The Staff Development Committee in association with the Health & Safety committee of the Engineering department, UTAS-Ibri was organized an online program titled "Health and Safety Awareness for A Safe and Healthy Working Environment" on Thursday, 19th May 2022 at 10:00am to 11.00am. The program session was addressed by Dr. Rakesh Yella. M.B.B.S., General practitioner, Aster Hospital, Ibri, and Mr. Naarisetti Srinivasa Rao, Lecturer, UTAS-Ibri.
The first part of the program about health and it was addressed by Dr.Rakesh Yella. M.B.B.S., in his presentation, he explained about avoidance of junk food, balanced diet, frequency of drinking water, tips for good sleep, Benefits of Exercise etc. Also he explained about how to handle the work pressure and tips to reduce the stress in work place.
He elaborated 5 tips to help your mental health like:
- Deepen your breath
- Remember the small small thing that brings you joy
- Do what you can & enjoy it
- Explore new things
- Take a few moment to relax before going bed.
Finally he advised to take regular heath diagnosis our complete body, health working environment.
The second part of the program about safety and it was addressed by Mr. Naarisetti Srinivasa Rao , he explained about safety at work place for the employer and employee, hazards and risk, what is risk assessment, safety of display screen equipment’s, what are the practical measures available to protect our self from hazards etc.
The session was very interactive; many faculties from different department were participated in the discussions. The staff members felt that the presentation was very much useful and effective for their healthy working environment. Totally 37 staffs were participated.
The Information Technology (IT) Department of the University through its IT Society has organized series of online training programs related to Web Designing from March – May 2022.
The training program was conducted by Ms Amal Al-Mamari, an IT Lecturer and has commenced in 14th April 2022 from 8:30AM – 10:30AM for 2 hours via MS Teams.
The workshop was intended for school students and Omani staff. During the session, Ms Amal covered the following points: the basic HTML structure and how to write html codes using the Notepad++. She also demonstrated to school students how to save the HTML file; topics on how to write headings and paragraphs in the web pages was also demonstrated and how to start a simple web page with heading and paragraph using the html elements, h and p. Towards the end of the series, the participants were given the chance to practice how to format headings and paragraphs using attribute to format the html elements such as, color, font –type, font-size and lastly, the presenter discussed the different types of CSS styling and how to apply them in HTML.
The feedback was collected from the participants based on a scale of 1-5 where 5 was the highest and the feedback result was 4.5.
The Information Technology (IT) Department of the University has conducted an online workshop on Privacy, Data Protection and Security on 14th April 2022. The workshop was conducted by Ms Roselle Solitario, an IT Lecturer.
During the session, the presenter focused on What Privacy and Data Protection are? About Our Data, Privacy or Security Principles and Privacy Rights. Moreover, the presenter introduced and demonstrated how a live network of a third party sites are connected to the current browser session using the Orbis Eye and Thunder Beam plug-ins in Google Chrome. The demonstration captured the attention of participants as they have witnessed how their personal data may be shared to other sites without the user’s consent. Interestingly, Ms Roselle showed the steps on how to get all these avoided, thus tracking of personal data can be avoided, too. Additionally, for the security part, she pointed out that security is a way of protecting assets about people’s data that company has collected so that these companies will make sure that confidentiality, integrity and availability goals are being protected and achieved. Lastly, she cited important points to consider especially in protecting or securing our data such as, always download from an official website, always keeping Operating System and antivirus updated, always clear cookies and browsing history and always read before clicking.
The presenter recorded 25 participants from the University who benefited the session. After the workshop, a feedback was collected. On a scale of 1-5 where 5 is the highest, the feedback result was 3.5.
Recently, the Python Programming is very popular among the programming community. In order to facilitate our own community, the Oman community, the Information Technology (IT) Department of the University, through its IT Society has collaborated with the community and conducted an online webinar training sessions which was conducted by Mr Ahamed Nishath, an IT Lecturer from 27-30 March 2022. During the 5-day session, 2 participants from the community has attended all the 5 sessions with interest and enthusiasm in learning python programming.
Mr Nishath focused and discussed on the significant topics such as the Introduction to Python, Anaconda software installation, the basic data types, I/O statements, lists, tuples, nested tuples, dictionaries, and user-defined functions. After discussion, the presenter gave some practical activities and assignments for the participants to practice.
