Engineering Watch initiating "Campus Walks" with the sprawling Campus of United Group of Insitutions – Video

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Engineering Watch initiating "Campus Walks" with the sprawling Campus of United Group of Insitutions
Engineering Watch will unravel the majestic world of the techno-managerial campus across the country. EW covered United Group of Institutions under this cate...

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Engineering Watch initiating "Campus Walks" with the sprawling Campus of United Group of Insitutions - Video

Ours is a multi-tired education-eco system: Dr Ayoub Kazim

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The vision to transform Dubai into a higher education hub was set about a decade ago. We built the three free zonesDubai Internet city, Dubai Media city and Dubai knowledge village.

We segregated knowledge into two categories: 1. A hub where development and empowerment of human resource took place - the Dubai Knowledge Village (DKV), and 2. A higher education zone primarily to host national and international institutions- the Dubai International Academic City (DIAC)

We conceptualised DKV as a regional destination for education and invited institutes of higher learning, assessment centres and professional training academies to set up their campuses here. DKV provides services to even regions like East Africa and India. It houses over 500 training institutes, executive search firms and HR consultancies, and educational services providers.

Of the worlds 200 international branch campuses, the highest number, 37 are in the UAE. 25 of these are in Dubai under the DIAC umbrella. We started with 2000 students and now we have 22,000 students of 120 different nationalities pursuing higher studies here.

We constantly try to attract world class institutions to uplift our education standard.We encourage institutions to design programmes to cater to our diverse regional market. We have about 400 programmes at the under graduate, post graduate and doctoral level.

Boston, which hosts over 70 multi-tiered universities, is our role model. It is a vibrant hub where universities catering to masses rub shoulders with the classy Ivy League institutions. We are in the process of building a similar edu-ecosystem, where institutions from USA, UK, Australia, Canada and our next door neighbours like India, will co-exist, and where a diverse students community with intellectual capacities will grow together. While Boston is all American, we have gone global- 21 of our 25 universities are international. Four to five of these are Indian. They are next door neighbours to allow a free flow of culture and learning.

We focus on student and faculty exchange, curriculum development programmes, research and development collaboration; sharing of facilities and staff. The latter to give the staff an international exposure.

Foreign universities wanting to come here have to comply with certain rules. Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), the governing body, has established the University Quality Assurance International Board to assess and license institutes. KHDA also attests degree/ diploma certificates thereby making it possible for students to get jobs easily. Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA), which is a federal body , also issues accreditation to universities.

DIAC has evolved a 34-pont criteria for the assessment of institutions. National and international ranking of an institution, quality of its programmes, research expertise and its ability to respond to the needs of the region, are a few of them. Only about 20 universities have got permission during the past five years.

Oil and gas form only five per cent of our GDP. So we are focussing on human resource development. Our government has selected 12 sunshine sectors that could contribute to the economy of the country and the region. These include transportation and logistics, construction and real estate, tourism and hospitality, aviation, fashion, media, oil and gas, public health, renewable and nuclear energy and education. We are encouraging universities to weave fitting courses to create the right human capital to support these industries. Courses in solar and nuclear energy, energy management as well as transportation and logistics are increasingly becoming popular.

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Ours is a multi-tired education-eco system: Dr Ayoub Kazim

Part Man, Part Machine, "Spermbots" Swim Wild and Free

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Twin-tailed version is eight times as fast

If it looks like a sperm and swims like a sperm, it must be a .... cyborg? I. Part Man, Part Machine, Pure Spermlike Terror That's true, if you're talking about the "tiny swimming bio-bots" designed by the lab of University of Illinois mechanical science and engineering Professor Taher Saif. Professor Saif and his student research team took a thin filament of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) -- a silicone plastic commonly used in The Wendy's Comp. (WEN) fries and McDonald's Corp. (MCD) nuggets and fries -- and mounted cultured human heart cells (cardiomyocytes) to it. They hail their "spermbot" "the first synthetic structures that can traverse the viscous fluids of biological environments on their own."

Professor Saif brags:

Micro-organisms have a whole world that we only glimpse through the microscope. This is the first time that an engineered system has reached this underworld. It's the minimal amount of engineering -- just a head and a wire. Then the cells come in, interact with the structure, and make it functional.

The swimmer doesn't find it hard at all to thrust its way into foreign environments, plunging through the dark, wet depths of its test environments.

The little squirt can swim at a frisky pace of 5 to 10m per second. Researchers found that they could improve on nature's design, though, if they equipped the cyborg with twin tails.

The most intriguing aspect of this work is that it demonstrates the capability to use computational modeling in conjunction with biological design to optimize performance, or design entirely different types of swimming bio-bots. This opens the field up to a tremendous diversity of possibilities. Truly an exciting advance.

Professor Saif remarks:

The long-term vision is simple. Could we make elementary structures and seed them with stem cells that would differentiate into smart structures to deliver drugs, perform minimally invasive surgery or target cancer?

