Stay Connected - Volume 1 Issue 3 - September 2010

UOWD Alumni Newsletter � University of Wollongong in Dubai1 www.uowdubai.ac.ae

Stay Connectedi n s p i r e � i n n o v a t e � c o mm u n i c a t e � c o n n e c t

The Alumni Network at UOWD is very dear to me. I am particularly proud that thisimportant part of the UOWD family resides in my department. In the last two years Ihave seen our Alumni Network become more active and better connected; this is due ina large part to the Stay Connected Newsletter and the not inconsiderable efforts of Sherrivan Over, the Alumni Officer.I know that in many cases as students you may have felt that UOWDSs degree pro-

grams were either too hard or too long and that often UOWDSs entry requirements areconsidered too onerous. As difficult as this may be to accept as a student, I sincerelyhope that as Alumni you will now appreciate that UOWDSs stringent enforcement ofthese standards is all about protecting your investment in your education. By maintain-ing our quality standards we hope to ensure that every generation of graduates leavesUOWD with the same outstanding and very high graduate attributes. This in turn helpsto ensure that all UOWD graduates will continue to be Pemployees of choiceQ. This helpsto ensure that you secure the best positions, with the best companies at the highest pos-sible rates. In this way we guarantee you a high ROI on your education investment atUOWD!As part of my role at UOWD I spend a lot of time dealing with different business as-

sociations and different businesses in and around the UAE. It continues to astonish mehow often I run into a UOWD alum during such meetings, and the sense of pride thatthose alumni have in UOWD. Such reactions are amongst the most rewarding experi-ences of my career.As a graduate of University of Canterbury in New Zealand, I can comment firsthand

on the importance of an Alumni Association, not only for lifelong friendships but also asa networking tool. My career in finance and administration has allowed me to work in-ternationally and hone skills I could have never imagined as a new graduate. My work ex-perience has now covered Asia and the Pacific, East andWestern Europe and the MiddleEast. I frequently run across fellow graduates of the University of Canterbury and al-ways enjoy the interaction and remising about my alma mater.I sincerely hope that as UOWD graduates you will obtain similar benefits from the

UOWDAlumni Network, but be aware that you will only get out as much as you put in.With this in mind I am certain that your efforts to build and support a strong and ef-fective alumni network will be admirably rewarded.

Raymi van der SpekVP of Administration, UOWD

This Issue:Find out about theANEC (AlumniNetwork Executive Committee),as they share a few of the plansthat they have in mind for theUOWDAlumni.

Get the latest updates from youralma mater within our news sec-tion and check out the latestawards we’ve won.

In Faculty News we bring youthe latest highlights from ourProfessors at UOWD, and wetake on Dr. Jenny Knowles Mor-rison within our ‘Ask the Expert’section.

Outstanding Entrepreneur, CrisFerguson is the woman behindone of the UAE’s most successfulsandwich business – Dante. Readhow she defied the odds and real-ized her dreams.

We have Ivan D’Souza in theSpotlight this issue and here hetalks about his role at the univer-sity.Take a look at how he startedhis career and what he enjoys bestabout it.

DeekshaTuteja-Behl had a shift of ca-reer and country, landing a success-ful job in one of the leading ResearchMNCs based in Switzerland. Seehow she’s handled the task in ourAlumni:LifeAbroad section

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Volume 1 / Issue 3 / September 2010

From the VP ofAdministration

UOWD Alumni Newsletter � University of Wollongong in Dubai

From theEditor

2 www.uowdubai.ac.ae

Hey Friends,Welcome to our 3rd issue of SC.

Over the last threemonthsweSve had a fewnew things happening in the background.As weSre always open to ideas and suggestions to make this newsletter work for youand the entire Alumni family, we have ensured that much of the focus has been di-rected towards quality, despite the changes being introduced. Ultimately, it is aboutwhat works best for you and us.

One of the new things we have for you this issue is our ROut-standingEntrepreneurS feature inwhichweSve highlightedan old friend who started her own catering business intheUAE. I amsure thatmanyof youwill enjoy read-ing it, asmuch aswe enjoyed putting it together Uand perhapsmany of you from theClass of 2005know her already. The tremendous joy we feltin knowing that a fellow classmate did ex-tremely well for herself is perhaps signs of abond, that we all share a unique connectionwhich stems from an alma mater that has beenthe propelling ground in most of our careers.And with that said, do bear in mind that we areequally ecstatic to feature you, or your friends in thisnew section, because our aim here is to highlight ourAlumniSs achievements and successes - whatever field thatmay be in.Themore we hear from you, themore we can do for you.

The other new thing weSd like to introduce this issue is the advertising options nowavailable through SC.During the summerweworked up a detailed advertising pack-age to benefit all those whoSd like to promote their business or services.You can findout more about this on our following pages and get back to us for rates and furtherdetails.

Before we leave you to enjoy this issue, let us congratulate theANEC on their plansfor the near future, and we look forward to knowing you better at themany upcom-ing events they have lined up for us.

Until we see you around, we look forward to your feedback!

Odelia Mathews XavierMIB (2005)

EDITOR:Odelia Mathews-Xavier(MIB 2005)[email protected]

DEPUTY / NEWS EDITOR:Bahjat Khan (MEM 2009)[email protected]

PROOF READER:Arwa El Baitam (MQM 2005)[email protected]

DESIGN DIRECTOR:Rana Al [email protected]

NEWS COORDINATOR:Rumana Rahim ( MITM 2009)[email protected]

The Team:

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTOR:

B-Com (2010)

[email protected]

She caught our attention bymeans of a no-nonsense-minus-your-average-candy-floss email in which shementioned an interest to be part of the team volunteer-ing herwriting skills, and from thatmoment onwards, this talented lady has livedup to every deadline U unwavering and unfaltering!Awaiting graduation thisOc-tober 2010, Farhana is a B.COM Finance Graduate and currently works as a fi-nancial accountant in AstraZeneca, and writes a regular monthly column in anon-profit magazine, BanglaExpress. Whttp://www.banglaexpress.com.bd/X. Hav-ing previously worked onUOWDsnewsletter RBoomerangS, Farhana hasworkedon ourAlumni Profiles this issue in SC, sketching out a few amazing personali-ties and their accomplishments.When asked about her interests she says, PI ampassionate about reading, usually autobiographies and non-fiction. I lovewritingquotes and I also enjoy dancing. I have learnt fundamentals for a year in classi-calmusic and now I dance,mimickingmy

favorite choreographs. I also enjoyphotography especially forkids!Q

Her work mantra: IfI have an idea aboutwhat to write andhow to go about thetopics, I will tell youwhat best I can do. Ican just give myword in that what-ever I choose to do, Iam certain to perform

with maximum effort.Her dream wish: To write

a novel topping the best sellers list!

MUST-SEE:

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WELCOMING THEANECTheUOWDAlumni Network Executive Committee (ANEC) has finally been elected and officially announced.Given thatthis team of nine members will foresee all activities and events relating to theAlumni for the next 2 years,we thought we’dgive you the lowdown on who they are and what they plan to do in the near future. Here is what they had to say.

President: Hajar Saeed Hamad HumaidAge: 25Nationality: UAEDegree & Year: MQM 2009 & MBA 2010

Q) As the President of the Alumni Network, what are your plans and visions for the development

of the UOWD Alumni Network Community?

The ANEC was established on Thursday, 17th of June. The UOWDAlumni NetworkSs mission is to enhance relation-ships and establish lifelong connections between the University and itsAlumnus. The UOWDAlumni Network will cul-tivate leaders and provide benefit programs, services and opportunities to excel within the UOWD family. This willcover different events such as Business & Educational Speakers, Social & Environmental events etc all of which will beannounced later.Also, one of our plans is to provide career opportunities for theAlumni in coordinating with private andgovernment sectors. I would like to invite all the Alumni to provide us with any ideas/suggestions that will add value.

Vice-President: Fatma DakhanAge: 33Nationality: UAEDegree & Year: MQM 2007

Q) How does the ANEC plan on engaging its members and encouraging them to become more ac-

tive in the Alumni Network?

We will try to do so by following a few basic guidelines as mentioned below:1. Show you care for each member of the team and for their career. Invest time to understand their hopes, their fearsand dreams.2. Say thank you.We all crave recognition: we want to know that we are doing something worthwhile and we are doingit well. Make your praise real, for real achievement. And make it specific.3.Never demean a team member. If you have any criticism, keep it private and make it constructive. DonSt scold yourteam members like school children: treat them as partners and work together to find a way forward.4. Delegate well: delegate meaningful work which will stretch and develop your teammember.Yes, there is routine rub-bish to be delegated, but delegate some of the interesting stuff as well. Be clear and consistent about your expectations.5. Have a clear vision. Show where your team is going and how each team member can help you all get there. Have aclear vision for each team member6.Trust your team. Do not micro manage them. Have courage to implement MBWA: Management ByWalking Away.7. Be honest. That means having difficult, but constructive, conversations with struggling team members. DonSt hideor shade the truth. Honesty builds trust and respect.8. Set clear expectations. Assume you will be misunderstood: people hear what they want to hear. So make it simple,repeat it often and be consistent.9. Over communicate. You have two ears and one mouth: use them in that proportion. Listen twice as much as youspeak.10. DonSt try to be friends. It is more important to be respected than liked: trust endures where popularity is fickleand leads to weak compromises.

The UOWDANEC


The UOWDANEC

Student Recruitment Coordinator:Ahmed Mohammed BelloAge: 28Nationality:NigeriaDegree & Year:MIB W2009X

Q) The job market in the UAE is not as lucrative as it once was, given the downsizing issues of many com-

panies in the Gulf. In your current role you are liaising with the UOWD Student Services and present

Alumni Network to assist current students; how do you plan to encourage the Alumni Network to be-

come involved in UOWD student initiatives when needed?

My plan would be tailored towards:1. Making the school authority recognize and appreciate the roles of theAlumni Network and render its maximum sup-port and encouragement.2. Identifying and attempting to address the students� needs.3. Considering the current global economic situation, a survey would be conducted to identify areas of interest, cur-rent trends and opportunities in the job market and keep students informed.4. Providing a sort of counseling to students and where possible, make recommendations to both.These would be achieved if:

* A cordial relationship amongst students, school authority, government/private sector and the general public is estab-lished and maintained.* The students� initiatives are feasible and worthwhile as such students� general awareness of the Alumni Network isvery valuable.

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE MEMBERS (2)Q) As the GMCMs, how do you’ll propose to attract more activity in the alumni network? What are the

main hurdles you’ll have to overcome?

GMCM: Immanuel MoonesarAge: 25Nationality: Trinidad &TobagoDegree & Year:MQM WDistinctionX 2009Dip: Nutrition &Dietitics WDistinctionX UWI 2008; BSc Human Ecology: Nutrition &Dietitics UWI 2007.

