Saturday 29 / June / 2024
Muscat: Oman Across Ages Museum in Wilayat Manah embraced the opening ceremony of the 20th Students' Forum (Digital Horizons) of The University of Technology and Applied Sciences today Monday 8th May under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Said Mohammed Al Saqri, Minister of the Ministry of Economy.
With the attendance of His Excellency Dr. Said Al Rubaie, Vice Chancellor of The University of Technology and Applied Sciences, and his Assistants, Wali of Manah His Excellency Dr. Faisal Al Zidi, professional bodies from various entities of Al Dakhliya Governorate, Deans of UTAS all branches and their assistants besides administrative and academic faculty members from branches of UTAS, the opening ceremony of the Forum commenced with the national anthem followed with the screening of a Recitation of the Holy Qur'an recited by the student who ranked first in the Students' Creativity Competition.
The event displayed the speech of the 20th Student Forum delivered by the Vice Chancellor of UTAS His Excellency Dr. Said Al Rubaie in which he said “The organization of this event stems from the university's belief in its pioneering and fundamental role in qualifying and preparing generations capable of investing in modern digital technologies, employing them to hone their capabilities, and providing them with future skills.” That will enable them to contribute to making rapid developments in the field of technology and communication and to fuel the spirit of competition among one another, as it will qualify the students to participate in local, regional and international competitions.” He added “The 20th Students' Forum is back this year in its new look, to include six fields that varied between Religious, Literary, Scientific,
The Opening of the Forum witnessed a presentation delivered by Khamis Al Khusaibi, an Information Technology Specialist from UTAS Nizwa in which he delivered a summary about the electronic system of the Students’ Forum of UTAS that is been launched and implemented for the first time in this year’s version of the Forum. Khamis stated in his delivery “The manual paper work has been replaced with digitalisation in this version of Student’s Forum in which a website was launched to simplify the tasks of the participants in various competitions, supervisors, head of the Forum and heads of Competitions and the evaluation committee besides the browsers of the website”. He emphasized “This system is part of UTAS initiatives and plans in digital transformation that aims to help achieving digital empowerment and operational efficiency for Academic Institutions in the Sultanate of Oman besides offering solutions and technical tools that help in managing various tasks and managing the change and institutional innovation”.
Later, the opening of the exhibition was kicked off by the patron of the Forum HE Dr. Said Al Saqri in which he walked through the exhibition along with the delegates and attendees and listened excitingly to the outstanding participations of the students from various branches of UTAS. Participants gave an effective explanation of the projects and works that are part of the exhibition.
The student Ibtihal Al Habsi from UTAS Salalah talking to Times of Oman about her participation in the competition with a painting performed by her “I am very glad to take part in this competitive Forum, the painting expresses the Omani features through the ‘Barqa’a’ as it is a symbol of cover and decency in Omani Culture. The dark colours used in my painting reflect the strong personality while the light colours express optimism”. Ibtihal conveyed her happiness and delight in being part of this unmissable Forum that is been hosted in Oman Across Ages Museum.
Another creative project of two students named Ahlam Al Obaidani and Maithaa Al Sharqi from UTAS Ibra branch took part in the Forum titled ‘e Aitisal’. Ahlam and Maithaa majored in Software Engineering said to Times of Oman “We came up with the idea of establishing an application for the alumni of UTAS branches who want training and job opportunities in the market, this application displays any available opportunity for graduates of UTAS branches in which they can apply for, more updates and upgrades of the application e Aitisal will be provided and implemented at a later stage”. They added “We found ourselves to be lucky for being part of this Forum and we are optimistic about the final results of the competition”.
The opening ceremony of the students’ Forum was wrapped up with Hackathon program “Digital Horizons”. A number of coemptions and excellent sessions were undertaken within a limit of 24 hours.
It is worth mentioning that the event will continue its sessions on Tuesday with more fruitful activities and workshops to be held and Wednesday will be the closing ceremony of the 20th Students’ Forum in Oman Across Ages Museum.
Ahlam and Maithaa
Ibtihal Al Habsi
