Fall 2016 Model United Nations in FIC

Fall 2016 Model United Nations

I attended the Fraser International College Model United Nations Conference and witnessed some really good debuts. I was watching the debuts and noticed an improvement in the number of participants and also the standard of the debut itself. The participating students were more prepared and equipped themselves with relevant information to present during their arguments.

Participants of the Fall 2016 Model UN

Overall, I am impressed with the improvement. For this semester, each team comprises of three students and each team represents a country with nuclear weapon capabilities. Their theme was encouraging nuclear disarmament among the nuclear able countries and improve peace for the world. The mocked United Nations Conference took about two and a half hours to complete but without any clear agreement among the nations.

The Universal Case Competition for Fall 2016

UCC Fall 2016 Organizing Committee

The Universal Case Competition for the Fall 2016 semester has attracted a larger crowd than the previous few semesters. Today, I was in attendance at the semester's first workshop to promote the case competition. From my observations there were a large crowd of students doing registration in the presentation room. At the workshop, the UCC committee shared some of their experiences, competition features, and benefits of the Case Competition to the participants.  At the end of the presentations, they also confirmed the students' participations. We could actually make up at least fifteen participating teams from the number of students we had in the classroom, which is a record if the organizing committee successfully confirmed them all for the competition.

Participants of UCC Fall 2016

Previously, the largest participation number was thirteen teams. Looks like the Case Competition is really gaining popularity in FIC and particularly students from across the different program pathways. Some of the participants were actually participants from the previous semester returning to compete again. So, we do have experienced teams competing against newly formed teams this time round. The energy and excitement among the participating teams are really positive. No matter what level of experience the competing teams have, every team will start with equal chances.

A Section of Participants

The first workshop went really well. The Case Competition Organizing Committee members did a great job in introducing the basic features, rules and benefits of the competition. They were well prepared with their own presentations and managed the questions and answers section really well. Overall, their presentation was well planned. In the workshop, their presentations motivated potential participants and created the awareness to the potential learning opportunities available to the participants. In closing, the students were asked to confirmed their participation by registering their team names and members' names. Then, they were all invited to next weeks second workshop to learn more on presentation skills.

Fraser International College Talent Night

The Fraser International College Mic Night event at the Atrium of Discovery 1 in SFU tonight was an entertaining as well as a fun event that has witnessed some really great talents.

The Atrium Filling Up Quick

In that two hours, I watched and listened to some really good dancing, singing, and cultural performance from among the international students. Other than encouraging the students to participate and mingle, the event that was hosted by the FIC ACT team was a platform primarily to allow the students to socialize and build friendship at the same time. This event was previously organized at the end of the first week of the new semester but this semester with the changed in the college's activity calendar, it is moved to the end of the second week instead.

The Crowd on Mic Night

The opportunity to mingle and destress was still the main objective and tonight's event did just that after the first two weeks of really hectic start to the Fall semester. I also spotted several FIC staff members that were there enjoying the performance put together by the students. Now that the second week of classes draws to an end, more serious work and focus is required of the students moving into the third week and so on. In fact the three student Master of Ceremonies at the Mic Night reminded their fellow students to have fun but also remember their responsibilities in the weeks ahead.

The IT Squad Performing

But tonight was all about having fun and taking a break from studying. The students definitely deserved the break and they came out in full force. Knowing the students, they will jump right back into study mode once the festivity mood is over. In fact, some of the courses already have midterm coming up or assignments due on the third week. Students in my business classes are already attempting their second quiz moving into the third week. And an assignment due tonight.

All for A Good Cause

Everyone A Winner

I was among the several brave faculties who had volunteered for the, "Pie Your Professor" event to raise funds for the FIC Faculty Award Scholarship. And as it turns out there were more fun than tension in the event. I had a wonderful time although being thrown pie at. There were about thirty to forty students, staff and faculties that came to join in the festivities. Between the four targets, I guess we were receiving pies thrown at our bodies more than our faces. Not that the throwers were not aiming at the faces but few throws actually reached their intended targets. Anyway, we were kind of lucky because sometimes the tree branches and sometimes the wind was on our side.