The survival ofANEC depends upon attracting alumnus, organizing activities that is of interest to the network and ensuringalumni participation through proper marketing of these events. I believe that social media marketing and networking can as-sist to promote activities and events which would also enable us to gather alumni input/feedback into this process. The suc-cess of ANEC rests solely on our alumni as it is a committee for them, of them and by them. The main challenges are toobtain and sustain alumni interest and organize activities at a time which is most convenient to a majority of our alumni.

GMCM:Dr. Mohamed Ali KarkoukliAge: 50Nationality: SyrianDegree & Year:MIB 2009

TheAlumni attraction that I am dedicated to achieve will be based on transparency, honesty, openness, reliability, and own-ership in a professional and amicablemanner.With this, we aim towalk the talk towards enablingmutual trust with our alumnicolleagues. I intend to be present to sharewith them the unlimited advantages and opportunities of being part of theUOWDAlumni.

WELCOMING THEANEC


The UOWDANEC


WELCOMING THEANEC

EVENTS COORDINATORS (3)Q) Apart from seminars and business presentations, what are a few fun events that you’ll intend to plan

for the Alumni and their children, living in different parts of the UAE? What kind of events should the

Alumni expect in the near future and how will these events serve to engage alumni more often?

Event Coordinator: Alaa AlhayjaaAge: 25Nationality: JordanianDegree & Year: B- Eng WCompX 2003 WJordanX; BA WDiplomaX 2008, Ajman Uni; B-Com WMarketingX UOWD, 2010.

WeSve categorized the events and have also suggested combining some of the events to get more benefits from the gath-ering. For example, we could combine a seminar with the Business Breakfast Meetings and make it a monthly event.Wehave also talked about the need to consider the weather in planning the events, as some suggested activities are best suitedfor the outdoors. Accordingly, we decided to schedule quarterly events throughout the year. In terms of the topics forthe Seminars and Educational Events, we thought that the following issues may attract broad audiences: Time manage-ment,Work/Life Balance, Motivational Speaker, Personal Branding, Personal Investment / Financial Planning, Health andwell-being, Vacation Planning.

Event Coordinator:Hani BakirAge: 51Nationality: LebanonDegree & Year:MBA 2003

In terms of the planned events, we are currently discussing the schedules and types of events for the last 2 remaining quar-ters in 2010, but we have a very capable team of event Coordinators this year, and some wonderful ideas have been pop-ping up. The type of events we would like to plan include:* Seminars WSpeakers on current events, trends, and helpful topicsX* Networking WEvents designed to allow high attendee-networking activityX* Social / Environmental Wevents that are focused on creating community and environmental awarenessX* Education WSpeakers on academic and practical topicsX* Fun / Entertainment WEvents planned to include families and friendsX

Event Coordinator: Farida Al Babbili4Unavailable for comments5

Secretary:Shamil RehmanAge: 23Nationality: IndianDegree & Year: BBA 2009

Q) As the secretary of the ANEC, your task involves organizing meetings and recording minutes. How

do you feel about your role and what edge would you bring to the table at your post?

About the role I would say itSs really great to be a part of ANEC and since itSs a whole new dimension to look forwardto, itSs pretty exciting as well. As a member it is expected that you are dedicated and efficient, and I will definitely tryto live up to that.


Stay ConnectedAdvertising

Why Advertising in SC:

Well, for starters, you can easily access 4000+UOWD graduates, many of who work in af-fluent positions within the UAE in the privateand government sectors. Our readers havehigh disposable incomes and come from a va-riety of backgrounds and this is the ideal placeto reach them, as we keep aim to keep ourcontent concise and precise. We have four is-sues released each year WMarch, June, Septem-ber, DecemberX and with each graduationceremony that usually takes place twice a yearWSummer and WinterX the University sees ap-proximately 700 graduates receive their de-grees. At that rate our Alumni network isincreasing steadily every year, and adding to itwe have just begun offering highly-anticipatedcourses starting this year 2010 Wthe DBA andPhDX which means more students and a big-ger Alumni family.

What about the Demographics & the

Statistics:

UOWD is the oldest university in the UAEWweSve been around for 17 yearsX and all our de-grees are accredited by the Ministry of HigherEducation. This means that all our graduatesand students, old and new, are well educated,work in professional positions for top organi-zations, are well connected to the Universityand include a mix of 100 nationalities. The agegroup of these alumni and students is from 18to 45+ with many senior students excepted toenroll for the new DBA and PhD courses. Fur-thermore, SC is a comprehensive newsletterthat brings together current students, alumni,UOWD staff and faculty members, by profil-ing candidates in each section. By doing so, wetry to engage everyone associated with the in-stitution. Take a look at the quick facts formore on these details.

About the Advertising Options:

We have 3 options to advertising in thenewsletter and these include: a SponsorshipPackage, a Premium Position Strip Ad, and aSingle Strip Ad.The Sponsorship Package includes 3 adsplaced throughout the Newsletter with thefollowing positions1X Cover Page WBottom StripX2X Main Feature Story W Vertical StripX3X Alumni Profiles W Top or Bottom StripXThe Premium Position Strip Ad may bea Horizontal Strip Wtop or bottomX or a Verti-cal strip WLHS or RHSX and will be placed inthe first half of the newsletter.The Single Side Strip Ad will appear any-where after the first half of the newsletter andfor a specific ad position, additional chargeswill apply over the net rate.

The Extra Benefit:

Advertising in SC is a targeted and effectivealternative to other main stream advertisingpossibilities, because the advantage here isthe implied legitimacy of a personal recom-mendation. If you wish to promote your busi-ness, organization or service, you can let yourfellowWollies and friends know about it here.Additionally, if the advertiser is an alumnuspromoting his/her business, the added valueof editorial support comes free of cost and infar more friendlier conditions. Not only that,but your ad stays on the websiteSs archives andits life will continue to outrun the paid valueof it.

For detailed rates, technical specifications,material and bookings, and even Ad designservices, you can contact our Alumni [email protected]

* Total graduates W1993-2009X 4,437* Centre for Language &Culture WCLCX students 753* Countries represented byUOWD students 99* Countries represented byUOWD staff 30* Total UOWDStaff 235

** Above statistics are for the year 2009

*Quick Facts

In a robust Ad industry such as that of the UAE, reaching the right target audience can come at a high price. Often a time,choosing from a plethora of titles can be a daunting task in itself, especially if you wish to reach a select audience at a cost-effective rate. But now with the new advertising options available at Stay Connected, there are a number of benefits toreap. Here are the essential facts that will help you make an informed decision to get the best value for money.

Most Requested Web Pages for July 2010


The Mukhtar sisters U Afshaan and Sara - have created new milestones forUOWD to rejoice in. They dedicated themselves to a 6-month strenuous train-ing program and this July they secured a UOWD record to have reached thehighest peak of Africa atop Mount Kilimanjaro. UOWD stands among the for-tunate few to have experienced such an action-nerving victory. The brave pair

underwent a training manual which involved climbing 250 floors weekly; routinewalks for about 12 kilometers uphill and clocking 30 kilometers on grounds. De-spite levels of difficulty growing bitter each day, the pair couldnSt wait to seekadventure through the mountainous terrains boasted as the fourth largestamong the seven famous summits in the world.The adrenaline packed adventure ran over a five-day schedule which started atthe Marangu gate going through the semi-tropical forests to Mandara, wherethey enjoyed the cacophony of animals singing and the blended beauty of thedense green covers. Their next treat were long walks through Savannah hills toHorombo moorlands, carpeted in knee-high grass tussocks. On day three, theywere mountaineering through the cooler alpine desert and Kibo huts, at an al-titude of 4703m. Fighting against the icy winds and steep rock-way, they reachedthe Uhuru summit which is blanketed with white bowls of ice and despite theunbearable chillness; the sisters felt the warmth of the adrenaline flood throughtheir veins. The sistersS pursuit of achievement to Mount Kilimanjaro and theirunbending spirits surely is applauded by the UOWD family. Their return wasproudly waited, and their experiences of the place have been a treasure theUOWD family has assimilated. If you happen to stop by at the uni anytime,make sure to check it out!

WE’RE ON MOUNT KILIMANJARO!

AlumniNews

‘THE BIG START’ FINALISTA UOWD graduate was among the top four finalists in RThe Big StartS business start-up competition held in UAE recently. Samaneh Sanatnama was one of the 4 luckyfinalists who competed with almost 200 students from across the UAE for a chanceto have their business idea made into a reality. Although she completed her IT De-gree in April 2010, Samaneh says she has strong marketing skills which compelled herto apply for the Big Start Competition where she was recognized for her well struc-tured marketing plan for a clothing design company for kids. She says �In terms ofwhat I have learnt, the past six months has been invaluable to me and I have reallyenjoyed putting into practice what I have learnt at UOWD. I know that with hardwork and perseverance, I can do anything I set my mind to�.

THE MOHAMMED BINRASHID ESTABLISHMENT MOUUOWD has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mo-hammed Bin Rashid Establishment for SME WSmall to Medium EnterprisesXcovering a variety of different areas such as Business Case Development, Ac-ademic Research, Collaboration on events and support for residential incu-bation. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young BusinessLeaders was launched with an aim to encourage and facilitate the develop-ment of business and entrepreneurial activity among UAE nationals. Ac-cording to the terms of the MOU which was signed at Enterprise BusinessVillage WEBVX, the Enterprise would help UOWD by providing data accessin order to help UOWD in selecting target entrepreneurs. Other terms ofagreement include help being provided by the Establishment to UOWD inresearch that is relevant to the scope and focus of the mandate of the Es-tablishment, and UOWD will now be a part of extended business commu-nity in REnterprise Business VillageS where it will be involved in relevantevents, networking & learning activities and an opportunity for UOWD topresent knowledge based seminars and much more.

Here’s just the right amount of information to keep youup-to-date with the latest happenings at UOWD.

Text by Farhana


AlumniNews

Here’s just the right amount of information to keepyou up-to-date with the latest happenings at UOWD.

CCOOMMMMUUNNIICCAATTIIOONN UNDERGOINGTREATMENTCommunication is a significant cultural realm at UOWD. To emphasize the im-pact of communication, Professor Mohamed Khalifa, Vice President WAcade-micX of UOWD commenced an interactive interface on an advanced version ofcommunicationVNeuro Linguistic Programming for the UOWD faculty. A recent workshop was conducted at the J.L. Auditorium, by speakers

Christina Richards and Beryl Comar from Change Associates at Knowledge Vil-lage aimed at instilling a powerful synapse between the thinking mind WneuroX,communication styles WlinguisticX and responding body language and emotionsWprogrammesX. This attribute of communication science harvests effectivegrooming of individuals in business management, psychology, fear managementand sports coaching. Richards, a certified Neuro Linguistic Practitioner andConsultant explained that NLP enhances minds by adopting the responsivenessfrom successful people at different fields by studying connections between theiractions and thoughts. She claims, PThe patterns of leaders inevitably becomethe patterns of the organization. If you are a teacher, you are leader tooQ.RichardsSs associate, Comar is an Emotional Intelligence Development Special-ist and Gold Master Trainer of NLP indicated the cultural Rmelting potS phe-nomenon in Dubai. Comar explained that behavioral differences occurdepending on how different cultures respond example, Arabs are auditory, AsiansKinesthetic and Westerners prefer visual. Comar referred to Rmodelling excel-lenceS as a way to enhance an individualSs perspective about the right behaviourfor successful communication to prevail. NLP acknowledges human expression as a core value in communication. This

unique methodology helps reconstruct new models of communication to allowindividuals to excel into the digitally-competent future. Try it, I bet you wouldbe on the winning side!

