02 June 2017Official weekly newsletter of NUST

Namibia University of Science and TechnologyNUST_Namibia

@NUST_Namibia

NUST BRIEFwebsite: www.nust.na

NUST wishes students all the best with their examinations.

CENTRE FOR ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT (CED)SME COURSES FOR 2017

DATE COSTFinancial Management: Costing and Pricing 5 - 21 June 2017 N$1 800 Financial Management: Budget and Recordkeeping 3 -19 July 2017 N$1 800

Enquiries: Helena Ilovu, Tel: 061 2072296/2038, hilovu@nust.na

NUST well-represented at conference in USAThe Conference is a networking platform for top computer science researchers, start-ups, as well as the best performing students in the field.During the trip, the group presented posters at a a Human Computer Interaction Across Borders (HCIxB) Symposium and a paper at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.The aim of the HCIxB Symposium was to foster research collaborations and technological solutions to problems across borders. Approximately 3 000 people attended the event, and Dr Anicia Peters, the Dean of the Faculty of Computing and Informatics, was a co-organiser of the Symposium. Dr Peters also featured as an invited speaker at the Conference and made presentations on Human Computer Interaction (HCI) work in Namibia and Africa in general. She previously co-chaired the inaugural Africa Human Computer Interaction Conference

(AfriCHI) in Nairobi, Kenya in 2016. Furthermore, Prof Heike Winschiers-Theophilus, the Head of the Computer Science Department in the Faculty, who is internationally renowned for her research in HCI, supervised five students who presented their work during the event. Ndinelago Nashandi, a lecturer and Master’s student who was part of the group, expressed her gratitude for the mentorship provided by Dr Peters and Prof Winschiers-Theophilus during the excursion.The Faculty has made great strides in the industry such as establishing the Windhoek ACM SIGCHI chapter, which together with the Kenyan chapter, are the only two in Africa. This milestone achievement was a contributing factor to securing the sponsorship for this trip from ACM’s Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (SIGCHI), the Gary Marsden Student Development Fund and other research grants.

A cohort of 13 postgraduate students and staff from the Faculty of Computing and Informatics recently attended the Association for Computing Machinery Computer-Human Interaction (ACM CHI 2017) Conference, in the United States of America (USA).

Recently, the Harold Pupkewitz-Graduate School of Business (HP-GSB) hosted a public lecture by the Minister of Economic Planning and Director General of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Hon Tom Alweendo, titled: “The Importance of Development Planning in shaping our Development Goals.” Hon Alweendo said that: “Now more than ever, given the challenges facing our economy, well-researched and reasoned development planning plays an important role in shaping our development goals and priorities. Development planning entails making decisions and informing action on what needs to done and where, when and by whom. It enables realistic and achievable decisions to be taken. As we launch our fifth National Development Plan (NDP5), our aim should be to utilise available resources more effectively in the pursuit of our goals, to ensure sustainable economic growth and safeguard the welfare of our citizens.” The lecture forms part of a series of public lectures being hosted by HP-GSB, with a broad range of topics that promote thought leadership and a holistic approach to strategic thinking.

Hon Alweendo gives public lecture at NUST

From left: Hon Tom Alweendo, Minister: Economic Planning, and Director General of the National Planning Commission; Kiki Gbeho, Resident Coordinator: United Nations, and Dr Tjama Tjivikua, Vice-Chancellor: NUST, pictured at the event.

This year the event was held in a larger venue on campus, in comparison to last year, showing the growth of the initiative. The stalls portrayed Namibia’s tourist attractions such as the Etosha National Park, the Swakopmund sand dunes and Sossusvlei. The Marketing Executive: Support Services of the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), Johanna Monde, delivered the keynote address at the opening of the Expo. Monde commended the students for their efforts and encouraged them to take full advantage of the exercise as this moulds them for the job-market.Petrina Haufiku, a lecturer in the Department said: “This is an opportunity for the students to focus

on developing innovative projects that promote Namibia as a favourite tourism destination, locally and internationally. I am proud to say the exhibitors have outdone themselves.”The NUST Hotel School, which falls under the Department, is currently taking part in the Namibia Tourism Expo. The event is a centralised platform for key players in the industry to market their products and services, and the public is encouraged to visit the stand and learn more about the various services the Hotel has to offer. These services include facilities that are suitable for corporate and social events.

More exhibitors and visitors at NUST Tourism Expo 2017The NUST Department of Hospitality and Tourism hosted its annual Tourism Expo under the theme “Know Namibia.”This type of event is covered in the syllabus of the Hospitality and Tourism courses were the students are required to promote domestic tourism in their exhibitions.

Front row: Dr Erling Kavita, Head of Department: Hospitality and Tourism (third from left); Johanna Monde, Marketing Executive, Support Services: Namibia Tourism Board; Dr Harold Campbell, Dean: Faculty of Management Sciences, and Gerald Cloete, Deputy Head of Department: Hospitality and Tourism, pictured with staff and students at one of the stands displaying art and craft from the Zambezi Region.

Dr Anicia Peters, Dean: Faculty of Computing and Informatics, posing with students and staff that travelled to the U.S.