Archive for the ‘Abu Dhabi’ Category

World Future Energy Summit

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

I took Thursday off from work to go to Abu Dhabi, get some formalities done and take the chance to visit the World Future Energy Summit. Parking at ADNEC was convenient, entrance for visitors was free and the registration process quick and easy. It was the closing day and not really as full as I expected it to be. The first thing that caught my eye was the display of Masdar’s PRT vehicle. It was presented on last years summit as well, but at that time I was still in Germany. Now after working for so many months on the PRT simulation, I was very excited to see it in real and sit inside.

Then I visited my colleagues from Masdar Institute and asked how their studies and projects are progressing. We also met our friend Aminu from Dubai. It was the last day of the summit and we went to the closing ceremony. Speeches were given by Prince Albert from Monaco and the President of Iceland, but nothing much exciting.But at least I’ve seen the PRT vehicle and spoke to my friends, so worth the visit in Abu Dhabi.

Posted in Abu Dhabi, Masdar | No Comments »

350 Day of Climate Action

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

On 24 October, people in 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet’s history. At over 5200 events around the world, people gathered to call for action on the climate crisis.

350.org was founded by U.S. author Bill McKibben, who wrote one of the first books on global warming for the general public, and a team of university friends.

350scienceTogether, they ran a campaign in 2007 called Step It Up that organized over 2,000 rallies at iconic places in all 50 states. These creative actions – from skiers descending a melting glacier to divers hosting an underwater action – helped convince many political leaders, including then Senator Barack Obama, to adopt our common call to action: cutting carbon 80% by 2050.

350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide—measured in “Parts Per Million” in our atmosphere. 350 PPM—it’s the number humanity needs to get back to as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change.

At Masdar two events were planned to show our commitment and support of the 350 target. First we took a photo with Masdar employers and associated consultants at the new 10MW solar power plant in Masdar City (the biggest solar power plant in the Middle East).

masdar350

On Saturday Laura, one of the MIST students in collaboboration with EWS-WWF, organised a community linking picnic in the Old Airport Garden. Many small groups joined and we exchanged ideas and business cards to work together and increase public awareness in the UAE about environmental issues and how to conserve energy.

350picnic

To see more pictures about amazing climate actions worldwide, please visit Flickr (unfortunately blocked from within the UAE, but I guess you know how to get around it).

Posted in Abu Dhabi, Masdar | No Comments »

New students at MIST and Iftar dinners

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

The new students arrived at the Masdar Institute, they will form together with the current research assistants the first batch of the Masters Program. The Masdar Institute offers 5 courses:

The first week was the orientation week, where the faculty staff gave presentations about their research portfolio, the students got introduced to the library and IT systems and the research assistants organized some leisure activities. The busses picked up the students around 6 pm at the villas at every day they went to a different restaurant to break the fast (Iftar) and the Institute sponsored the buffet. I only went two nights with them, the first time we went to a Lebanese restaurant inside Abu Dhabi. I truly enjoyed to chat with the new students. They come from Egypt, Turkey, UK, Germany, Island, Mexico, USA, Pakistan, Jordania, Lebanon, India, Korea, Malaysia and Africa. There are quiet a few Emirati girls as well, which is very nice as their familes allowed them to study together with male students and to live in the girls compound away from home, which is a big achievement. Though they are still little shy, it is a great opportunity to get in touch with Emirati girls.

shangri-la2 shangri-la1

On Wednesday we all dressed up formally to go to the Shangri-La Hotel for a Masdar Institute Iftar dinner together with all staff, students and faculty. Masdar’s CEO Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber came as well and all students could introduce themselves and where they come from. He has an exceptional personality, he was very friendly and interested, it was a great honor to speak to him personally. Our provost Dr. John Perkins was there as well and I like to read his wife’s blog articles frequently.
The location and buffet were great and later about 15 of us went to a beautiful bar (pearls & caviar) with a terrace at the waterside and the illuminated Great Mosque in the background. We enjoyed the great view, the calm wind, our drinks and were chatting to get to know each other.

shangri-la3
On Wednesday the 16th of September, when I have to submit my Master’s thesis, there will be the Masdar Family Iftar Dinner at the Emirates Palace, the most expensive hotel built in the world. All Masdar employees with their families as well as MIST students will be invited.

emirates-palace

Posted in Abu Dhabi, Culture, Masdar | No Comments »

Overprized Car Service

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

I bought my Ford Focus this March with little over 90,000 kms run. So in July it was due to 100,000 km service. In general the car is in good condition, only the brakes are squeaking a bit and I hoped it would not become too expensive. As I wanted a proper service and the original parts to be replaced, I called up Premier Motors in Musaffah/Abu Dhabi. The service alone costs more than 2,000 hs plus all the fluids they will replace etc. and they will keep my car for at least 3 days. When they send me the quotation for the replacement of the brakes and rotors, V-belt and tires, I almost fainted as it came up to almost 7,000 Dhs (1,300 EUR!), which was half of what I paid for the car 3 months back. I told them I will take care of the tires myself, as the Bridgestone shop down the road sells them for half the price. I made a bit of a fuss, as it took very long as well and I needed my car to go to Dubai over the weekend, so they got it ready on time and reduced the price a bit to stay below 5,000 Dhs, but the labour costs they were charging me are ridiculous! That is more than my brother as a car mechanic would earn in East Germany and I am sure, they do not pay their Indian mechanics that well either. Actually Al Tayer Motors in Dubai wouldn’t be that expensive, but anyway that was the last time I took my car to a Ford dealer.

