistics Club,  Business Club, Engineering Club, Hardware Club and the Talking Stick Club. The members of the Student Advisory Council also received awards for their continuous work. In the category ‘Non-Academic Competitions” GUtech students were awarded for their involvement in national and international non-academic competitions. In the category ‘Social Clubs’, awards were given to students who participated and contributed in the Student Media Centre, Theatre Club, Community Services Club, the Arts Club or the International Club. The ‘Volunteer’s Award’ was given to students who dedicated their time and their minds to organizing GUtech events. Finally, the sports awards were given to students who participated in sports activities and who won different sports tournaments.

Caption: Dr. Hussain Al Salmi, Deputy-Rector for Administration and Finance awarded GUtech students during the ceremony

 

“An Evening of Opportunities and Appreciation” – IBSM students organize an event at the Kempinski Muscat

HALBAN Under the patronage of H.E. Eng. Salim Mohammed Al Naimi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communication, an ‘Evening of Opportunities and Appreciation’, organized by third year students studying Event Management at the Faculty of Business and Economics at the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) will be held at Kempinsiki Hotel Muscat tomorrow evening. Aimen Al Hosni, CEO of Oman Airports Management Company, will be present a keynote speech on the role of airports in realising Oman’s 2040 vision.

Dr. Heba Aziz, Dean of the Daculty of the Business and Economics, comments on this event: “I am proud of the efforts of the students in less than eight weeks they put together an impressive event; the organisation of the event and the event itself demonstrate GUtech’s commitment to bridge the gap between academic education and the business sector.” This year the students have chosen an event to recognise the efforts of the business sector in Oman, both public and private, for the opportunities that they create for the students and which complement their overall learning experience. Over seventy companies in the business sector have received students for their twelve weeks internship program, an industrial project – a consultancy project for the logistics sector, field trips and guest lectures.

The students’ event comes in fulfilment of the requirement for their module in event management where the students are supposed to organise an event with all its components logistics, finance, communication and programmein addition to passing and studying a theoretical component. Students were very successful in securing the sponsorship of two of the main business partners Kempinski the Wave and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). The two organisations have been extremely supportive to the activities of the department’s academic and students activities.

The Faculty of Business and Economics currently offers two programmes of studies one in Logistics and the other in Business and Tourism. The faculty will launch its MBA programmes in October 2019. The event will take place at the Kempinski Muscat on 1 May, at 7 PM.

GUtech and Outward Bound Oman are conducting joint Life Skills Courses for Engineering students

HALBAN To enhance the student’s overall life skills, the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) and Outward Bound Oman (OBO) have jointly conducted a theoretical and practical course for twenty GUtech Engineering students. The main aim of the course is to develop to students’ personal and professional skills. ”Life skills courses have become a key parameter to prepare the students for their future work environment while achieving their highest level of performance. The Engineering Department has taken the opportunity to offer this special course to our students. While preparing them for their employment, we believe that such courses are very important in driving our graduates to achieve their goals and to be successful engineers in the future,” said Dr. Najah Al Mhanna, Head of the Engineering Department.

A Collaborative Agreement (CA) was signed between GUtech and OBO in September last year. In the first part of the course, GUtech staff delivered the theory, whilst the OBO team organized the relevant field-based elements outside the university, during an excursion to Wadi Al Abyad. Throughout the seminar, key-life skills such as taking responsibility, active engagement in learning and work, creative thinking and problem solving, innovative thinking, leadership, time management, study attitude towards mistakes, planning, communication and teamwork skills were discussed. “The course helps students to enhance their future employment, as well as to equip them with vital project management skills,” said Ali Al-Humairi, Senior Lecturer in the Computer Science Department and the leading coordinator of the programme. “The main objective of the theoretical course is to provide students with basic employment skills like leadership, teamwork and work ethics,” said Prof. Dr. Ayham Al Rahawi from the Engineering Department who was responsible for the theoretical part.

“We are very glad to have partnered with GUtech and to conduct the first practical part of the course for their outstanding Engineering students. Our carefully designed course helped the students to be ready and willing to make a positive contribution to society, ensures they are exposed to the key life skills sought by leading employers in Oman, and to have a greater appreciation of the natural environment,” said Mark Evans, General Manager of OBO. OBO is a non-profit organisation that operates under the Ministry of Social Development. The company was founded in 2009, and further established by a Ministerial Decision in 2014.

(c) GUtech

GUtech’s Engineering Club: Arrive & Drive Karting Event

On Tuesday 13th November, Dr. Thomas Lattimore, a lecturer of mechanical engineering at GUtech and supervisor of the Engineering Club, visited the Muscat Speedway Karting Circuit with 17 students, mostly from the engineering department, for an Arrive & Drive Karting Event. During the event, 8 of the students along with Dr. Thomas and Mr. Nabi Traore (Junior Intern in the Department), completed a 15 minute race, which was followed by another 15 minute race, with 13 of those students, along with Dr. Thomas and Mr. Nabi. Overall, the students found the event a very good break from their studies, giving them the time to socialize with other students from the engineering faculty, and other departments, and time to have fun doing something related to engineering outside of the classroom. This event was organized by Dr. Thomas Lattimore with the Executive Board of the Club (Chaudhry Taimoor Niaz, Sadiyah Manidhar, Taima Al Hashimi & Shadhan Al Rashdi). A similar event is planned for Tuesday 19th March.

GUtech celebrates staff and students – the Achievements Award Ceremony

HALBAN The GUtech Achievement Awards were celebrated  in the amphitheater of the university on Monday evening. As a guest of honor, Ali Al Habsi, captain of the Oman Football Team and goalkeeper of the Saudi Club Al-Hilal, distributed some awards to GUtech students.

“This year was an exceptional year. Today we are acknowledging the success story of GUtech students and staff members. We are proud of all of you. We wish you a successful future,” said Dr. Hussain Al Salmi, Vice-Rector for Administration and Finances at GUtech. The students were awarded in the following categories: Top study achievers, who had a GPA above 3.5 and those who have been participating in extra-curricular activities, such as student clubs, the Student Council, Student Advisory Council, students volunteering activities as well as those who were involved in various sports competitions. In addition, GUtech staff members who have been working at the university for four or 10 years were awarded as well as those who showed exceptional additional involvement in the university life.