The Department of Drama at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Yarmouk University organized an event celebrating World Theater Day. At the beginning of the ceremony, the head of the drama department, Dr. Bilal Al Thiabat, stressed the importance and status of theaters globally, reviewing the most important theater directors, writers, and actors throughout ages. He noted that several drama stars at the local and Arab levels are graduates of the drama department at Yarmouk University. However, the ceremony included a theatrical performance supervised by Dr. Muhammad Khair Al-Rifai and directed by Dr. Bilal Al Thiabat and it was presented by lab course students represented by Sondos Sawalha, Muhammad Al-Musleh, Rashid Al-Waked, Muhammad Atharba, and Bashar Abu Alloush.
The President of Yarmouk University, Professor Islam Massad, the members of the teaching and administrative staff, and students, extend their sincere congratulations to His Majesty King Abdullah II on the success of his surgery and his return to his homeland and his loyal, loving people.
The family of Yarmouk University also prays to the Almighty to preserve His Majesty the King and his faithful Crown Prince, His Highness Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II, the Hashemite family, and all honorable Jordanians.
Representing the President of Yarmouk University, the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Dr. Khaled Batayneh, attended an online ceremony for signing the agreement of cooperation between Yarmouk University and the American ELMS College represented by its president, Dr. Harry Dami.The agreement stipulates that Yarmouk University hosts students of Master of Biotechnology registered at ELMS College for one semester to study two courses of six credit hours in the master’s specialization of biotechnology. Also, it stipulates that the university provides research opportunities for students and some opportunities for faculty members of the Department of Biological Sciences to supervise master’s students of the American ELMS University College.
During the ceremony, Batayneh stressed that the Faculty of Science has always sought further cooperation with international educational institutions to implement academic programs in various science disciplines, as this reflects positively on the development of the educational process in the faculty and the expertise of its employees.
In his turn, the President of ELMS College, Dr. Hari Dami, praised the distinguished academic reputation of Yarmouk University, especially its Faculty of Science, and its keenness to have scientific and academic cooperation with various international educational institutions.
The ceremony was attended by the Head of Biological Sciences Department, Dr. Al-Muthanna Al-Karaki, Dr. Walter Barrio, Vice President for Academic Affairs at ELMS University College, and Dr. Sadad Semaan, a faculty member in the Biology Department at ELMS College.
At the level of Arab and international universities, Yarmouk University represented by the branch team of the American Concrete Institute at Al-Hijjawi Faculty of Engineering Technology gained the second place in the Concrete Solutions Competition organized by the American Concrete Institute and held in Florida, the United States of America.
33 universities from 15 countries around the world participated in thiscompetition, where Yarmouk University team presented a solution to the problem of building colonies on the surface of Mars by proposing the use of 3D printing technology for sulfur concrete with strong mechanical properties suitable for the environmental conditions on the Red Planet.
The supervisor of the team, Dr. Faris Matalkah, said that the idea introduced in the competition came from the global trend that aims at exploring the surface of Mars and the urgent need to develop a type of concrete that does not need water or cement. Thus, the proposal simulated the conditions of Mars through using available materials components that are rich in sulfur and combined 3D printing technology with the use of sulfur concrete. However, he added that winning such competitions represents an incentive for students and raises the reputation of the Faculty as well as university among international institutes, highlighting the role of students as a key partner in research and creativity. He then mentioned that the team includes a group of students, namely Sarah Obeidat, Ahmed Al-Amrah, Rama Marian, Ahmed Bani Younis, and Yasmine Safaqa,from the Civil Engineering Department, noting that the competition was attended by universities from several countries from the United States of America, Canada, India, Mexico, and the Arab World.
In their turn, Yarmouk participants expressed their happiness for winning the competition and articulated their pride for being the only Arab team that qualified for the final stage, emphasizing that the competition encouraged them to think creatively and develop their research and practical skills, and opened prospects to participate in international competitions organized by prestigious international institutes and universities.
Noteworthy here is that the student branch of the American Concrete Institute at Yarmouk University was established in 2019 in the Civil Engineering Department at Yarmouk University and that the team has previously participated in many local and international research competitions and achieved advanced positions, the last of which was the eighth place at the level of international universities in the environmentally friendly concrete competition that was held last year in USA. However, here is a video link of students' winning proposal:
During his meeting with a Turkish academic delegation headed by the Director of the Institute of Turkish Studies at Yunus Emre Cultural Institute, Dr. Yavuz Kartalioglu, the President of Yarmouk University, Professor Islam Massad, stressed that the university represented by its Faculty of Arts has always been a pioneer in opening specialized academic programs of various international languages needed by the Jordanian, Arab and regional labor market. Thus, the University has several majors and academic departments concerned with teaching languages, such as English, French, German, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish.He then referred to a recent decision of the Council of Deans to offer language courses in Turkish and other languages in the study plan for undergraduate students beginning next academic year.
For his part, Kartalioglu praised the scientific and research-oriented status of Yarmouk University, confirming that the expansion in offering academic disciplines related to world languages is a piece of evidence of the University's keenness to communicate with the world, thus enhancing its position and academic reputation at regional and international levels. He then expressed the readiness of the Institute of Turkish Studies at Yunus Emre to support Yarmouk University in developing the academic program of the Turkish language, pointing out that the Institute will provide the Turkish Language Program at the Faculty of Arts with a comprehensive library, as part of this support.