Posted in Abu Dhabi | No Comments »

Blood donation

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

This week the blood donor bus of the Abu Dhabi Blood Bank stopped near our institute. So I decided before going to the canteen for lunch that I will stop by and donate some blood. Inside the bus are two small cabins for examination by the doctor and in the main area are 4 very comfortable seats for the donors to lay down. It was very hygienic and the medical staff maintained all clinical standards like in Germany.

blooddonation

First I had to fill out a form with my personal details and answer questions about my medical history. Then the doctor checked my blood pressure and asked some more questions, while casually joking around and cheering me up.  His assistant then pricked my finger to make a quick blood test for hemoglobin. Taking the blood draw did not hurt and it took about 10-15 minutes to fill 1 bag of 450 ml. Of course my arm was hurting a little for one day, but investing half and hours time to potentially save someone’s life, was worth it.

Posted in Abu Dhabi, Health | No Comments »

Driving Licence

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Some nationalities (like European, US etc.) can transfer their driving licences into a local licence without going through a test. The following documents need to be produced to the traffic & licensing department:

  • passport with residence visa in Abu Dhabi
  • original driving license of home country
  • legal translation of driving license into Arabic
  • no-objection letter from sponsor or workplace
  • eye test
  • fee of 200 Dhs (~40 EUR)

I had my licence translated into Arabic by an accredited office:

Sa’eed Administration & Legal Translation
(Accredited with the UAE Ministry of Justice)
Hamdan Str., Delma Centre Bldg./Golden Tulip Hotel,
9th Floor, Office No. 94
P.O. Box 3944, Abu Dhabi
Tel.: 631 06 16   Fax: 631 06 18

They charged me 150 Dhs (~30 EUR) for the translation of my German Licence (plastic card), but at least they open till 7 pm in the evening, so that I could go there after work and the driver went next day to pick up the translated document. A cheaper option would be to go to the German Embassy during the morning hours and pay about 80-90 Dhs only.

The following morning I went to the main Traffic and Licensing Department in 27th Street, they have very convenient office hours from 7:30 am – 9:00 pm. First I went upstairs to the information counter and received a number to queue up for the eye-test. There is no ladies waiting section, so the officer asked me to jump the queue and go next. It made me feel uncomfortable, but she said it’s their policy that ladies should not wait. The eye test comprises reading letters of different sizes and numbers on pictures to test for color blindness. The test costs 20 Dhs (~4 EUR).

With all my documents completed I went to the counter, submitted them and paid the 200 Dhs fee. Passport photographs are not required anymore as they take a digital photograph at the counter. After 5 minutes the plastic card is issued and valid for 10 years.

driving-license-abu-dhabi

Posted in Abu Dhabi, Formalities | No Comments »

Residence Visa

Monday, March 16th, 2009

Ibrahim was very helpful with all the formalities, he took me and David (another new employee) to the hospital for the medical check. It was decided that this government hospital is the only one authorised to do the medical checks for visa processing. David had an appointment already and Ibrahim could get him through very quickly as he knows all the people there. But I had to book an appointment for 1-2pm and come back again alone in the afternoon. I went to the ladies section and got a number to wait among 30 other ladies, who had their appointment in this slot. First I went to the counter where they took a digital photograph, charged me 200 Dirhams (payed by my company) and gave me all the forms for the doctors. Next station was again the iris scan of both eyes. Besides I was wondering why I went for the iris scan at Dubai airport then, maybe their system is not interconnected. Then I had to consult a doctor, but she just asked if I am single and stamped my paper. Then I had to queue up for the blood test. Last was they X-ray of the lungs, but there was no doctor to speak to. At that time I could not exclude the possibility of being pregnant. Though I was aware that a pregnancy in the UAE is illegal, if you are not married, I rather wanted to talk to the doctor than risking X-ray damage. She gave me the option of a pregnancy test, which would take another 30 minutes or to put a lead apron to protect my abdomen. I went for the 2nd option and did a test 2 weeks later to reassure I am not pregnant yet. Overall the whole medical check took me more than 2 hours. They said soon there will be an option to expedite the process by paying a VIP fee. Before one could go to any hospital and especially the private ones offered good service at any time of the day, but from that the government would not benefit financially.
My company had to send a driver to the hospital again next day by 3 pm to collect the X-ray picture. They submitted everything and 6 days later I got my passport back with 3 years residence visa for Abu Dhabi.

residence-visa-abu-dhabi

Posted in Abu Dhabi, Formalities, Health | No Comments »