CCaarreeeerr EEnnhhaanncceemmeennttShort Courses Now Available @ UOWDFor all those looking to enhance their qualifications, UOWD hasstarted short course programs that commence on September 26th2010. These courses are as follows:

Specialist Qualification for Professional Accountants

Graduate Certificate in Forensic Accounting at UOWD, leading

to a Master of Forensic Accounting at UOW Australia

Specialist Qualifications for Professional Bankers

Professional Certificate of Banking Risk Management

Certificate of Fundamentals of Islamic Banking and Finance

Certificate of Fundamentals of Islamic Commercial and Invest-

ment Banking

Professional Certificate of Islamic Banking and Finance

For more details visit www.uowdubai.ac.ae, call 800-UOWD, or visitBlock 15, Dubai Knowledge Village, UOWD. As spaces are limited, youneed to book your space at the earliest time.

Text by Farhana


ChapterAccomplishments

UOWD WINS ‘EDUCATION & TRAININGPROVIDER OF THE YEAR’ AWARD

June 2010 marked amemorable monthfor UOWD, whenthe uni bagged theREducation & Train-ing Provider of theYearS Award at theSupply Chain andTransport Awards

WSCATA 2010X. The Annual SCATA Awards which is organized by Logistics Mid-dle East, an ITP Business Publication, recognizes excellent organizations in theMiddle East Region in various categories. The REducation & Training Provider ofthe YearS category recognizes the achievements of the leading training providers oreducation institutes through a flagship course or a series of courses on supply chainmanagement. The factors taken into account include course structure, subjectrange, teaching faculty and response from market. UOWD was chosen the winner amongst Dubai Trade, Emirates Aviation College,

SP Jain Centre of Management & University of Bolton. Speaking at the ceremony,Professor Rob Whelan, President of UOWD said PWhen introducing the Masterof Science WLogisticsX in the UAE, we realized that there was a great need in theMENA region for graduates with particular skills and knowledge in logistics andsupply chain management U after all, this is one of the world�s major logistics hubs�. The Master of Science WLogisticsX programme at UOWD is best suited for pro-fessionals working in the Logistics and Operations Management area as it is de-signed to incorporate both theoretical and practical aspects of the Industry. Thecourse work is focused on developing essential skills required to manage the flowof materials and informationwithin and between organizationsand their business environment. Ifyou would like to get more detailsfor UOWDSs award winningM.Sc in Logistics programme,contact the admissions office at800-UOWD and have a brightstart to a successful career youSvealways dreamed of.

THE AWARD WINNING TRIOA team of 3 Undergraduate Computer Science students from UOWD recentlywon the Academic Award at the UAE Software Development Trade ShowWSDTS 2010X and the Second prize at Software Project Competition WSPC2010X. The project titled RNewborn Hearing Tests Storage and Analysis Sys-temS developed by Tooba Salahuddin, Hina Majeed and Safeenah Waziri is de-signed to automate the currently manual system of Database Managementand Result Delivery of hearing tests of newborns. Additional features of thisnew system also provides reminders for re-tests to the parents of the new-borns and also provides aprototype for remote ac-cess to the users of this sys-tem on a mobile emulator,which is extendible to amobile platform. This soft-ware project which is incollaboration with theAmerican Hospital inDubai was developedunder joint supervision ofDr. Catherine Todd and Dr.Mohamed K. Watfa.

WHEREVER YOU ARE & WHATEV

ER

YOU’RE DOING, HERE’S WHAT YOU

SHOULD TAKE PRIDE IN.

FINALLY, YOU CAN GETYOUR DBA FROM UOWDUOWD is proud to announce the launch of Doctorate of Busi-ness Administration WDBAX program which makes UOWD theonly nationally accredited institution in UAE to offer a DBA.Following the final approval from UAE Ministry of HigherEducation and Scientific Research, UOWD will also offer theDoctor of Philosophy WPhDX program and for all those whomentioned an interest in enrolling for either of the programs,this is your chance to give it a go. For more information, checkout www.uowdubai.ac.ae/programs/details.php?sec=4 or call 800-UOWD.

Mr. Amit Bhatia, MSc (Logistics)UOWD Alumnus

‘‘BBIIZZZZ WWIIZZAARRDDSS’’ CLEAR REGIONAL FINALSThe UOWD team RBizz WizardsS made it to the final rounds of the CIMAGlobal Business Challenge - an international competition designed to bring outthe best in the young business leaders of tomorrow, which was held for the first

time in the UAE - by beating four other University teamsfrom UAE. The team U Hina Daryanani, PoojaWagh, Kunal Kokal & Bilal Sohail along with anacademic staff mentor were asked to respondto a given scenario based on a fictionaltelecommunications firm as if they wereManagement Consultants. Congratulat-ing the success of the team Dr. MufeedRawashdeh, UOWDSs Dean of the Fac-ulty of Finance and Accounting said PIt isa matter of great pride to win the national-level CIMA Global Business Challenge, es-pecially since it was held for the first time in

the UAEQ.

UOWD IS‘ASIA’S BEST B-SCHOOL’

CMO Asia, an organization dedica

ted to high

level knowledge exchange, recently

honored

UOWD with an RAsiaSs Best B-Sch

ool Leadership

AwardS in Suntec City, Singapore. T

he award recog-

nizes institutions that have surpass

ed several lev-

els of excellence and set an example

of being a

role model by building institutions

through

Leadership, Innovation and Aca-

demic and Industry interface.

Text by Aly


FacultyNews


A few arguments in recent times have debated the ideology of Daniel Gole-man's 1995 book 'Emotional Intelligence'. Accordingly, it is argued that womenneed to be tougher to survive work place stress in current trying times, statingthat EI is no longer as important as it was once considered. Here we put Dr.Jenny Knowles Morrison to the question and this is what she has to say.

Q) It is a popular belief that women are more in tune with emo-

tions and that adequate emotional intelligence is a significant

determinant of success in the role of a manager. In your profes-

sional opinion, do you then feel that Gender plays a role in man-

agerial ability? Desma D’Souza (MHRM 2005)

These days, there is increasing focus on the role of emotional intelligenceWEIX, especially as the entry of more and more women into leadership posi-tions in the workplace and society is influencing our understandings of whatmakes a strong leader. The question you ask almost always comes up in dis-cussions of leadership development in TBS 903. However, I encourage stu-dents to direct the discussion away from questioning the degree to whichgender plays a role in managerial ability and instead, ask two different ques-tions: are the more directive and paternalistic leadership styles historicallycommon in the Middle East effective in the current business climate or dowe need to inject more participatory, transformational leadership styles intothe workplace to engage and motivate our multicultural workforce in Dubai?I then ask students whether women seem to have stronger RsofterS leadershipskills, such as empathy for others, due to their biological makeup, or are suchskills a result of how they have been socialized? This is the classic Pnature vs.nurtureQ debate. If more participatory, transformational leadership qualitiesare needed, then emotional intelligence is an important set of competenciesneeded by both genders.

The power of Emotional Intelligence resides in a leaderSs ability to hold equalcompetencies in both personal awareness and self-regulation of his or herown emotional state, as well as maintaining awareness of how he or she en-gages with others and translates that awareness into action. For women, be-cause of our socialization to develop more nurturing tendencies, it makessense that there could be a correlation between gender and development ofcore EI dimensions, especially social awareness, such as having empathy forothersS perspectives, being able to motivate and develop others, and havinga service orientation. From my own experience, it does seem that womenare often socialized to be more attentive to emotional cues provided in socialsituations, listen to others, and show sensitivity to othersS perspectives U allcore dimensions of having empathy. As well, because of more traditional gen-der roles in raising children, it also makes sense that women might have morenatural inclinations to serve in mentoring and coaching roles beyond theirfamily.

However, having highlighted ways in which women might hold some impor-tant leadership skills as a result of their socialization, this does not mean thatmen do not have just as much capacity for developing emotional intelligence!

Oftentimes, men have also been socialized to have stronger emotional intel-ligence capacities in political awareness, ability to influence others, and com-municating U having had more opportunities to engage in some of the lifeexperiences that develop such skills.

The bottom line for all of us, regardless of our gender, is the fact that mostof us could benefit from improving our conflict negotiation skills, collabora-tion and team-management capacities, and developing greater self-awarenessof our emotional states and how they drive our engagement with others.PHardQ evidence is now beginning to emerge as more macro-level studies areattempting to document the importance of emotional intelligence, sowhether youSre a man or a woman, a better understanding of your own EI ca-pacities, as well as how you engage and develop others, will increasingly bethe currency of leadership in the Middle East and abroad.

Dr. Knowles Morrison is Hay Group-certified to conduct 360 De-gree Emotional & Social Competency Inventories. Readers maycontact her for more information about participating in futureworkshops related to this topic: Dr. Jenny Knowles , BA Texas, MPATexas-Arlington, PhD New York, [email protected].

If you would like our professors to answer any of your questionsrelated to work trends or industry issues, feel free to write in to us.

Dr. Jenny Knowles


AlumniOutstanding Entrepreneur


The first thing about Dante that catches my attention is the upfront attitude andthe feel that the brand exudes. RAt Dante we believe in living life to the full. Everyday should offer a new adventure, however big or small that might be…S and in ret-rospect, that first line summarizes the Cris I knew back when we first met atUOWD. Armed with a vivacity that was hard not to notice, she was the girl whoseemed ready to take on the world and any challenge that came her way, and by thevery looks of it, has indeed pushed herself to the limit to achieve what started asa simple vision and a dream to excel. Back in the day, Cris was working as an Advertising Manager for Face to Face, a

full-fledged advertising agency that is based in Dubai. She soon quit her full-timejob to pursue a postgraduate degree at UOWD and while at it assumed the role ofan Event Manager at Ignite. At the same time she taught English at the Dubai Po-lice College. Running two jobs and studying for a Degree was far from a walk in thepark, as many of us Wme includedX found it to be herculean task to manage just onejob and evening studies Wnot to forget the group assignments that had us caught upevery other weekend or soX. But unlike the rest of us, Cris had her eyes on some-thing different altogether. She says, PWhilst working there Wat Face to FaceX I cameup with the concept and branding for a wholesome fast food delivery service, whichwould offer busy office people a quality alternative to what was availableS. A greatlover of sandwiches herself, Cris reveals that her idea was a simple marriage of twothings she loved the most. PEven after eating nothing but sandwiches for 3 years,it is still my favorite food. I also love brands and so I decided to combine the twothings I am most passionate about. I think a lot of my tenacity came from my ex-perience at Face to Face. They taught me a great deal in terms of customer serv-ice, branding and attention to detail.Q But as Cris was soon to find out, it tookmore than just passionate thinking to realize her dreams.