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Part Man, Part Machine, "Spermbots" Swim Wild and Free

Shock-O-Rama: Evolver

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By Chuck Francisco January 22, 2014 Source: Mania.com

Movies centered around the dangers of technology run amuck focused on two primary flavors, in the cyber drunk decade known as the 1990's: angsty cyborg killers with the will to fight their evil corporate programming, and operatic cyberspace dreamscapes populated by "hackers". Sure, every flick didn't fit into this flock, but with the swift tap of my fingers on Apple glass I've just described dozens of films. From among their number rolls Evolver, off the John de Lancie assembly line. Yes fellow nerds, the man who would be Q is the fictional brains behind the Evolver home game, having crafted a prototype robot to engage the imagination and children of consumers at Christmas season. But how should its bugs be tested and kinks worked out?

Perhaps in a nod to The Last Star Fighter, the company decides to bestow that beta tester status upon the highest scoring player of their virtual reality version of the Evolver game (I want to be involved in one of these board meetings at some point in my life. "Yes, give our multimillion dollar prototype to a twitch kid, high on energy drinks and ADD!"). Onto the scene, spinning like a top, rotates Ethan Embry (who I will shameless admit to loving in both Empire Records and Can't Hardly Wait). The spinning analogies are apropo as we are introduced to him engaged in a 90's VR booth, which includes a surrounding, waist high rail, VR helmet, and blaster gun. These earliest games had very rudimentary directional tracking and, while they had their own specific games, were mostly used to play ports of Quake and Duke Nukem 3D (I spent a good chunk of time working at a laser tag and virtually reality place on the Jersey shore in the 90's). So I'm familiar enough with the tech to know the game represented on screen, while cutting edge CGI of the time, was just not possible outside of the fanciest of screen savers.

Embry is one of those actors that is delightful in pretty much whatever he pops up in, including his recent stint on Once Upon a Time. As our protagonist in Evolver, he is moments from claiming the high score when into the game spawns Cassidy Rae as "the love interest". Her appearance womps Embry over the head, leaving him enshrined at second place by a mere fifty-five points. With a quick bit of Hollywood Hacking (TM), he quickly adjusts the score and is awarded with a home visit from John de Lancie's robot install service. I should quickly point out that the hacking itself has a bit more credibility than most films (for the time or at all), which is probably a result of budgetary constraints, but since it actually works, we won't begrudge it.

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Shock-O-Rama: Evolver

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance review: An exhilarating blast of dumb

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Imagine a giant, roughly 200 ft. tall robot shoots a barrage of missiles at you. Do you:

a) Try to run away, but fail and die in a blazing inferno?

b) Wet your pants and cry?

c) Run towards the robot, using the missiles as platforms as you parkour your way through the air and chop the menacing machine in half with your sword?

If the prospect of Option C makes half of you want to bust out in incredulous laughter while the other half explodes in raucous applause, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance will be your type of gameif you can figure out how to control all the action, that is.

To be clear: the above situation isn't some hard-earned, climactic encounter that caps off a dozen hours of middling third-person action. This is Revengeance's opening sequenceliterally the first real encounter you have in the entire game.

Yeah, that happens.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is so sillyso downrightinsaneIcan almost forgive its absurd title.Revengeance is capital-Ffun, an exhilarating ride from start to finish.

The combat is really tight andwith the exception of some annoying boss encounterswell-balanced. Once you dig into Raiden's moves a bit more, there's a really rewarding game to be found.There's a surprising amount of depth in Revengeanceperhaps not as much as Devil May Cry, with its seamless weapon-swapping combat, but enough to keep things interesting. You just have to discover the depth for yourself. (Much more on that later.)

Parrying is especially satisfying, and there's a real sense of progress when you go from "Blade Wolf as boss fight" at the beginning of the game to effortlessly fighting multiple Blade Wolves at the same time later on. The addictive, combo-based swordplay oozes ridiculous style and insane violence in equal amounts.

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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance review: An exhilarating blast of dumb

Sandals and Beaches Resorts Wedding Dream Teams: Creating the Ultimate Caribbean Destination Wedding – Video

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Sandals and Beaches Resorts Wedding Dream Teams: Creating the Ultimate Caribbean Destination Wedding
With expert assistance from Sandals #39; and Beaches #39; Wedding Planners, brides-to-be create their most meaningful and creative destination weddings. Engaged coup...

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Sandals and Beaches Resorts Wedding Dream Teams: Creating the Ultimate Caribbean Destination Wedding - Video

10 Beautiful Beaches In Malaysia

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Details Published on Thursday, 23 January 2014 14:56

Take time off for some family vacaion by the beach. /Google ImagesALL work and no play makes Jackie a dull girl, so do remember to take a break from your busy city life and enjoy a relaxed vacation.

