UOWD opens S3 research centre
dubai — The University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) has opened a new research centre to promote the research, development, and application of simulation and smart system technologies to support lifestyle improvements within the UAE.
The simulation and smart systems (S3) research centre has been set up by the University’s Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences to support simulationbased research in a diverse range of fields, including health, education, urban planning, sustainability, engineering, and computing.
The centre was inaugurated by the visiting University of Wollongong Chancellor, Jillian Broadbent AO, accompanied by Jane Bridge, council member of the University of Wollongong in Australia.
The inauguration was also attended industry partners, Samer Mahdi, global operations programme manager for the General Electric Company; and Adnan Darwish and Dr Muaaz Tarabichi from the American Hospital Dubai, which has provided Dh10,000 funding from the American Association of Otolaryngologists towards research at the centre.
Dr Catherine Todd, assistant professor at UOWD and one of the researchers within the new facility explains: “There are three main research groups within the centre, each focusing on the application of this technology to address lifestyle challenges that are particularly relevant to the UAE, such as healthcare, traffic congestion, energy use and security systems.”
The medical, health, informatics and special needs group has a number of ongoing projects, including the virtualisation of surgical procedures to help in medical training; holography for education and exploration; haptic rendering of indoor locations to assist the visually impaired; and intelligent instructional software to engage and develop English as a second language in young children.
The second group, led by Dr Kamal Jaafar, concentrates on sustainable urban planning and development, and construction and process-based engineering. Current projects in this area are focusing on traffic simulation models to help ease road congestion, and computerised techniques to evaluate the energysaving capabilities of sustainable buildings.
The third area of research, led by Dr Mohamed Watfa, is concerned with sensor networks and ubiquitous computing. Projects in this area include security systems such as surveillance helicopter robotics, and pioneering medical-related research in un-tethered wireless instruments for healthcare.