Taking the First Step Needing as much help as she could get, she began to ask other entrepreneurs a fewtricks on creating comprehensive business plans and financial projections. Thenputting her experience on branding to best use, she conceived the idea of her cafNbusiness working up a name and a logo. It was not long before she had a change ofmind and settled for something more meaningful and closer to the heart by re-naming the cafN after her great-grandfather U Alfredo Dante. Propelled with a vowto bring pride to his name, Cris spent between 2 and 4 hours a night working onthe plan every day after work. After all, he was no ordinary figure but a daring en-trepreneur in his own right and the man behind the Dante Ice Cream Emporium

established back in 1896. Born in Italy, he had moved to Scotland to write his owndestiny and at the age of 30 was known far and wide for the famed Dante icecreams sold in Ayrshire U one of the most agriculturally fertile regions South-Westof Scotland. PAfter 6 months of dreaming, I left Face to Face to focus more on mybusiness plan and hopefully find a backer,Q she says and thatSs when she had to facethe reality and bite the buck. PWith no previous experience or formal businesstraining it was impossible to persuade anyone to invest. I then decided to sell myhouse in the UK and use the profits to fund my education and living. A friend haddone her masters at UOWD so I decided to do the sameQ.

Hard Work Always Goes First Being rather contentious when it comes to giving credit to her years spent study-ing, Cris admits that she worked diligently on her own steam during the early daysand even though she had won an award when she completed her degree, personalreasons kept her away from attending grad day. PAfter I finished my MIB degree Ispent a year working on the business plan full time. I was very disciplined and wasup at 6 a.m. every day, then walked for an hour on the beach only to get back,shower, put on my suit and sit down at the desk in my bedroom to start working. Iworked each day from 9 to 6 and put together the most detailed business plan myinvestors had ever seen and I used it to persuade them that I had what it takes tosucceedQ.

Finding the Right Partner After a rather atrocious experience which involved an unsuccessful tie up with a fewpeople who claimed to be mentors, helping her secure sound investors, Cris savedherself much trouble when she pulled her plans and sought out on her own to findother financers. Although she was set back a few dollars due to payments that hadto be made on othersS behalf, she almost found a decent break when she met a fewinvestors from Lebanon who were willing to back her up. Unfortunately, after spend-ing months working on fine tuning the business plan the war broke out in Lebanon.PThis was now 10 months after my masters had finished and I could only survive an-other 2 months on my savings before I had to give up and get a day job,Q she says.

WWhheenn CCrriiss FFeerrgguussoonn mmoovveedd ttoo DDuubbaaii iinn AAuugguusstt

22000022,, lleeaasstt ddiidd sshhee eexxppeecctt tthhaatt aa ffeeww yyeeaarrss ddoowwnn

tthhee lliinnee sshhee wwoouulldd bbee tthhee bbrraaiinncchhiilldd aanndd CCEEOO bbee--

hhiinndd oonnee ooff tthhee cciittyy’’ss bbeesstt--sseelllliinngg ssaannddwwiicchh jjooiinnttss

ccaalllleedd ‘‘DDaannttee’’ rreeeelliinngg iinn $$11..22mm iinn ttuurrnnoovveerr bbyy yyeeaarr

22000088.. IInn ffaacctt,, wwhheenn II sshhaarreedd oonnee ooff oouurr MMIIBB

ccllaasssseess wwiitthh hheerr aatt UUOOWWDD,, nneeiitthheerr ddiidd II iimmaaggiinnee

tthhaatt iinn aa ffeeww yyeeaarrss II’’dd bbee wwrriittiinngg aabboouutt hheerr aass aann

iinnssppiirraattiioonn ffoorr aallll oouurr rreeaaddeerrss aanndd ffeellllooww aalluummss..

BBuutt aass ddeessttiinnyy hhaadd iitt iinn ssttoorree,, II wwaass eeaaggeerr ttoo ccoonn--

ttaacctt CCrriiss tthhee mmiinnuuttee II lleeaarrnntt ooff tthhee nneewwss ffrroomm aann--

ootthheerr ccllaassssmmaattee.. AAnndd ssoo tthhee ssttoorryy ggooeess……..

BByy OOddeelliiaa MM OF LIGHT

“What I learned cannot be taught inany classroom and I thank god everyday for the opportunity I had”

Who: Cris Ferguson, 34 YrsNationality: ScottishEducation: MA in Psychology

(University of Glasgow)MIB 2005 (UOWD)



Then finally, just before she ran dry of funds to sustain herself, she was introducedto an inspiring entrepreneur named Paul Cracknell. PPaul started Cracknell, an awardwinning landscape architect firm, in Dubai in 1993,� recalls Cris, PHe worked ex-tremely hard and built up a well-recognized and respected business,Q she says. PHewas keen to get involved in something different, was passionate about food, andthought I had what it takes to make it work. Through Paul I met Amanda Line whowas also an experienced entrepreneurQ. When the three of them finally met up onemorning at the Lime Tree CafN in Jumeirah, it was probably the best thing that hadhappened to Cris in a very long time and, as she now says, Pthe rest is historyQ.

Building the Foundation By the time Cris teamed up with Paul & Amanda, her two best allies, it was now 3and half years since the inception of her plans for Dante. But four months intotheir partnership, things took a brighter turn. Paul had great contacts which helpedto get things moving, and Amanda, an equally successful entrepreneur and char-tered accountant brought her expertise to the table whilst giving Cris a crash-course in understanding finances. She admits, PI was never really a numbers personand didnSt really feel comfortable working with them, but Amanda taught me somuch about the financial side of business. In fact, now I really love the numbersQ.The next step was to secure the right staff, train them and motivate them, butnothing came easy at first. PWorking for a start up isnSt glamorous or well-paid. In-stead it is tiring, stressful and requires a huge amount of self- motivation. There arenot routines to follow, you have to create them. As the founder I had my own mo-tivations but I know some of our early managers struggled,Q recalls Cris admittingthat by the time they were actu-ally running the business, thingswere quite different from whatwas planned out. PIt was neverthat straight forward, as yougrow things change, numbersadjust. We fluctuated back andforth across that red line manytimes,Q she says, but in the endthey stuck through because ifthey were clear about anything, itwas the vision she had.

Developing the ConceptPAmanda and I were always veryclear on the concept,Q Cris saysand it was no surprise that whenDante started its operations, theylooked into every little detail, en-suring that all the food was createdfrom scratch. There were no addi-tives, flavorings, chemicals orpreservatives and yet the food wasas delicious and filling, that to, witha practical sense to it. PWe workedon ensuring that the food could easily be eaten on the run. I used to test sand-wiches to see if they could be eaten in the car while driving, without falling all overmy lapQ she says. PIt is designed to feed the busy, business community and so wewould never allow anything to go out that we wouldnSt eat ourselvesQ

The Power of Branding Dante is a wholesome convenient food company and the USP of the brand is tooffer Rwholesome, convenient food with no additives or preservativesS. With Crisand her partner Amanda sticking to the highest of standards, there seemed to be

no vagueness when it came to the brand identity and what it stood for. To remaintrue to the value, Cris says, PWe even roasted our own chicken to ensure we hadcomplete control. Our soups were made from scratch. I think we were pioneers inthis field in Dubai. Our packaging design was also very unique. About 2 monthsafter we launched I noticed that Appetite had rebranded their packaging. This wasa sign that we were doing something rightQ. Being a person who loved to expressherself and take a hands-on approach to everything, Cris made sure she gave thesame treatment to her company, clients and staff. PWe were always very customer-focused. I would address all complaints in person and we spent a lot of time train-ing our staff in the brand identity and customer service. People needed to knowDante and to trust Dante and I wanted it to be a brand that people could connectwith so I spent a lot of time on the text on the packaging, website and flyers. It wasimportant for me that Dante had a clear and friendly personality and I think in thatwe succeededQ.

The Business StrategyEven though healthy were not in much demand a few years back, the thriving busi-ness communities in DMC, DIC and Jebel Ali lacked proper food options thatwere light and healthy. I know this first-hand because when I came to join work atDMC back then, there were literally no options for healthy food and that is whereDante filled the gap. To date, it is one of the best natural food options for execu-tives on the go; nevertheless, getting that food to the many offices within the vicin-ity was no easy task as Cris recalls. POur business strategy initially was to have smallkiosks in office buildings all over Dubai as well as trolleys going around offices.

Once we were up and running we re-alized that getting kiosks in the rightlocations was too difficult…Q. Thenext easy option was to stock at pop-ular outlets, cafN and supermarketsbut even that route was not as easyas it sounded. PI went to see theCEO of Spinney�s at least a dozentimes before he finally agreed to putus on his shelves,Q says Cris, but alsoadmits that she now understands thehesitation, as it is not easy to build areputation. But perhaps the bestthing about the journey, is that Criswas always one to take life with apinch of salt, and her brand WseewebsiteX certainly reflects her spiritwhen it reads PIt took three years ofsingle-minded dedication Wand a fewmind numbing part time jobsX tomake it happen but Rome wasn�tbuilt in a day and neither was theperfect sandwichQ.