You dont even have to travel to the Maldives for beautiful blue waters and white sand Malaysia has a lot of its own islands that you can go to!

If you havent planned any travel resolutions this year, why not make one of these beaches a must-visit spot for a romantic and relaxing getaway?

1. Rawa Island

Seeking a more secluded vacation? Rawa Island is a small island 16km off the east coast Peninsula Malaysia, and is best known for its white-sands, turquoise waters and its exclusivity. Owned by the family of the Johor Sultanate, Rawa has only two resorts available, but its the perfect spot for a weekend getaway.

Pics /lipstiq.com

2. Sipadan Island

Located in Sabah, Sipadan is a delight for paradise seekers. The beach is not all that attracts tourists from all over. Surrounding the island is stunning corals with over 3000 species of marine life. Sightings of sharks, barracudas, turtles and manta rays are fairly common too. Sipadan Island is also the perfect place for divers.

Pics /lipstiq.com

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10 Beautiful Beaches In Malaysia

Statewide public beach smoking ban proposed

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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -

Smoking has been prohibited on all O'ahu city and county beaches since January 1, 2014. Now state lawmakers are introducing a bill to expand the ban to every island.

House Bill 325 would outlaw smoking on all public beaches in Hawai'i.

"This is a huge public issue and I think it will cover every island, every shoreline so it's a pretty massive undertaking and I think it's time for that discussion," said Representative Cindy Evans, the House Water and Land Committee Chair who introduced the bill.

"It would be just an amazing thing if you all could take the lead on this and just have a policy across the state," said Stuart Coleman of the Surfrider Foundation, who testified in support of the measure during a hearing at the Capitol Wednesday.

Few people signed up to oppose the measure, but no one spoke publicly against it. In the past, opposition has varied from smoker's rights to the negative impact it could have on tourism specifically visitors from Asia.

"They still smoke a lot, but there are lots of rules and regulations against it. If you go to Korea, Japan or China you'll find lots of people not smoking because of bans in various public areas. So, what would the impact of banning it here be? I think it would be good to ban it because it would position Hawai'i as an environmentally friendly state that's taking this measure to stomp out this horrible problem that we have," explained supporter Richard Fassler, who formerly worked for state's Department of Business and has been a long-time advocate for similar previous measures.

Lawmakers say the challenge they face is defining exactly which areas this would impact.

"People could go out stand in the sandy water smoking their cigarette and throw their butt in the water, so the question is do we define public beach to where it actually goes out to what they call the toe where the rocks start? I think that's reasonable to consider that," explained Evans (D Kaupulehu, Waimea, Halaula).

Another element lawmakers have to consider is whether the ban should include e-cigarettes, which are currently not regulated. Health experts say the nicotine in them is toxic and they're concerned about the empty cartridges.

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Statewide public beach smoking ban proposed

It’s a new era in astronomy

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The recent discovery of neutrino particles bombarding Earth from outer space has ushered in a new era in neutrino astronomy, scientists say.

Neutrinos are produced when cosmic rays interact with their surroundings, yielding particles with no electrical charge and negligible mass. Scientists have wondered about the source of cosmic rays since they were discovered, and finding cosmic neutrinos could provide clues about the origin of the mysterious rays.

In November, a team of scientists announced the discovery of cosmic neutrinos by the giant IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica. [Neutrinos from Beyond the Solar System Found (Images)]

- Francis Halzen, principal investigator of the IceCube observatory

"We now have the opportunity to determine what the sources are, if we are indeed seeing sources of cosmic rays," said Francis Halzen, principal investigator of the IceCube observatory and a theoretical physicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "The big difference why it's new astronomy is that we are not using light, we are using neutrinos to look at the sky."

Cosmic visitorsNeutrinos are the social misfits of the particle world they rarely interact with matter. Produced in some of the most violent, but unknown, events in the universe, they travel to Earth at close to the speed of light and in straight lines, which reveals information about their origin. Supernovas, active galactic nuclei and black holes are some of the possible sources for these ghostly particles.

Until recently, scientists had only detected neutrinos beyond Earth from the sun or from a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud in 1987. No neutrinos from distant cosmic sources had been seen.

But in April 2012, IceCube recorded two neutrinos with extremely high energies almost a billion times that of the ones found in 1987 that could only have come from a high-energy source outside the solar system. After looking deeper into the data, scientists found a total of 28 high-energy neutrinos with energies greater than 30 teraelectronvolts (TeV), reporting their finding in the journal Science.

The finding opens the door to a new kind of astronomy that would "image" the sky in the light of neutrinos, rather than photons. "Each time we find another way to make a picture of the sky using gamma rays, X-rays, radio waves you have always been able to see things you never saw before," Halzen told SPACE.com.

The successful completion of IceCube and the prospect of other telescopes on the horizon have set the neutrino world abuzz.

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It's a new era in astronomy