A feedback was collected from the participants at the end of the sessions and the result is 5 on a scale of 1-5 where 5 was the highest. The participants recommended to arrange for another session related to Advanced Python and Data Visualization concepts. The Department will look into this matter and inform the participants accordingly.
Aligned with Oman vision 2040, as an initiative to bridge the gap between industry and academia, the IT department has organized a one-day online seminar on March 31, 2022. It was coordinated in dual tracks: cybersecurity and data science and each track was in two sessions. The primary purpose of the seminar is to provide a platform for sharing the latest scientific research outcomes related to the topics of cybersecurity and data science with industry decision-makers and community influencers.
Moderated by Mr William Ancheta, a lecturer in the IT department, the seminar has commenced at 9:30AM. Following the opening note, a phrase from the Holy Quran was recited. Afterwards, Mr Abdullah Al-Shukeily, an IT-Lecturer, representing the department council, delivered the welcome message addressing the participants and emphasizing the seminar's primary motivation and the designated impact.
After the inauguration ceremony, a keynote speech on Data Science was delivered by Dr Suresh Rasappan. Dr Suresh has presented an overview of data science and its significance in today's world, where data are generated in massive amounts. He also shed light on the industries' needs in data science from different perspectives, including integrating data from various sources, lack of proper understanding of data, data growth issues, confusion while data analysis tool selection, lack of information professionals, and securing data.
There were six topics scheduled in the cybersecurity track. At first, Dr Francis Saviour delivered his talk titled "Implementation of secure access on a private cloud using Openstack-micro-stack". The speaker has introduced the Openstack platform, its usage, modules, and its significance in academia and industry. Moreover, he has demonstrated how to create a private cloud for testing and practicing purposes. Followed by Dr Qais Qassim presented his paper titled "Symptoms-based network intrusion detection system". The paper presented a new anomaly-based intrusion detection method for SCADA systems. Then, Ms Roselle Salazar-Solitario presented her ongoing research on data encryption using quantum computing titled "Modified Diffie-Hellman algorithm: improving public key encryption for quantum computing". The presented study intended to propose a solution for strengthening shared key establishment and plain text data encryption using a combination of De-Morgan's theorem and Floyd's triangle algorithm.
In the second session of the cyber security track, Dr Musab Al-Rawi presented his research titled "'NetAccess': Networked Access to Computerized-System Using Iris", in which he presented an Iris based recognition system for building access control. Mr Geogen George has presented his research work titled "Distributed Light Weight Blockchain Security in Fog Computing for IoT". He discussed the limitations of existing blockchain implementations in IoT technologies. Moreover, he demonstrated his ongoing research by proposing a new modified Blockchain with a modified header. It uses a new hashing that helps the blockchain process large amounts of incoming sensor data and provide the same to FOG on demand. Finally, Ms Nasim Al-Balushi has presented her research on the impact of COVID-19 on cybersecurity in the Sultanate of Oman. In her talk, she has demonstrated how the COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges for security specialists.
On the other track of the seminar, the data science track, Dr Amal Al-Abri was the first presenter. She presented her research work titled "Mining model for semantic relation extraction and ontology representation in a personalized e-learning environment". The proposed research aimed to provide a personalized e-learning environment using social collaboration tools for collaborative learning activities. Then, Dr Mastan and Dr Rajasekaran presented their research titled "Effective use of data analysis and data visualization in e-learning". Their research has presented a sample case study that focuses on how the University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS) will effectively utilize data science in the E-Learning platform.
Afterwards, Mr Mangesh Wanjari presented his topic titled "Self-organized criticality-based Twitter data analytics". In his study, he analyzed the Twitter Data and the dynamics of the interactions in Twitter between nodes corresponding to the Self-Organized Criticality (SOC) principle. Also, he discussed his findings on whether the trending topics on Twitter follow a similar SOC-based earthquake model and demonstrate the evolution of physical systems.
During the second session, Dr Pugalarasu Rajan presented his research work titled "Ecological Model with Prey Harvesting System". His study was an approach to analyzing the complex relationship between prey and predator through studying the dynamics of prey-predator interactions. This was followed by a presentation delivered by Dr Sanal Kumar on Domination polynomial in directed graphs. His presentation discussed the domination polynomial of some standard digraphs to various network problems involving directed interactions. Finally, Dr Dilwar Islam has presented his topic on anisotropic cosmology titled "A study of anisotropic cosmology of general theory of relativity".