Moving on & Helping Out After 3 years of successfully running the business, Cris finally decided it was timefor a change and the time to take on something new. She says, PWe sold the busi-ness in June 2009 and I moved to Oslo in December where I currently reside withmy Norwegian boyfriend, my dog and 3 cats which I brought with me from DubaiWThe animals that is, not the boyfriendX. It was a tough decision to sell, but mypartners and I thought it was the right time. I was ready to move on to new chal-lenges as were they. I still miss Dante but I am loving my life in Norway and Iknow that Dante is being very well taken care of. I am still very proud when I get

Dante Team

“If there are two things that an entrepreneurneeds, I think it is determination and positivity. Ibounce back pretty fast and if I want some-thing, I will leave no stone unturned to get it!”


messages from friends in Dubai telling me they have just had aDante sandwich and it was deliciousQ If you are inspired by this story, remember that it takes more

than an idea, a plan and a passion. In fact, it takes all that and awhole lot of responsibility as well. As Cris shares her story, thereis a sudden epiphany that almost feels like dNjM vu at some point.Yet, it is this very fact that renders CEOSs ruthless as they tend toforget the human element that is required to stay honest, true andresponsible towards their role as providers and Cris Ferguson saysit best in her own words: PThere is a huge amount of responsibil-ity in being the boss. Every month I had 49 salaries to pay; salaries that were notonly for my staff but were also supporting their extended families back home inAsia. A motherSs medical treatments, a nephewSs school fees, a sisterSs house pay-ments, all these things were dependent on me and how I managed the businessQAs the saying goes, RWith great power comes great responsibilityS the reason thatDante may have survived so well, could well have been because its owners were

compassionate and responsible towards their staff. Currently, Cris works as a consultant in Norway, putting her

first-hand experience to use and giving her clients viable solu-tions to problems. She says, PAmanda always said there is nobetter way to learn about a business than reading the accounts.She was totally right. Numbers are the key. After all, businessesare supposed to make money and it is the numbers that willshow you where you are going wrong. I am so proud of Danteand what we achieved and I have absolutely no regrets. My ca-reer now is soaring and I owe that to Dante. I would recom-

mend it to anyone willing to put in the time, effort and passionQ


* Tackling risk & staying groundedI think too many people that start out only want to see the positive and ignorethe negative. They are so excited about the idea Wof a businessX and assume thateveryone will feel the same. I think it takes someone with no emotional invest-ment to really see the risks. Perhaps because it took me 3 years to get funding, Ithought long and hard about whether it was worth it. I had to put together aplan that would persuade someone to part with their own hard earned cash. Thismade me serious about the risks. My business partners both worked very hard toearn the money they invested in Dante and I saw that as a huge responsibility.That made me very aware of the risks and I am definitely much more risk aversenow, than I was then. Once piece of advice I would give is estimate the capitalyou need and then double it, estimate your time to break even, and then doubleit. Spend time brainstorming all the worst things that could happen Wbe reallynegative for onceX, evaluate the cost and probability of each one. If you still thinkit is worth it after that then game on! * Resilience pays when the world puts you downI remember very clearly before I found my investors, I was running out of timeand money to get things going. I went for an interview with a recruitment agencyto see if I could get a job if things didnSt work out. The woman there was so rudeand snobby. She told me my masters degree was worth nothing and that I didnSthave much experience and I would be lucky to get Dhs. 12,000 per month. It wasreally demoralizing but it made me all the more determined to succeed with mybusiness plan. Ironically a few weeks later I was offered the position of a Mar-keting Manager with a starting salary of Dhs. 20,000. I turned it down thank-fully because by then I was convinced I could make Dante work. A month laterI met Amanda and Paul. * The toughest of timesThe very early days were tough but once we got started things were changing soquickly. I had no experience in the food industry and Dubai is a really hard placeto do business. You arrange to meet someone, they donSt show up, or if they dothey bring the wrong sample. I found the lack of professionalism really frustrat-

ing. Doors close in your face every day but I was used to rejection. After 3 yearslooking for investors I had heard, PThanks but no thanksQ more times than I careto remember. Once we launched, some of the worse times were; standing outsidea building at noon in July, waiting for a lost driver to bring food for 100 people forour first ever corporate lunch; discovering that one of our best sales guys was steal-ing from us, and having to lay people off during the recession. When our first op-erations manager resigned for personal reasons I was devastated. She was a friend,an incredible worker and a huge support for me in the early days. I think themonth that followed was for me, personally, my lowest point. * The most memorable momentsThere were lots of hard times but they were mixed in with some amazing times.The same day could be both horrible and fantastic. The day we sold our firstsandwich, the day we opened the cafN, buying one of our choc bars from Wait-rose on the day it opened in Dubai Mall, the Dubai Rugby Sevens, feeding thepress at the Abu Dhabi Formula One… these were some of our best memories. * How little appreciation goes a long way My staff was also inspiring. In the early days we only had 3 guys making every-thing in the kitchen and to this day I am still amazed at what they managed toachieve and humbled by the hours they put in. It wasnSt just the kitchen; we hadsome incredible people who dedicated themselves to Dante 100%. Some are stillthere now and I am so proud of them and what they gave to the business and tome. * Sound Advice for the aspiring and ambitious I think it is also important to consider your motives for starting your own com-pany. The financial crisis can be seen as an opportunity too. Some businessesthrive in bad times. I donSt think it matters really if you plan your business strat-egy accordingly. Perhaps it is the best time to start up as things can only get bet-ter. I have recently worked on a project to rescue a failing business. Amanda wasright when she taught me that the most common mistake managers make is notkeeping a close enough eye on the numbers. During a recession you need to builda lean business and that is never a bad thing.

CRIS GIVES HER TAKE ON:

“If there are two things that an entrepreneurneeds, I think it is determination and positivity. Ibounce back pretty fast and if I want some-thing, I will leave no stone unturned to get it!”

Dante is now owned by Coffee Planet in Dubai. To place orders or for more information visitwww.dante.ae. If you1d like to get in touch with Cris for her Consultancy Services, write in tous and let us know.

Recommended Reading:““TThhee ddeeffiinniittiivvee bbuussiinneessss ppllaann”” bbyyRRiicchhaarrdd SSttuutteellyy.. II uusseedd tthhee bbooookk aassmmyy gguuiiddee.. BBuuyy iitt!!””

AlumniViewpoint


It was summer of the mid-1990�s, I was ten years oldand the sound of the notorious blood-sucking mosqui-toes in the thick dense tropical forest of the Northernmountain range of Trinidad & Tobago was ringing in myears. We were harvesting healthy bell peppers and greenfigs in the wee hours of the morning. We dragged thoseenormous crocus bags of produce, heading to the mar-ket to reap the rewards. Man! Those were the days. Howmany of us know about the farming days: the plowing,the weeding, the seeding and the harvesting? And ISmnot talking about FarmTown, or FarmVille on Face-book! Do we really know what it takes to toil the land;the enormous amount of strength, dedication and loverequired to produce a viable crop? From behind ourcomputer desks and blackberries, I am sure for manyitSs almost unfathomable. Is it safe to say the generationsbefore ate healthier and were more active?We often read about reports of drastic increases in mor-tality and morbidity rates as a result of heart disease,cancer and the other chronic non-communicable dis-eases. Recently, it was highlighted that one of the mostcommon medical conditions in the UAE is the RMeta-bolic SyndromeS which refers to a cluster of diseases af-fecting an individual; high blood pressures, high bloodsugars, obesity and high cholesterol. The World HealthOrganization WWHOX has ranked UAE 2nd in the worldwith respect to the incidence of diabetes and obesity.How did we reach to this point? Who are we to blamefor these escalating rates? Should this be a global, re-gional, national or personal concern? I believe itSs all of the above but there is great hope be-cause we can HEAL ourselves! How? While at Al Marzlast night, a dear friend said to me, Rgaining weight is partof the Dubai experienceS. I chuckled for a moment, onlyto contemplate for a minute whether or not it is true.RWas it really in the culture? No, it canSt be! This is ab-surd! R, I replied. Then it got me thinking, how we areconstantly bombarded with the various multi-culturalfoods and events in Dubai and how in turn, we ignorethe detrimental repercussions of our own lifestyle andhabits. While pursuing my Dietetics internship inTrinidad, the Caribbean Food and Nutrition InstituteWCFNIX, a specialized program by PAHO, launched aH.E.A.L . Campaign: Healthy Eating and Active Living. RI eat healthyS, some may say to themselves; but whatreally is healthy eating? Is it eating a salad for lunch orhaving a diet coke? Healthy eating is choosing a varietyof foods from the Food Pyramid every day. It also in-volves consuming well-balanced meals and practicingportion control. The food pyramid is the universal termfor food groups. These food groups are your grains, veg-etables, fruits, meats and beans, milk and fats & oils. Allthese food groups are of paramount importance sinceeach has their respective nutrients and hence serve dif-

ferent purposes in our body. Grains are known for providing our bodies with energy.Grains include any food made from wheat, rice, oats,cornmeal, barley or another cereal grain. Bread, pasta,oatmeal, breakfast cereals, tortillas, and grits are exam-ples of grain products. A healthful tip is to incorporatemore whole grains, for instance, whole-wheat breads &brown rice as these food choices are highest in fiber.While cooking, to reduce the amount of fats in our diet,try to use methods such as baking, boiling & steaming,as opposed to frying.My mother used to always tell me as a kid to eat my veg-etables so that I could be strong like Popeye! Well, I amsure that was sage advice! Apart from containing car-bohydrates, fruits and vegetables are loaded with the vi-tamins and minerals which help to make our immunesystems and bodies stronger. As well, I try not to over-cook vegetables, so as to keep the nutrients alive. I alsomainly use a variety of different colored vegetables, rawwhere possible. In the same light, any fruit or 100%fruit juice can be counted as part of the fruit group.Some ways to ensure that fruits are a part of your dailyeating habit is to try keeping a bowl of whole fruits onthe table or throw some packaged dried fruits in yourbag being sure that do not have added sugars. All foods made from meat, poultry, fish, dry beans orpeas, eggs, nuts, and seeds WnutsX are considered part ofthe meat and beans group. These foods are rich in pro-teins, minerals and fats. One thing to note is that pro-tein is vital to our bodies for repair and rebuilding ourtissues, muscles and blood vessels. The leaner parts ofthe meat are lower in fat content, such as the breast ofthe chicken. These are the better bet to choose. Keep inmind that there is no need to eat meat at every meal.Also the best choice in the milk and cheese productswould be those classified as being low-fat or fat free. Fats and oils are often viewed as bad for our health!True? Well, there is a secret behind fats. As with every-thing, there are always two sides to the coin: good andbad. I remembered my University of West IndiesWUWIX professor saying, PFats and oils protect the vitalorgans We.g. the heartX, and carries fat-soluble vitaminsWA, D, E, & KX from food to your body and provides thebody with energy. They are goodQ. That seemed like ajoke Russell Peters would say. But in fact, it is undoubt-edly truthful. Good fats are those which have good cho-lesterols WHDLX which help to remove excesscholesterol from the body. These include mono-satu-rated fats We.g. olive oils, vegetable oilsX; omega-6 fattyacids We.g. soybeanX; and even omega-3 fatty acids We.g.herring and salmonX. On the other hand, there are threetypes of the bad fats. Trans-fat We.g. fast food, fries,creamsX, bad cholesterol WLDLX deposit fatty substancesthat clog up your arteries and saturated fats, e.g. butter.

How can we reduce the bad fats in order to be health-ier? Use soft tub margarines instead of hard butter andtry measuring smaller portions of vegetable oils forcooking. Snack on fruits and nuts instead of sweets, pas-tries, potato chips and other high fat foods. Now that the healthy eating aspect has been viewedupon, what about active living? We commonly hear, RIam too busy to go to the gym!SOr RLetSs take the eleva-torS. Is active living exercise? I bet we all know the ben-efits of exercise, yet we are too consumed by ourso-called busy routines. I know from personal experi-ence it is very difficult to commit to some sort of rou-tine of exercises on a daily basis. We need to find waysto incorporate some sort of exercise in our daily lives.How about taking the flight of stairs instead, and hav-ing outdoor games with friends and family in the wintermonths though. For those that have a tread mill or cycleat home, instead of being a couch potato, run or cyclewhile watching television with a liter of water beside. These subtle ways of healthy eating and active living canhelp us live healthier and longer lives. After all, do youthink we can HEAL ourselves and save this nation frombecoming another statistic in World Health Organiza-tion WWHOX? Just remember, as Dubai is a diversemulti-cultural environment, so should our meals be:well-balanced, in moderation and diverse.

