To Our New Students: Welcome to AED!

2020 has been quite a peculiar year for us all and it was full of surprises that weren’t necessarily pleasant. This year prevented us from doing many things we love but, here at AED, we believe that tradition is tradition, and we couldn't do without an orientation day, as it is important for us to welcome our newcomers and get them to know our AED family.

This year, on the 20th of September, we held our orientation day on MS Teams. Our orientations usually introduce the new students to the department, the faculty, the program. We also wanted to encourage the new students to face the unusual set of challenges they are facing with starting the semester so far away.

Our host this meeting was SASA Co-Vice President, Tala Al-Waly, a fourth year student that has experienced most of the challenges the new students will soon face.

Tala welcomed our guest of honor, Professor Ahmed Al-Shamaa', Dean of the College of Engineering, to the meeting, who welcomed the students to the College of Engineering. He was honored to start this event, and expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the Architectural Engineering Department and SASA.

Next, Professor Abbas Elmualim, Chairman of the AE Department and our source of positivity, welcomed the new students to the department, reassuring them that they have chosen the right path by joining our community, and that they are in safe hands. He was followed by the introductions of several of our faculty members who were present in the meeting, and their kind words of wisdom and advice.

Afterward, the President of SASA Mohamad Alkhoos and Co-Vice President Riyadh Fernini introduced the students to SASA, reminding them that we are here for the students, and that they can approach us whenever they need.

With the introductions out of the way, it was time to give the students a glance at the AE Department's study program and design courses. Tala showed the students several projects done by other students for each design level, informing them of the purpose and goal of each stage in the AE program.

Lastly, we went over some of the events that SASA has held last year (go and check them out in our Gallery Page!). Despite the current situation, our team is planning various events made especially to accommodate it so be sure to stay tuned! One of these exciting activities is the SASA Logo Design Competition, and you can check out the contributions submitted by students for it in our contributions section. Be sure to submit your own contributions to our email sasa@sharjah.ac.ae.

The event was concluded by opening the floor for comments and questions. We then gave the students a glimpse of the brand new M8 Fabrication Labs, before wrapping up the event.

Special thanks to all those that attended our 2020 Orientation, our records tell us that we had 109 participants, WOW! We hope we managed to ease your minds and help you start this new journey with confidence!

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If you’re interested, find the meeting video here!

Meeting Timestamps:

• Orientation Starts: 2:30

• Professor Ahmed Al-Shamaa's Welcome: 4:20

• Professor Abbas Elmualim's Welcome: 8:10

• Faculty Introductions: 10:25

• SASA Introduction: 17:15

• A Glimpse at the AE Department Program and Design Studios: 24:00

• SASA's Past Events: 33:00

• Q&A: 37:00

• A Look at the New M8 labs: 46:15

• Ending and Thanks: 49:50