EDICT Faculty Newsletter

November 2016

Short biography of new EDICT Staff

John Ross is an Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Tutor at Bahrain Polytechnic. He is from Dublin, Ireland where he has worked as a systems
developer and architect at several large corporations including Oracle, Ingersoll
-Rand, Bank of Ireland and SSE Airtricity. He has spent more than twenty-five
years using Oracle technologies at those companies.

John has a Bachelors degree in Economics and English Literature from University College Dublin and an MBA from Dublin City University.

His wife, Dr. Jean Hughes, has been working at the Royal College of Surgeons in
Ireland Medical University in Muharraq since 2013 and his two younger children are currently studying nearby at St. Christophers secondary school in Isa
Town.

November 2016 Bahrain STEM Event

Bahrain Polytechnic partnered with BAE Systems as the official academic partner
to organize the 2016 STEM Bahrain Workshops at the Bahrain National Museum
from 6th to 10th of October.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects are the foundations of the industrial and corporate world and are skills that are in high demand in any knowledge-based society. These initiatives, in partnership with the
Ministry of Education and the British Council, have received a great deal of positive feedback including significant coverage in the media. Building on this success, BAE Systems and Bahrain Polytechnic school of Engineering organized a series of workshops on the theme of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
The STEM Bahrain Workshops took place at the Bahrain National Museum, who
provided a beautiful venue for an excellent exhibition of aviation in Bahrain. A
total of 900 students from 40 government and private schools participated in the
workshops over 5 days.
The event included:
Promotion of STEM subject careers to Bahrain Polytechnic students,
Reinforced learning through interactive lessons to high school students
in Bahrain,
Promotion of EDICT programmes to high school students in Bahrain,
Exhibition of a real World War II Supermarine Spitfire Aircraft and the
history of aviation in Bahrain.
Bahrain Polytechnic provided students who acted as teaching assistants during
the workshops, provided support for the training day as Mr. Paul Philips offered a
T&L induction and distributed promotional material for Bahrain Polytechnic Programmes during the event. Engineering students also provided support for the
disassembling of the Spitfire after the event (under the supervision of

November 2016 Bahrain STEM Event

RAF Museum Engineers).

Mr. Simon Martin, UK Ambassador to Bahrain and Mr. Andrew Wilson, GM of BAE
Systems Bahrain emphasized the success of the partnership between Bahrain
Polytechnic and BAE Systems. This type of collaboration is essential to the development of STEM in Bahrain and therefore to the sustainability and success of the
Engineering programme at Bahrain Polytechnic. The last workshop was attended
by HRH Prince Charles and HRH Sh. Salman, who both praised Bahrain Polytechnic for their efforts in providing applied education in STEM subjects.
Last but not least I would like to thank the Engineering students who participated
in the workshops as teaching assistants. They have shown the type of initiative
and leadership skills that Industry expects of our students. I am confident they
have learnt much from this experience and this will be helpful to their future career.

Bahrain Polytechnic at the Arab ICT Forum 2016

ICT Tutors Mr. Cyril Anthoni and Mr. Abdulmonem Ali accompanied senior BICT
students to the Arab ICT forum that took place at the Gulf Hotel Convention Center on the 25th of October 2016. The forum was an excellent opportunity to network with primary ICT stakeholders in Bahrain. Students attended several sessions on the latest updates in ICT as reported by industry and academics.
Topics included:

airport management systems,

the most recent IGA services pushed to consumers including GIS and
emergency response systems,
digital health services,
mobile, operators, 5G network connectivity,
social networking, Cloud Computing in academia, and most importantly
legal, social, ethical issues of ICT and implications on the Bahraini society
and the laws governing telecommunication and the digital crime in Region.

The Arab Engineering Society led by Mr. Saleh Tarradah welcomed the BICT delegates and facilitated the presentation of their projects to participants. Dr. Mohammed Al Amer, Chairman of TRA Board and Bahrain Polytechnic Board of Trustees member, visited the BICT booth stand and complimented the staff and students on their exemplary projects and the importance of their role in developing
technology in Bahrain and the Region. Projects that were presented included:

Set Peace Footy Game by Mr. Abdulmonem Ali , BICT Tutor

Bahrain Bus Ticketing System, Wejdan Yusuf, MIS Student
Bahrain Polytechnic Hall Booking, Anwaar Abdulla, Programming Student
Al Areen Wild Life, Abeer AlRumaidh, Programming Student
Virtual Workplace, Abdulla Mutlaq, Programming Student
CCNP Route For A Global Health Network, Amal Almahroos, Networking
Student

Pictures from the Arab ICT Forum 2016

Raising the Awareness about the Importance of Technology

BICT Graduates Husain Hameed - Systems Architect at Ericsson, Zainab Khamis Project Manager Tree Projects, Hawra Almahroos- Tree Projects Developer, and
year four students Reem Al Attar and Nasra Buashwan, participated in the Explore industry session on the 22nd of November 2016.

Their primary objective was to inform the foundation year students who are interested in studying ICT. The Foundation students gained clear understanding of
the ICT degree from viewing sample products developed by students and graduates. Dr. James Egan, Head of School ICT and Web Media and Mrs. Raghda Zahran, BICT Programme Manager were pleased to present the exemplary work
done by students and graduates. Ms. Noora Albalooshi and Mr. Abdulmonem Ali
encouraged the students to go for their passion for supporting the future of digitizing services in Bahrain. All the foundation year students were invited to attend
the ICT and Web Academy Exhibition taking place on Tuesday 4th of January 2017
in Hall 12 to view more projects and the latest updates in ICT technology.