Immanuel Azaad Moonesar isthe Associate Editor of the SCHOLAR, UOWDResearch Newsletter as well as the Newsletter Edi-tor and Membership Secretary of the Academy of In-ternational Business 3 MENA region. Hisqualifications include a Master of Quality Manage-ment 4Distinctions5 from UOWD, a Diploma in In-stitutional Community Nutrition & Dietetics4Distinctions5 & a B.Sc. in Human Ecology: Nutri-tion and Dietetics from the University of West Indies4UWI5. In addition, he is a Registered Dietitian andcurrently works as an Institutional Research Officerat the UOWD.

Is it possible to Eat Healthy in Dubai?


CurrentStudents

It all started when Bhavik Salvi & Frank Shawn, both final year students of Com-puter Science and Engineering at UOWD were working on their list of 5 projectsout of which they would pick one as their Graduation project. Initially they cameup with the concept of using a multi-touch screen for several purposes such as inoffices and education, but then after having several brainstorming sessions with Dr.Watfa & Dr. Farhad, the idea of using the concept of Virtual Reality and Gamingin Physiotherapy was conceived. PAlthough it was just an idea, we had seen a videothat showed how difficult it is for kids with walking disabilities to undergo physio-therapy treatments, and this became the main motivation of our projectQ saysShawn. Their aim was to make physiotherapy a more interactive process so the pa-tient would focus less on the pain.

The Concept:Physiotherapy is a monotonous experience which is often very painful especially inthe case of children. RVwalkS integrates the concepts of virtual reality and gaming intophysiotherapy hence making it more interactive and interesting. Frank explains thatRVwalkS also acts as a RCognitive DistracterS, that is the patients feel like they are play-ing a game which consists of a lot of movements but in actual they are performing ex-ercises, hence are partially distracted from the pain and the activity.The concept of RVwalkS utilizes three main components which are; Infrared LEDSs

embedded into shoes, a Nintendo Wii remote and a Computer. The way they all worktogether is that the Virtual Walk software running on the computer along with thehelp of a projector is projected onto the floor. The patient will interact with what isseen on the floor and every time the patient Wwho is wearing the shoe which has anembedded infrared LED in itX takes a step, the LED emits infrared. This signal isthen picked up by the Wii remote and is sent to the computer via Bluetooth. Thecomputer then calculates if the patient has stepped on the correct spot and then de-pending on the calculations the next scene is projected. Virtual Walk is also an intel-ligent system that can help track patientsS progress over time.

The Challenge:Venturing into something completely new, Frank and Bhavik say that there werequite a few challenges they faced as they had not worked with several technologieswhich theySve made use of. They carried out an extensive research to find out theequipment and other essential resources they would need. The integration of all theequipment such as Wii remote, the projector, and the PC to work together as onesystem was also one of their biggest challenge, hence they ended up spending quitea lot of time in the project room. PWe had to research a lot, basically we had to eat,drink and sleep with Google to overcome some of the challenges and it also comesdown to determination and hard workQ says Bhavik.

The Strategy:Talking about their winning strategy at the Software Development Trade ShowWSTDSS10X where they won the first prize for their idea, Bhavik says PIt was some-thing that had not been done before and it is relevant in the world todayQ and Franksays PI think it was down to a RWOWS factor as well because we used the wall as atouch screen at the trade show to demonstrate how our project worked. Finally itwas down to our hard work and the support and backing of Dr. Farhad and Dr.Watfa which was very important towards our successQ.

The Mentors:This project was mentored by both Dr. Mohammed Watfa & Dr. Farhad Oroum-chian, both Associate Professors in the Faculty of Computer Science and Engi-neering at UOWD. Speaking about the success of his students Dr. Farhad says PIwas very happy when Frank & Salvi decided to take on this challenging project notonly because they are very knowledgeable and competent students but because thisproject has a humanitarian dimension to itQ.

The Next Step:Next on the list of discoveries by Frank & Bhavik is to extend the current systemto treat other disabilities like hand movements, and shoulder movements, just toname a few. POur future projects could make use of the multi touch screen to treatpatients who have phobias or we could even venture into other fields like offices andeducational institutesQ they say.

““VViirrttuuaall WWaallkk iinntteeggrraatteess ccoonncceeppttss ooff vviirrttuuaall rreeaalliittyy aanndd ggaammiinngg iinnttoopphhyyssiiootthheerraappyy mmaakkiinngg iitt mmoorree iinntteerraaccttiivvee aanndd iinntteerreessttiinngg””

-------- FFrraannkk && BBhhaavviikk..

“I was very happy when Frank & Salvi decided to take onthis challenging project. Not only because they are veryknowledgeable and competent students but because thisproject has a humanitarian dimension to it… I am quitesure our students can do similar research projects be-cause they have done it in the past. This year another

group of students who were involved in a research project about pro-cessing Arabic text submitted a research paper to a well known scientificconference. That by itself is a great academic achievement. Another groupwent to Poland to compete in an international venue… So our studentsnot only have the potential to do great research projects but they aredoing it. We only need to spread the news and encourage our students fordoing their best” ---- Dr. Farhad Oroumchian

Creating A Painless

AlternativeBhavik Salvi & Frank Shawn, ttwwoo uunnddeerrggrraadd ssttuu--ddeennttss aatt UUOOWWDD ccaammee uupp wwiitthh aa ccrreeaattiivvee ssoolluuttiioonn ttoo hheellpp cchhiillddrreenn ggoo

tthhrroouugghh pphhyyssiiootthheerraappyy.. TThheeiirr iiddeeaa wwaass ttoo ccrreeaattee ssoommeetthhiinngg tthhaatt hheellppeedd

aalllleevviiaattee tthhee ppaaiinn ooff tthhee mmoonnoottoonnoouuss pphhyyssiioo--sseessssiioonn tthhaatt kkiiddss uunnddeerrggoo

aanndd tthhrroouugghh tthheeiirr tthhiinnkkiinngg aanndd hhaarrdd wwoorrkk,, tthheeiirr pprroojjeecctt ‘‘VVwwaallkk’’ bbaaggggeedd

ffiirrsstt pprriizzee aatt tthhee rreecceenntt SSooffttwwaarree DDeevveellooppmmeenntt TTrraaddee SShhooww ((SSTTDDSS’’1100))..

TThhiiss iiss tthheeiirr jjoouurrnneeyy ttoo ssuucccceessss.. BByy AAllyy KKhhaann..

CurrentStudents


FOR CONSIDERATION OF OUR ALUMNI:PSA is constantly searching for sponsors to organize different events. “TheUOWD Alumni has been very co-operative and helpful to us all the timeand I would like them to help us get more sponsors” says Fizzah. If youwould like to sponsor any event or would like PSA’s help for a cause thenemail Fizzah with details. [email protected]

When Fizzah talks about the PSA she seems passion-ate, enthusiastic and perspicacious, to say the leastof her ideas. PThe PSA to me is the best plat-form to relate, show your abilities and ex-press your love and sincerity for yourcountryQ. Having represented UOWD atseveral sports events, she describes herselfas an REnergetic, fun, versatile, dedicated &highly optimisticS person who is good atmaking friends and even better at keepingthem and her contagious spirit has indeedplayed an important role in making the PSA oneof the largest clubs at UOWD.

Formed with an aim to unite all Pakistani students by hosting cultural andtraditional events, the PSA has over a 100 active members today, with manymore newcomers eager to join the Club every semester. After all, it is the oneplace where they can relax, enjoy a shared identity and unite together as onebody. From hosting fashion shows to celebrating cultural events such as thefamous Basant Festival, the PSA also organizes Ramadan Iftars and Eid din-ners to engage its members actively. PThese events portray Pakistani cultureto everyone and also provide the students to show their talent and love fortheir countryQ. But apart from hosting such fun events, the PSA also takesthe initiative to lend a helping hand to the needy communities back home.

When millions of people were left homeless and hungry due to the tensionsof war surrounding the SWAT valley region in May 2009, the PSA workedtirelessly along with the UOWD Charity Club collecting donations for the

““TThhee PPSSAA ttoo mmee iiss tthhee bbeesstt ppllaattffoorrmm ttoo rreellaattee,,sshhooww yyoouurr aabbiilliittiieess aanndd eexxpprreessss yyoouurr lloovvee aannddssiinncceerriittyy ffoorr yyoouurr ccoouunnttrryy””

Fostering Friendly

RelationsFizzah Ahmed Khan President of Pakistani Students Association (PSA)BBA 2010

By Aly Khan

Fund Raiser for the SWAT valley victims. In October 2008, when a devastat-ing earthquake left 120,000 people homeless, PSA wasted no time to organ-ize a Fund Raiser for the victims. Additionally, an annual Ramadan Charity isalso collected to help the poor and needy in UAE.

Along with her final year studies at UOWD, Fizzah handles many importantresponsibilities under her current role as President by hosting regular meet-ings with the Board Members of PSA. She also oversees activities such asinviting newcomers to the club, arranging sponsors for events and interactingwith members for the betterment of the Club. Other members on the PSAboard include the Vice President, Javeria Shamim who assists in planning, or-ganizing and ensuring necessities of an event such as transport, venue etc;Secretary Sarah Nj who communicates with all the members regarding latestupdates; & Treasurer Sabeen Irfan who is in charge of all the funds and ac-counting. PTogether we brainstorm for new and innovative ideas for futureevents and we try our best to make our members feel at homeQ says Fizzah.

For the past year and half, the PSA has been successful with their pattern ofhosting a variety of events. All their events encourage a multicultural envi-ronment and are attended by many different nationalities. If you wish join

the fun at PSA, you can join their Facebook page and get the latest up-dates on upcoming events. The PSA, togethe

r with

the cooperation of the many stu-

dents at UOWD, recently collecte

d a

total of AED 6,170 Wapproximately

141,910

Pakistani RupeesX along with sever

al cartons

of food supplies, blankets, shampo

os, soaps

and clothing for men, women and ch

ildren

during a 3-day flood relief campaig

n held

at the University campus in Dubai

Knowledge Village.


SpotlightOn

How long have you been

working at UOWD?

ISve been working at UOWDsince 2004, but I still clearlyremember my first day atwork. The six years seems tohave passed very quickly.

What about your career

prior joining UOWD?

When did you come to

the UAE?