During that visit, the Department of Semitic and Oriental Languages at the Faculty of Arts organized a lecture in the seminars and conferences building, where Dr. Yavuz Kartalioglu talked before a crowd of professors and students about teaching the Turkish language online.
The Dean of the Faculty of Mass Communication, Professor Tahseen Mansour, sponsored the “First Artistic Production” exhibition for students of the Department of Public Relations and Advertising, which reflects students’ theoretical knowledge and creativity in designing and producing advertisements based on leadership and innovation.
Mansour said that this exhibition highlights the country’s achievements during its first centenary and emphasizes the advantages of the country’s several governorates in an attractive manner that may increase opportunities of development. He then praised the distinguished level of the first exhibition, which confirms that the outputs of the teaching process can be applied in a creative way that qualifies graduates to compete for more job opportunities. Moreover, Mansour pointed out that the next exhibition will be in partnership with the private sector as well as official and civil institutions, due to the significance of such events in determining the exact need of certain sectors for certain media and advertisement products.
The head of the Public Relations and Advertising Department, Dr. Ali Al-Hadid, confirmed that the contents of the exhibition reflect students’ capabilities and knowledge in terms of public relations and advertising, pointing out that the exhibition includes some graduation projects of many students.He then explained that the 13 topics included in the first exhibition are chosen from among several projects submitted by students for participation.
Twelve students from the Departments of Sociology and Social Work at the Faculty of Arts and the Department of Architecture at Al-Hijjawi Faculty of Engineering Technology participated in the activities of the second summer school, which was held at the Technical University of Berlin in Germany 24-31 of last month, as part of the international project activities “Building refugee integration through urban development and social work”.
The head of the Department of Sociology and Social Work and Project Manager, Dr. Ayat Nashwan, said that Yarmouk University participated in this school along with the Technical University of Berlin funded by the German organization DAAD, which is one of the largest German organizations interested in the field of international academic cooperation.
She added, students participated in the activities of the summer school, which lasted for a week and included workshops specialized in social work and urban development, where the workshops emphasized how to deploy certain applications and activities to enhance the integration of refugees with local communities. Nashwan concluded that the project started last year, pointing out that next summer school will be held at Yarmouk University during May.
The Dean of the Faculty of Science at Yarmouk University, Dr. Khaled Batayneh, welcomed the regional director of the German company Analytik Jena in Africa and the Middle East, Dr. Fad iYounes, to an academic meeting in the Faculty to introduce the company’s activities and ways to enhance cooperation between the University and the company by providing training opportunities for faculty members and students in the field of the company.
During the meeting, which was moderated by Dr. Taghreed Jazazi, and attended by a number of faculty members from the Faculties of science, pharmacy, and medicine, Dr. Fadi Younes reviewed a number of aspects about the chemical, physical and life science analysis, and diagnostic devices that Analytik Jena manufactures. He then emphasized that the company, in cooperation with its exclusive agent in Jordan, "Hejaz Company", will establish a training center in the Middle East for various types of devices, concluding that the company is looking forward to work with Yarmouk University as its academic partner in this project.
The President of Yarmouk University, Professor Islam Massad, met the Italian Ambassador in Amman, H. E. Luciano Pezzotti, to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation between Yarmouk and various Italian educational and cultural institutions. At the beginning of the meeting, Massad welcomed the guest delegation and stated that Yarmouk is distinguished among other Jordanian universities in offering some majors such as archeology, anthropology, tourism and hotels, as well as engineering, pointing to the possibility of cooperation with the Italian Embassy in the field of museums, considering that Yarmouk includes the Jordanian Heritage Museum and the Jordanian Natural History Museum. In return, Ambassador Pezzotti praised the academic reputation of Yarmouk, stressing that the Italian Embassy works hard to enhance cultural and academic cooperation between Italian institutions and their Jordanian counterparts, especially Yarmouk University.
After that, the international designer Giulio Lacchetti gave a presentation about a group of Italian industrial products that were creatively and innovatively designed through modern technological techniques to support the concept of sustainability. Lacchetti stressed the importance of employing innovation and creativity in all fields of science and engineering, explaining that Ferrari, the leading manufacturer of Italian Formula cars, had developed a new brake system with advanced design value. He then talked about the developments in the field of construction science and materials technology of resistant textile fireproof fibers as well as in the environment-friendly cement in addition to the developments in the fields of ecology, agriculture, electronics, and robotics. Lacchetti also reviewed a group of success stories of companies and pioneers in the field of innovation and industrial leadership in Italy, concluding his presentation by emphasizing the importance of partnership between the industrial sector and academia to get engineering and practical designs that meet the requirements of sustainable development.
The Head of the Civil Engineering Department, Dr. Ali Shehadeh, elaborated on the topics that were presented, stressing that Yarmouk University represented by Hijjawi Faculty of Engineering Technology is keen to support the concepts of sustainability by providing high-quality engineering education that contributes to achieving sustainable development goals. He also referred to one of the latest international projects of Hijjawi Faculty of Engineering Technology supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering in the United Kingdom entitled "The Role of Engineering Education in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Jordan".
Noteworthy is that the meeting was attended by the Vice Presidents of the University, Professor Muwaffaq Alomoush, Professor Riad Almomani, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Musa Al-Rababah, the Dean of Al-Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology, Dr. Muwaffaq Otoom, the Director of Public Relations and Media, Dr. Nawzat Abu Al-Asal, and several officials from the Italian Embassy.
The preparation of scientific competencies in various fields of knowledge, and the production of innovative scientific research aims to serve society by providing exemplary education in an intellectually stimulating university environment.
