If my trip to Al Ain, detailed in my last post, was categorized as “travels as a poor, starving college student,” the most recent trip to Khasab and Ras Al Khaimah would be “travels as and with Emiratis.”
During a week many students head to beaches for a little R&R, nearly two dozen Mines students lent a hand in three community service projects in the Denver metro area.
Mines alumni and staff have joined more than 200,000 other Peace Corps volunteers on assignments over the last 50 years. Here are some of their stories.
A product of the Red Rocks Institute for Sustainability in Education, this video created by students of Mines professor Jen Schneider and at Jeffco Public Schools’ career/technical high school, Warren Tech, provided the students with experience marketing an idea and obtaining buy-in for a Center for Sustainability and STEM Education.
Club sports went formal in the annual Women’s Prom Dress Rugby game on October 21, 2011. Entertainment value precluded the need to keep score (none was recorded).
I take a 7:20 a.m. bus from the back turn circle at PI to Al Wahda Bus Station in Abu Dhabi. From here, my plan is to take the 700 route to Al Ain for 10 AED. I have a few minutes to kill, so I go inside the bus station, buy a felafel sandwich for 4 AED (~$1.08), and find which gate my bus would depart from. While waiting, a fellow, about 35, comes up to me and says, “Al Ain?”
“12,000 people in the Middle East! This is crazy!” These were the first words spoken by French DJ David Guetta last Friday night during his concert at Yas Arena in Abu Dhabi. Ian and I decided that it was part of our duty to research local culture to attend the concert, which was the biggest thing happening in Abu Dhabi last weekend.
While it is certainly true that my skiing options this season took a significant hit with the decision to come to Abu Dhabi, it is not true that snow skiing is impossible in the Emirates! In Dubai, there is an indoor ski slope that is essentially a giant refrigerator turned into a ski slope. This place is called Ski Dubai, and it is located in a giant mall called Mall of the Emirates.
We’ve played more golf—Rob and I had a tee time at the Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, located on the inside of a horse racing track.
Since my last post, I moved from Building 21, the yellow hostel that houses grad students, to Building 24, which houses primarily petroleum engineering students. Nothing against Robert and Ian, but I want to get the full experience of being here.
Ian and I did a pretty cool thing this afternoon: We played golf on a sand golf course called Al Ghazal. Sand golf is similar to the golf on grass that we’re familiar with, except that the course has been modified for arid climates. The putting surface is referred to as a brown instead of a green, and it is very important to sweep up your footprints to keep the browns in good shape.
Cliff and I went camping outside of Ras Al Khaimah with the adventure club last Thursday and Friday. It was in the mountainous part of the country, and while the mountains don’t quite compare to those of Colorado, the camping location was about as perfect as it could be.
First, let me start with the basketball update that I promised. As you can see, there is a glory picture, which means that we came away with the championship in the tournament!
It’s been close to two weeks since coming to Abu Dhabi and it still never ceases to amaze. We are finally past the period of being the new students on campus and are starting to get back into a routine.
For several years now, I have been purchasing the same make, cut, style and size of jeans. And now for several months, my dry-cleaned jeans will stay on the hangar and in the plastic; it’s far too warm to wear them.
It’s been six days since I arrived in Abu Dhabi for the first time, and I’ve learned that this city certainly knows how to make an impression! The United Arab Emirates was founded 40 years ago, and Abu Dhabi was nothing more than a small settlement on the Arabian Gulf back then. Today, the city is a bustling, cosmopolitan hub of commerce and opulence.
Greetings from the United Arab Emirates. My flight arrived Thursday evening, and a taxi took me to the PI, only about 20 minutes from the airport. By the next morning, the three CSM students had arrived, and set off for the day.
I’m Ian Robinson, a junior at Colorado School of Mines majoring in Petroleum Engineering. In one week I’ll be getting on a plane bound for Abu Dhabi to study there for four months. Wow—only one week left. Just writing it down makes me realize I still have a lot to get done.
Hello family, friends, Mines alums, et al. Thank you for your interest in this adventure and for checking out this blog. Be sure to read Ian’s and Robert’s posts as well! Let me introduce myself and give a little bit of background. I’m Clifford Sanden, a junior at Colorado School of Mines studying petroleum
In eight days, I will be flying out to Abu Dhabi to begin a study abroad semester at The Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi. Obviously, I need to pack my bags, but this blog will probably be more interesting if I discuss some of the things on my mind instead of detailing which Polos I’m taking.
A name has been chosen for Colorado School of Mines’ first college: the College of Engineering and Computational Sciences. Heading the new college is Kevin Moore, G.A. Dobelman Distinguished Chair and professor of engineering.
In an ESPN broadcast that followed Wednesday night’s Orange Bowl game, in which West Virginia broke a bowl scoring record in its 70-33 win over Clemson, winning coach Dana Holgorsen credited Mines football coach Bob Stitt for teaching him the play that The Mountaineers scored with four times. The topic is trending on Twitter and getting coverage in national
In case you missed it, you can watch here the December 16 ceremony, including keynote speaker Richard O’Brien, president and CEO of Newmont Mining (or read the transcript):
Integrity is the Foundation of Authentic Leadership By Richard T. O’Brien, President and CEO, Newmont Mining December 16, 2011 Introduction President Scoggins, Board of Trustees, graduates, students, parents, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honor for me to speak to this graduating class. You have been very kind to ask me here today, and
Halloween can be a difficult time for those with type 1 diabetes, but thanks to co-hosts Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and The Guild of the Children’s Diabetes Foundation, local families affected by the disease were able to celebrate together on October 30 at the organizations’ annual party.
Take a photo tour through the sleek, modern expansion of Brown Hall.
Click on a thumbnail below to view the entire photo, and mouse over it to view the arrows that allow navigation through the pictures.
Love the smell of chain grease in the morning? A gorgeous day in Golden greeted racers for Stage 6 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, which took riders up and down Lookout Mountain, through the center of Golden three times and into Denver for the finish. Many members of the Mines community were present to cheer on the cyclists.
Most current urban water systems were designed and built in the first half of the 20th century and are ill-prepared to cope with the impacts of climate change, population growth and ecosystem demands. On top of that, the infrastructure is deteriorating.
Twenty-five years ago, a colleague mentioned to Annette Bunge that dermatologists at the University of Utah were finding strange results in their study of chemicals moving through skin. Boldly crossing the discipline barrier, Bunge took a sabbatical in Utah, where she applied an engineer’s perspective to the biological problem, and quickly resolved the anomaly.