ISm a BCom Finance graduateand also hold a Diploma inComputer Science. ISveworked in different indus-tries/businesses and various

countries in my 17 working years so far. Countries where ISve worked include;India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar & the UAE. My appointments in the sphere of ad-ministration & accountancy have taken my career across a shipping agency, an in-ternational airline, an event management company and an airport media &advertising company before joining UOWD. I had the misfortune of losing mydad to a heart disease while I was still in my teens and this added responsibilityon me with regard to finding a good salaried job assoon as I graduated from university cancelling anyplans for further studies. After completing a fewyears of work in India, I was offered a similar job inthis part of the world which I agreed to as the salarywas much higher and coming here was very excitingand challenging for a 23-year old.

What do your major responsibilities include?

Over the period of last six years, my job descriptionhas kept evolving and newer responsibilities havebeen added as the university became more struc-tured, systemized and organized. My major respon-sibilities in a nutshell would include guiding studentsin settling their academic issues within the policies,ensuring that teaching staff adhere to the internal &external quality assessment processes and providingthe Dean with administrative support in running theFaculty.

Would you highlight some of the most significant accomplishments

during your tenure?

When I joined UOWD in 2004, the lecture evaluations were conducted by Fac-ulty Coordinators, which included visiting every UG & PG class in a selectedweek every semester to distribute and collect evaluation survey forms from stu-dents. All these forms numbering over 8000 were then data entered in the sys-tem by the Coordinators to calculate the evaluation scores. This entire processhappened towards the end of the semester which was a very busy period in of-

fice. It was extremely difficult to complete other tasks in office while also visit-ing classes to conduct evaluation surveys the entire day. I discussed my solutionto this serious issue with the Dean and on getting approval had the surveys con-ducted by external invigilators and also put forth the idea to change the formatof the forms to enable them to be scanned in a customised machine to calculateevaluation scores automatically. This had a huge impact on work productivity asCoordinators could now be present in office to attend to students and completeother office tasks during this very busy period every semester.

How does a typical day at your job unfold?

Work begins at 8:30 a.m. with the first few hours spent on answering work-relatede-mails from staff & students. During this period students also visit my officewith academic requests, and their enrolment records are checked thoroughly be-fore appropriate solutions are offered. Throughout the day I receive a continu-ous flow of students who have to be guided correctly in solving various issues.Lecturers too visit with requests for making various arrangements for them orstudents. This multi-tasking has to be completed with a calm and cool tem-perament without causing major disruption to my other tasks which all havedeadlines for completion & submission. Significant time is also spent on chalk-ing out & planning processes and schedules for current and future semesters inconsultation with the Dean.

How about a bit on your family and your hobbies, interests and

career goals?

ISm happily married to my wife PIvyP since 6 years and goingstronger. We have a 3 ½ year old son PIkerQ who currentlyseems to think itSs better to break open any toy thatSs givento him after playing with it for an hour. HeRs completely ob-sessed with cartoon characters like Ben10, Spiderman, Su-perman & Batman and hopes to be all of them when hegrows up. My hobbies include reading novels, watchingmovies, travelling, socializing and sports. I have a keen in-terest in different cuisines and I love experimenting withcooking, though the final product always turns up very dif-ferent to what it should have and itSs never edible. My careergoal is to reach a management position and beyond, whilecontributing actively throughout in the successful growthof the organization.

Ivan D’SouzaFaculty Coordinator, Faculty of Finance and [email protected]

Ivan with his family

My dream job is Piloting a jet aircraft

One dream that I am yet to live is to manage and run my own profit mak-

ing business venture.

The best part of my experience at the Uni ismeeting and interacting

with staff & students from different nationalities, cultures & religions

.

The not-so-good aspect of life in the UAE is the Summer season which

seems to be getting hotter every year and makes it impossible for us

to remain

outdoors even for a few minutes. ItSs very sad & difficult to see peopl

e working

outdoors during this season because of the nature of their jobs.

If I were the President of UOWD for one day, ISd give myself a 100%

salary increment, but jokes apart, I wouldnSt be doing anything differe

ntly from

that of the current President. Instead, ISd just continue the great work

that heSs

doing in making UOWD the best & no.1 university in the UAE.

Ivan with his son Iyker


AlumniLife Abroad


I came to the UAE as…

My father had been transferred from Delhi to the Indian Consulate in Dubai, andI decided to make the move along with him and seek out further education optionsin the UAE. I first came to Dubai in 2003 just after finishing my BachelorSs in Busi-ness Administration from Delhi University. With Dad being in the Ministry, wewere used to shifting places quite often and the good thing was that we were in thehabit of adapting to various cultures easily. Dubai was a fabulous break, although thefirst few months here were nerve-racking to say the least of it as I missed my oldfriends and relatives. Not to mention, Dubai has a very special place in my heart asliving in this city taught me how to manage life and live independently. It was hereI made friends who are enough to last me a life time.

I opted for UOWD because…

It was the best Australian education available in the country. At first it was not easyto find a reputed university in the UAE, as there was a history of many closing downabruptly, leaving students with nowhere to go. Initially, I had planned to pursue myMasterSs in International Business and when I looked up the curriculum offered byUOWD, I was really impressed. The subjects thoroughly explored all the interna-tional areas one may need to learn to be able to face challenges of a global workingenvironment.

My best memories of the university are…

Working on the many assignments, as I feel that they were really the heart of thecourse. Though tough, the assignments truly taught us the fundamentals and theskill of applying theory to practical situations at work. Our professors at UOWDwere great and had immense knowledge of their respective subjects, paying atten-tion to critical detail when needed. I simply loved lectures by faculty such as Dr.Michael Singleton and Dr. Doug Young, both having the ability to make you un-derstand the most complex details in the simplest manner possible. Also, not for-getting Prof. Asharf MahateSs lively finance lectures. According to me, he is the onlyfinance Prof. who gave everyone a chance to learn from his vast experiences.

I loved dealing with diamonds when…

I was employed with DMCC WDubai Multi Commodities CentreX at the Kimber-ley Process Division that dealt with the trade of rough diamonds. It was here I trulygot the opportunity to experience cross-cultural exposure during my interactionswith manufacturers, traders and Government officials from all over the world. Iwas responsible for evaluation and quality check of rough diamonds used for tradein the UAE from all across the globe. I worked there for five years and continuedmy MIB degree at UOWD during the time.

Relocating to Switzerland was….

Challenging in terms of weather, people and language. I moved to Switzerland withmy husband in September 2009. As we live in the French part of Switzerland thebigger challenge for me was to find a job in an MNC with no language barriers. Inretrospect, I would say that it was a smooth move as I secured a job of my choicewithin 2 months of our move. Currently ISm working with the Noble Group in thecapacity of a Research Analyst and my job involves analyzing and forecasting thesupply and demand of Vegetable Oil and Biodiesel demand all over the world. ISvealso enrolled in a French language course and love the demands of my new job. Ialways nurtured a dream of working with a Fortune 500 company, and the day I gotpicked for the job at the Noble Group, I was thrilled beyond words. I had previ-ously done small term research projects in companies like Airtel and HLL in Indiabut to take research as a full time job was quite a challenge and I am loving it, as itopens your mind to the world and is a dynamic field and a great mind developingtool.

My work involves…

Locating various markets for the profitable trades of Vegetable Oil and Biodiesel.My work is very creative and drives you to innovation backed my rational conclu-sion based on volatile markets and world market trends. I believe that every job, atone point or another, tends to get monotonous but in a research-based job, thingsare constantly changing. Research Projects always tend to differ and we are requiredto devise a different methodology for every project depending upon the data avail-ability in that country. The Noble Group is a Trading Company that manages theglobal supply chain of agricultural, industrial and energy products. Noble providesvalue-added service in the commodities supply chain by integrating the origination,processing, distribution and delivery of commodities. They have a very strong globalpresence with more than 150 offices across all the continents in the world.

In the near future…

I would like to pursue further studies with specific focus on research and once Istart, UOWD will be the first door I will knock upon!! At the moment I have myhands full with projects focused on calculating vegetable oil demand for Canadaand India and would pursue projects for different markets in the near future. Apartfrom medicine, I believe Research is one field that allows you to be a student for alife time, as learning never ends. Down the road I see myself running an independ-ent consulting firm related to research activities and I intend to do my best to ful-fill that dream.

The best thing about life is….

Sharing of common interests with thosewho matter. For my hubby and myself, weSveboth been ardent travelers and now being incentral Europe, we have easy access to all ourfavorite destinations. The weather andbreathtaking landscapes are the magnets ofSwitzerland and itSs truly beautiful to be ableto enjoy different seasons from snow tospring and monsoon to summer. GodSsbiggest blessing for me comes in the face ofmy family and friends whoSve been my rock,and have believed and understood me with-out any need of words.

A SUCCESSFUL CHANGEOF CAREER & CULTURE

DEEKSHA TUTEJA-BEHL(MIB, 2005)Research AnalystNoble Group, Switzerland

Deeksha with her hubby Nitin Behl

RDouble your potentialS is true to Robert WilsonSs unrelenting spirits. An Indian byculture, heSs spent 22 years in Dubai exploring and accepting challenges that makehim a scholar in his field. WilsonSs self-motivation to pursue parallel goals has seenhim take on the roles of both, a mentor and student. During his MBA studies atUOWD, he worked as part of the UOWD administration, where he spent 10 yearsinstituting UOWD into a quality contributor of education and activities. Evenwhile he struggled with work responsibilities that demanded attention and keen-ness, he made sure to attend evening classes without fail. He relates, PThe learningcurve was a wonderful experience as I had to juggle double roles - that of being astudent to being responsible for all aspects of general administration at the Uni-versityQ. All through, WilsonSs secret motivator has been his belief that nothing inlife is impossible to achieve, and no doubt, it is this thought that has given him thesmile and calmness which remains unfazed despite the toughest job schedule. Apart from his successful completion of MBA in 1997, Wilson feels that UOWDhas allowed him to discover himself as an international personality. The blend of cul-tures and the consequent awareness that it brought about under the UOWD roof,coupled with study courses such Managing Multicultural Relationships, have beenof special interest to him. Pursuing his talent, heSs worked through several curricu-lums at middle and tertiary levels and these have included, the Indian, Nepali, Aus-tralian, British, and American systems. Of his experience in the educational fieldhe says, PIt has given me insights and comparative options to be able to authorita-tively talk about these systemsQ.Wilson currently acts as the Senior Manager of Operations and HR for the DubaiSchool of Government. His role is an everyday challenge which involves setting upeducation systems, ensuring its compliance to the learning environment and eval-uating the procedures and policies acceptable to academics. He acknowledges thatdespite deadlines, stress and tiring hours, the job has given him immense satisfac-tion over the past six years. On a last note with him, I ask his plans for the future and he expresses his interestin pursuing a DBA at UOWD. He says, PI wouldnSt miss an opportunity to be backat UOWD! I have lots of memories thereQ. Automatically, the immediate questionwas who he misses at UOWD. Taking some time to find the best memory, hereplies, PThe professor who made a great impact during my post-graduate life wasDr. Jihad Nader, who was a font of wisdom in most areas of business.Q We wish Wilson all the best in his endeavor and look forward to having him atUOWD for yet another accomplishment! If youSd like to get in touch with Robert,email him on [email protected]