Polytechnic students two weeks trip to China

Fully sponsored and organized by Huawei, a leading ICT provider, the Seeds for
the Future Programme allowed four BICT Students to go on a two weeks trip to
China. Huawei took a leading role through its Seeds for the Future Programme
to bridge the gap between academia and industry. The Polytechnic students Suhail Bhai, Alyaa Almuabad, Mohammed Malik, and Ahmed Taraif were nominated
by the BICT Programme to visit China.

Prior to leaving to China, the students visited Huwaeis headquarters in Seef Bahrain and received orientation about the objective of the trip. The Trip to China included a tour to Huaweis telecommunication research team and a course in
Mandarin language. The students felt that the unforgettable trip enriched their
technical skills and global exposure.

Polytechnic students two weeks trip to China

Mechanical Engineering Teams Visit to Bahrain Technical

Institutes (BTI) Motor Vehicle Technical Forum.

Dr Christakis Papageorgiou (Dean of EDICT) and a Mechanical engineering team

visited BTI to attend their Motor Vehicle Technical Forum accepting the invitation
from their automotive engineering department. The event involved discussions
on the latest electrical and hybrid vehicles available in the Bahraini market. Representatives from major car companies presented their latest technologies and
invitees had a tour of the cars to assess and evaluate the most suitable option for
the Bahraini market.
The team also visited BTIs technical facilities and held discussions on further cooperation between Bahrain Polytechnic and BTI.

Mechanical Engineering Students Bridge Breaking Event

Bahrain Polytechnics second year Mechanical Engineering students tested their

model bridges in an open event on Thursday the 10th of November 2016. As part of
the efforts from the School of Engineering in implementing PBL, students are presented with a challenge to design and build a bridge using wooden tongue depressors. Students apply their technical knowledge on structural mechanics from their
EN6902 Engineering Mechanics 2 course in a practical project.
All students are given the exact same materials and are competing in building a
bridge which can withstand the highest load and students receive commendation
for the most accurate failing load prediction.

Mechanical Engineering Students Bridge Breaking Event

The winners for the highest failing load were Husain Ahmed, Mustafa Isa, Sadiq
Neama, and Hasan Shukri. This group predicted their bridge will withstand 90Kg
and it managed to successfully hold 81.35Kg (9.6% error) before failing.
The event was attended by academic staff members from all faculties and engineering students from different levels.

Participation of the School of Engineering in the Professional

Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education by
the Higher Education Academy (UK) in cooperation with the
Higher Education Council (Bahrain)
Two of Mechanical Engineering team members (Adel Aawan and Basma
Abusayam) took part in the training programme provided by HEA-UK
and HEC-Bahrain. The professional certificate is a highly regarded licensing programme where educators are introduced to the latest educational theories and international best practices. The programme is 3
months long and involves all higher education providers in the Kingdom
of Bahrain.

IEEE Bahrain Polytechnic Student Branch Members Election

The first official meeting of Bahrain Polytechnic IEEE Student Branch was
held on the1st of November 2016. In this meeting, members were
briefed about IEEE and the IEEE Student Branches. Members were then
introduced to the various positions and their respective roles and responsibilities. EXCOMM members were elected and special roles were
assigned to other members. Ice breaking activities and lunch followed.
Results of EXCOMM members election:
1. Chair: Noor Ramzi (201400093) ICT
2. Vice Chair: Batool Alawi (201200389) Electronics Engineering
3. Secretary: Yasmin Abdulmajeed (201400624) - ICT
4. Treasurer: Sara Husain (201301279) - Electronics Engineering
Other Roles:
1. Webmaster: Ebrahim Hasan (201202069) ICT
2. Social Media Accounts Managers: Sayed Ali Alkamel
(201400094) ICT and Sehrish Riaz (201400980) ICT
A word from the members
It's an honor for me to have this great opportunity with IEEE and I
would really love to expand my knowledge and develop my skills more
in this field. I will make sure to work smart and hard, in order to make
the best out of this experience for me and all the other students. Stay
tuned for the up-coming IT and Engineering related events Noor
Alawadhi (Chair)

IEEE Bahrain Polytechnic Student Branch Members Election

I am pleased to join this team. We will work together to achieve excep-

tional success and I am looking forward to welcoming more students Batool Alawi (Vice Chair)

EDICT students who are interested in joining this community can contact any of the EXCOMM members. Yasmeen Abdulmajeed
(Secretary)

Highlights from the Bahrain UK 200 years Programme

from the British Council

Science Collaboration Symposium

``Water, Energy and Food Nexus''

The Engineering staff Dr. Christakis Papageorgiou, Dr. Christina Georgantopoulou and Mr. Nikolaos Vasilikos have attended the Science Collaboration Symposium which was jointly organized by the British Council, the
University of Bahrain and the Royal University for Women. The 2 day
event was held at the Zain E-Learning Centre of the University of Bahrain
on the 23rd and 24th of November 2016. During the symposium the invited Researchers from UK universities and other regional universities
presented their research around the topic of Water, Energy and Food
nexus and discussed possible research collaborations between their respective institutions.
The event was part of the series of educational events organized by the
British Council for celebrating the 200 years relationship between Bahrain and the United Kingdom.

The 10th Arab Start-up Competition