For any enterprise to be successful, you need to have good people working on it. Throughout my entire visit to Abu Dhabi, I was continually impressed with the quality of the people we have as colleagues at our campus there. All of the professors that I met, from the gentle and thoughtful Polish math professor, Mirek Majewski, to the British ELI teacher, Linda Graham, to the larger-than-life Physics Professor, Kamal Al Achrafi (just to name a few), were caring teachers, energetic faculty members, and enthusiastic members of NYiT Abu Dhabi.
But enterprises such as an institute of technology also need great facilities. 
Fortunately for our students in Abu Dhabi, they have these. Every classroom in Abu Dhabi is a modern “smartclassroom” as shown in the picture to the right. These are not simply computers projecting onto screens, but rather interactive smartboards with “touch” manipulation of the computer through the board itself. In addition, some of the rooms have computer stations for students. I dat in on a class in one of these rooms with Professor Peter Karagianakis who made very inventive and effective use of this technology in his speech class.
The overall impression I got from Abu Dhabi is one of great optimism. With the accreditation process behind them and a new student recruitment process about to begin, everyone is excited about the potential for growth that the campus promises.
Enough for now…back to grading my stateside students on one of my few “slow” days on this trip
Your “Tramp Abroad”
November 7, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Glad you are having a good time!