AlumniWho, When, Where


MBA 1997Senior Manager Operations and HRDubai School of Government

Beaming as usual, she ordered an icy cafN latte for both of us at Starbucks. As thewaiter disappeared, we rushed to muse over our bygone days at UOWD. We rec-ollected our first introduction with each other at the founding of the BESACLUB, an organization initiated by Bangladeshis at the campus. As the memo-ries come flooding back, she confesses that if it wasnSt for the UOWDSs activezone celebrating several cultural festivities through the year, she would have notshared cultural experiences with people from Bangladesh and other countries. PIfit wasnSt for UOWD and Zeenath Khan, I wouldnSt have had the opportunity tohost the BESA Club launch event. It was also the best feeling to be part of theMulticultural Festival 2010, and bag an award with the team for the Best Stall forBangladeshQ she says. In her flow, she shoots up her hand and gives me a high-five, exclaiming, PYou rock UOWD!Q reminding me of the typical Fairoz Hos-sain during her days as a student. For Fairoz, her last four years at UOWD has inevitably been the best years oflife. Together with the trials and errors, the many challenges, never-ending proj-ect work and the constant fight for time with friends Wjust for some fun right be-fore the exams were dueX have all etched colorful memories. But with all thathappening and her constant struggle to fly high with grades, Fairoz firmly be-lieves that being prepared was and is, the only way to commit and deal with any-thing in life. It was the same belief that helped her achieve a Distinction for herB.Com WFinanceX Degree earlier this year in January and now sheSs already pur-suing for CIMA exams. She says, PI love being busy, it gives me a push to do thebest in what I am pursuing.Q Confident and high-spirited, Fairoz took the job of a trainee accountant at theThyssenKrupp Elevator in Dubai, soon after graduation. She thanks UOWDfor instituting the fundamentals in her, which helps her at work with preparingand analyzing financial reports and applying accounting principles like IFRS andGAAP. She is also particularly thankful to UOWD for assisting her to connectto ThyssenKrupp through the career fair. She says, PI remember Accy200 as theone most difficult course during my study and it was traumatizing at times, butall the hard work paid off when I was contacted by ThyssenKrupp, Deloitte andXerox soon after the Career Fair in March 2010. I must say, UOWD has facili-tated me with great channels for reaching the real-world business!Q We congratulate Fairoz for her new job and wish her the best for her CIMAqualifications.

BCom (Finance) - 2010Trainee AccountantThyssenkrupp Elevator UAE

Fairoz with her Dad on Graduation Day


MBA 2005 Executive Manager Giesecke & Devrient


Life is large in Audrey FonsecaSs perspective and it is very rare to find peoplelike her who can embrace the joy of many relationships, tied with growing re-sponsibilities. But when it comes to being the best at juggling so many things,Audrey wins our vote. She wears a smile, elegant and optimistic, be it at homemanaging household and kids or at work around troughs and ridges. Her be-lief in doing things well is what probably sets her apart from the crowds andshe does not hesitate to confirm this with her motto: PEvery job is a self-por-trait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.Q Audrey is an Indian expatriate, but the UAE has been homeland to her wheresheSs spent 34 years as a resident of Dubai, this being her birthplace. No won-der, her patriotism for UAE is naturally inherited. Living this long in the city,I ask her how she perceives the recession in UAE and she is extremely con-fident in her reply. PI still believe in the UAE and its leaders! I have witnessedthis country growing and breaking world records all the time. I am sure itwill survive this economic hurdle and will emerge as one of thefastest growing nations once again.Q Audrey, whoSs always made choices based on self-satisfaction in-stead of compromises, says that sheSs happy to be a workingmother. Her role as an Executive Manager at Giesecke & De-vrient demands time and efficacy, where challenges magnifythemselves, but Audrey is determined and to take her profes-sional life with a pinch of passion. PResponsibility and consid-eration are my key words for personal and professional life.Every firm I have worked at, whether large or small, I haveworked with the passion of a business owner U everything elsejust falls into place.Q A rare quality indeed, that is to be able towork for something as if itSs your own, and no doubt this hasproved Audrey a successful asset for any firm. PTime management was a nice elective at UOWDQ says Audrey,who completed MBA in 2005. Her responsibilities tripled whenshe was studying for her degree. She recalls, PBalancing a de-manding job and a toddler at home, while attending classes,

meeting project deadlines and group assignments was not easy and lookingback I almost canSt believe I managed to do it all and do it well. I have cometo appreciate that if thereSs a true desire, a lot of things are possible.Q Ac-cording to Audrey, MBA classes for Human Resource Management and ITProjects Management have helped her develop organizational behavior skills.She extols those courses, in that they were not just excellent in theory, butalso because the students in class, with their experiences and cross-culturalexposure across many organizational levels and professions, created a senseof adaptability and forwardness, essential for the real-business world. We feel that AudreySs positive perspective towards life and the passion thatshe devotes to pursue her desire has made learning a never-ending episode forher. Best of luck Audrey and keep up that beautiful smile through thick andthin! If youSd like to get in touch with Audrey, you can email her on [email protected]

“Balancing a demanding job and atoddler at home, while attendingclasses, meeting project deadlinesand group assignments was not easyand looking back I almost can’t

believe I managed to do it all and doit well. I have come to appreciatethat if there’s a true desire a lot of

things are possible.”

Audrey with her daughter


MIB 2005 Business Development ManagerAustralian Consulate General, UAE

For Zareen Hussain, the old saying Rslow and steady wins the raceS has workedreally well. Born in Abu Dhabi, she completed her schooling there andachieved a BachelorSs qualification from India before returning to UAE. Onceback, she moved on to work and study in Dubai, always giving priority to hereducation as she believes that learning is an essential ingredient, convenientand accessible everywhere. She says of her interest, PThe irony is that welearn something better than the other, probably because we enjoy learningsomething more than the other.Q Following her undeniable zeal to do what-ever she does with great interest and passion, Za-reenSs resilient determination has helped her achieveawards in education and work. In 2005, Zareen successfully completed her MIBfrom UOWD. For her, challenges did not limit them-selves to her courses and assignments as she neededto adjust and comprehend a new education curricu-lum very different from the system back in India. Shesays. PFor me, UOWD taught me to discover my po-tency. While at University, I surprised myself. In notime I adapted to the multicultural community, a different education systemand the Middle Eastern lifestyle.Q Zareen also thanks her favorite professorsfrom UOWD- Dr. Ashraf Mahate and Dr. Doug Young, whose words haveinspired her many a time, on the personal and professional front. After grad-uating, Zareen decided to acquire sound work experience before engaginginto formal studies in the future. Focused and adamant, she has spent the last six years working at the Aus-tralian Consulate General in Dubai. As a Business Development Manager,she strives continuously to identify and develop export and investment op-portunities for Australian organizations and works at creating potential in-dustry relations within the regions. She relates, PI have taken many thingsfrom UOWD to work. Marketing and management skills, research-intensivecourses and an Australian background have provided me a better under-standing of the core activities related to my professional work and the Aus-

tralian trading network.Q The weight of ZareenSs tremendous effort hasachieved her several winning titles. In 2005, she received a letter of appreci-ation from the Australian MinisterSs office for her dedicated service to anAustralian client in the UAE. Her project REmployee CommunicationsS wasacknowledged in 2007 marking her completion of the RAchieving AustradeSsPriorities ProgramS. She was awarded in 2008 with the EMEA Client ServiceAward for commendable performance in promoting and sharing knowledgethrough the PConnectQ technology, and later bagged the Global Austrader

Award for modeling excellence as a team player in thePOne Austrade approachQ. Given her ambitious streak, Zareen has proved thatshe has an eye to magnify her goal and the determi-nation to pursue it. Keep up the good work Zareen,and we hope that you bag more deserving awards inthe future! If youSd like to contact Zareen, email heron [email protected]

“I have taken many things fromUOWD to work. Marketing andmanagement skills, research-intensivecourses and an Australian back-ground have provided me a betterunderstanding of the core activitiesrelated to my professional work andthe Australian trading network.”

Zareen on a trip to Europe with friends from UOWD

Zareen on graduation day


As students progress towards and into their final year of study, it is ofvalue that they gain some level of interactivity and experience with In-dustry professionals, and associated research opportunities. As an As-sistant Professor working with final year UOWD Computer Scienceundergraduate students, I have had several Industry-based projectswhich students have been actively engaged in. Some of these include:

* ScrambleX: A software designed in collaboration with JumeirahPrimary School WJPSX to help students with dyslexia in their develop-ment, as well as an assistive teaching tool for the instructor.

* ILEAS:A virtual reality learning environment for students withautism. This project was developed in collaboration with the DubaiAutism Centre and has recently been deployed at the Centre. It pro-vides an interactive environment for the students to learn computerskills and daily life skills, specifically developed for students with thedevelopmental disorder of autism.

* Newborn Hearing Screening Software: Designed in collaborationwith the American Hospital Dubai. This system enables databaseentry, monitoring, notification and statistical analysis of new born ba-bies that suffer varying degrees of hearing impairment and has re-cently been deployed at the ENT department at the Dubai AmericanHospital.

* VMCCA:A software for virtual modeling of the human cochleawith clinical application. This enables the surgeon to semi-automati-cally extract the cochlea and surrounding anatomy from a series of CTscans and reconstruct it in 3D, for pre-operative planning and assess-

ment. This project was done in collaboration with an ENT surgeonfrom the American Hospital Dubai.

* Ear-It:A mobile phone application that enables detection, manage-ment and prevention of hearing loss. This project was done in collabo-ration with the audiology department at the American Hospital Dubaiand was selected to represent the UAE in the international finals insoftware development for the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2010, in Warsaw,Poland.

Most Industry-based projects provide opportunities for students to pub-lish their research findings and implementation methodologies, as wellas expose students to Industry practices and standards, as well as specialneeds within the wider community. Projects require application of stud-ies as well as research into new disciplines and often new programminglanguages and environments.

Industry-based projects also give students leverage to compete in na-tional and international competitions due to the standards and commu-nity-applicability of the work.

I would recommend any student to, if given the opportunity, work withIndustry on an applied project. Even though a challenge, Industry-basedprojects provide many benefits and opportunities for students interestedin research and project-based work, and for future employment oppor-tunities.

Dr. Catherine ToddAssistant Professor, FCSE UOWD

Building Effective PartnershipsThe importance of Industry-based partnerships and how select-

ing an appropriate project can enhance your career prospects

The Last Word


Documents

Stay Connected - Volume 1 Issue 3 - September 2010