22 Undergraduates Bridge German Innovative Technology to Classroom Learning

22 Zayed University students adopted the most recent and modern approaches utilized in designing and implementing innovative Information Technology solutions to various business situations applied in different industries, during a field trip to Munich, Germany.

Organized by Zayed University College of Technological Innovation, the students visited SAP (German software company) and IBM (a computer hardware company), they obtained intensive exposure to topics through system applications and practice, presentations and discussions led by multiple experts. Students sharpened their skills by Learning new ideas, approaches and meeting experts and influencers in face-to-face training sessions.

Dr. Omar Alfandi, Assistant Dean for Students Affairs, said that students are more likely to understand industrial applications better in a practical format, and excel in major applications presented by the multinational software corporations.  

“It was a very effective educational approach and a powerful teaching tool that helped facilitate fast and efficient learning. The field trip to Germany aimed at providing our students with new information and knowledge of different areas of information systems and technologies that are used in leading and global organizations.”

“This relevance of what they are learning helps them to perform better in projects and later for their graduation. They will experience a more holistic, integrated picture of the information systems that, in the classroom, may have only been presented in a textual and abstract way,” Alfandi added.

The field trip to IBM and the workshops at SAP in Germany provided unique opportunities to ZU students to learn new things and sight how various types of information technologies are utilized diversifying thus their knowledge in IT fields and gain new skills in how to implement IT applications especially artificial intelligence and enterprise systems in real business environments.

Students express that they have learned a lot and the educational outcomes of the trip were overwhelming given the short time of the training and the trip.

Leena Ali AlGhufli, ZU student, specializing in Management Information Systems, “In IBM, I am delighted to say that we all got to know new products and IT solutions, which are not yet in the market, and were proposed for big and global organizations such as BMW and German Aviation and Ports. These under final process solutions were impressing.”

She further added, “In SAP Munich, again the showcase was interesting, demonstrating many IT and Enterprise solutions. These included applications for marketing and entrepreneurship, machine learning and artificial intelligence applications.”

Muna Abdulla Khamis Al Ali, Zayed University student from the College of Technological Innovation, said, “It was a trip full of learning and new experiences. I believe this was a great opportunity to experience real-world learning rather than just learning in class. I am glad I had a chance to meet with experts from both SAP and IBM. They demonstrated their projects and influenced me to work hard to achieve my goals”.

Overall, students gained new skills, information and diversified their knowledge and built new critical thinking approaches. They expressed their appreciation and gratitude to ZU and CTI for conducting such an international experience for them and support them in their education journey.