All Ready For Action

Anything for a good cause. I did not count the exact number of throws but figured that it was around twenty. By the way, it was a beautiful sunny day to hold such an outdoor activity. Should have gotten more participation have we gathered everyone inside the building to come out. After the event we were celebrated with ice creams and we all stayed for awhile to chat and laugh about the whole experience. Likewise, whether faculty, staff or students, we all had a good time making friends and fellowship.

Fall 2016 Semester Starts in FIC/SFU

UCC Case Competition

The Fall semester started this morning with all kinds of events and festivities. The morning started with people everywhere. Although, I have my first class only at 1.30pm today but I was already involved with the student services fair from eleven o'clock. Actually, I came in rather early today to make copies of course outlines and attendance record. The first week of the semester can be really chaotic if preparations are not done early.

SFU App Suite

Other than the Case Competition, I will be handling a few of the BUS200 classes this semester. And I am already excited and looking forward to the start of the new semester. And as usual in my semester calendar, I will be conducting workshops and seminars outside my class schedule. I have most of the responsibilities listed down and prepared way before these events take place. Most definitely, I can't wait to meet with my students in this new semester.

Student Services Fair

I was also involved with the new student orientation last Friday and there are so many fresh students arriving for the Fall semester, more than previous semesters. I assumed that this is going to be a real busy semester for everyone in Fraser International College. The student services fair starts today too. And the UCC Case Competition Committee is also involved in promoting the Case Competition. I have a great committee this semester. They should be able to do well.

End of Summer 2016 Semester

Students Writing Final Exams

We have reached the end of the summer 2016 semester. And students were busy doing final reviews and preparations for the final exams. Just like any other previous semester, this semester arrived and went really quickly. It was just like we barely started and suddenly, we are at the end. But, the preMasters program has not end yet. We started the first lectures on week three of the semester. So, the last week for the preMasters program will be next week.

Students Focusing on Exams

At the end of each semester, students will spend the last week of the semester writing exams. I have volunteered to supervise several exams this time round. Including my own course exams, I have a total of thirteen final exams and final presentations to invigilate and supervise within these two weeks. During this time of the semester, the campus library will almost be full and even the dining halls will have students doing overnighters. Some professors continue to support their students right to the eve of exams and the Discovery 1's atrium can be seen to be as busy as usual with students attending these extra office hours.

In full concentration

With the end of semester, especially after the final exam, many international students will leave for home and taking a well deserved two weeks vacation. I will probably see them only on the second week of September when they return for the new semester. During which time, the campus is going to be quiet for a while. The parking lots empty and echoes in the hallways. Time for me to get ready for my own vacation and also prepare for the new semester.

Summer 2016 Engineering Fair

Follow Me Shopping Cart

The Engineering Fair for the ENSC100 students to showcase their end of semester engineering prototypes was held in the SFU's Discovery 1 Atrium today. More than a dozen teams participated in the engineering fair this semester. Among others, the teams get to display and present their inventions to an enthusiastic crowd. Nearly all of the students' inventions involved quiet a bit of programming work which would have been time consuming by itself. On top of that, building the actual prototype and incorporating all the different features into one system also requires substantial team effort and individual commitment. Overall, the students did manage to put up fairly good presentations.

Automatic Farm Watering System

Also, the students have to finance the acquisition of the components to build the prototypes. Some of these prototypes were much more costly to build than others. Therefore, it was obvious that some had better components than others. Particularly in this class the prototype concepts may be fairly simple but there was a distinguishable gap in effort, skill and ability seen among the prototypes on display. Every semester the students that enrolled in this class will have this engineering fair to present their engineering feat to the rest of the FIC community. It is very encouraging to see these early stage engineers being so enthusiastic and passionate towards their creations.

Summer 2016 ENSC100 Class

There were many other instructors that visited the fair that gave really good encouragements to the engineering students too. I took upon myself to visit every one of the displays. I also gave positive feedback and constructive critique based on business point of view. At the end of each stop, I congratulated each of the participating team for their efforts. But I did not see any team that particularly stood out among their peers. As expected from an entry level engineering course the students were kind of equal in many aspects of engineering. But as they move on to higher level engineering courses, they will develop better understanding and skills.