The seminar was concluded at 2:30PM, and the closing remarks was delivered by Mr Abdullah Al-Shukeily. The seminar has received positive feedback from the 31 participants with score of 4.54 on a scale of 1-5 where 5 was the highest. It is worth to mention that there were 92 participants who joined the seminar throughout the sessions. All attendees and presenters were awarded a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the IT Department, UTAS-Ibri.
The Information Technology (IT) Department of the University has organized an online symposium with the community on 31st March 2022. This activity is part of the department’s commitment towards its relationship with the community.
The symposium focused on Electronic Extortion, which was delivered by Ms Amal Al-Muqrashi – an IT Lecturer. During the said session, the presenter emphasized on the definition of electronic extortion and important reminders on how to prevent not to become a victim especially during this difficult times – the pandemic.
During the course of the discussion, Ms Amal also had shown the alarming number of reported cases related to electronic extortion in the Sultanate. Moreover, in order to be more aware about this online criminal threats, the presenter has emphasized on existing Laws of Electronic Extortion in the Sultanate of Oman and how to protect ourselves / myself /community from Electronic Extortion.
The presenter recorded 15 participants from the community who benefited the session. After the symposium, a feedback was collected. On a scale of 1-5 where 5 is the highest, the feedback result was 4.5.
The Information Technology (IT) Department of the University has collaborated with the Dhat An-Nitaqayn Secondary School (Girls) through a workshop on Digital Designing on the 8th of March 2022.
The workshop was conducted by Ms Sarah Al-Shukeili, IT Lecturer. During the workshop, Ms Sara has introduced the use of Inkscape software, an open-source program for digital image editing. The students have learned and applied the said tool in creating their designs during their practical session.
There were 30 students who benefited the session. After the workshop, a feedback was collected from the students. On a scale of 1-5 where 5 is the highest, the result of the feedback was 4.7.
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centred approach which encourages students to work in groups to find solutions to open-ended problems. This approach is popular among EFL teachers as it has become a driving force in many contexts.
A presentation on Problem Based Learning (PBL) on Thursday, 24 March 2022, encouraged the audience to share their views on integrating PBL techniques in classrooms.
The speaker, Mr Abdullah Al-Balushi, gave a brief idea of how to orient students to use Problem Based Learning(PBL) in various learning contexts. The session was explained in seven stages with quick tips to implement during teaching sessions.
Profile
Abdullah Al Balushi has been teaching at UTAS since 2011. He has the CELTA certification and a Master’s in the English Language. He has worked in different administrative and teaching positions in the ELC during the last ten years.
In coordination with the Quality Assurance Coordinator of ELC, the Human Resource Department conducted an awareness session for the new staff on Individual Performance Management System(IPMS) on Thursday, 24 March 2022, at the ELC meeting room. The ELC coordinator Ms Zahra was the speaker and explained the objectives of the IPMS. The four objectives discussed in detail were a. building the culture of the quality performance, b.improving the performance evaluation system, and c. linking productivity with incentives.
Roleplay is considered one of the important methods to achieve active learning. It engages the participants and instils confidence to present themselves before the audience.
Ms Nusaiba Al Ghafri and Mr Humaid Al Mamari, English language lecturers at the ELC, demonstrated the same through a Role Play Contest at the Multi-Purpose Hall in the Engineering Building on Tuesday the 29th of March from 12:00 am to 2:00 pm. The participants were from groups two and eleven.
The contest was a platform for the students to enhance their speaking skills, build confidence, enhance creativity and imagination and accentuate their communication skills. A detailed explanation of the rules was provided to the students.
Four teams participated in the contest, three teams from group eleven and one team from group two. Mr Humaid Al Mamari started the contest by performing a short sketch called “The Silent House” to arouse students’ interest in acting and break the ice. The panel judges from the ELC Ms Anuradha, Ms Zahra and Dr Mobina announced the winner from the four teams.
After the contest, students participated in two other activities: Pictionary and Charades. These two activities were conducted to ensure maximum participation from the students. The vocabulary used in the activities was mainly from the course book, which was a good practice for the students to revise what they had studied earlier.
The role play contest was conducted for the first time in the ELC between two groups. The students showed great interest in it and increased their confidence and presentation skills. They also got very excited and hoped to participate in similar contests in future.
