Week 5: Day 1

Final Presentations!

After 4 weeks of beneficial lectures, site work, office visits and of course quizzes, it was time to present what we have done throughout this fruitful internship. The different site visits and office visits were divided among the two teams. The presentations focused on the structural and architectural finishes of the main projects that we visited, as well as any special finishes. As for the office visits, a brief summary was presented along with the new concepts that we were introduced to. we also talked about the lessons that we have learned during this internship. Of course we didn't forget to show the entertainment part including trips and sports activities. Finally we had some questions that all of us managed to answer along with some comments. However, all in all the presentations were very good and everyone did a great job.
We had the rest of the day to prepare for the final exam which was due the next day.

Week 4 : Day 7

Saturday’s most anticipated event was the tribunal’s decision regarding the arbitration.  Mr. Ian Harper, DCC’s contracts director, discussed how the lack of evidence made the decision harder. The case mimicked a typical dispute between a contractor and a client. Mr. Yabroudi led the contractor’s team while Dr. Clemence led the client’s team. The contractor’s team won the award after the tribunal found that most of the delay was caused by the client .Both teams accepted the results apart some members who claimed that the decision was biased .
The interns had rest  of the day for free time to work on their extensive reports and final presentations.The presentations covered all site visits and activities during the internship .On the other hand , the reports covered all site and office visits throughout the four weeks .

Week 4: Day 6

Friday the 12th was a day off that interns had spent differently. Some had a nice breakfast at IHOP while others prefered a traditional lebanese breaksfast and ordered Manakish. Almost everyone  went for a swim, either on Jumeirah beach or on the pool, either in the morning or in the afternoon. Almost everyone went to the mall, finished their shopping, and had a nice meal and a group of interns stayed and watched Jurassic park at night. In short, the interns made the best out of this free day.

Week 4: Day 5

On June the 11th, the interns headed early to the office where they had quick reviews for the quiz which took place at 11 a.m . After the quiz, team "Client" presented their Counter Claim to the arbitrator Mr.Harper; then, the students had a delicious Lebanese meal for lunch.
The quizzes were handed out and the average was satisfying.

After noon, the preparation for the final presentation started and tasks were distributed between the two groups. 

Finally, a visit was held to the old Souk where the interns enjoyed a boat ride and discovered ancient accessories at the shops. 

Week 4: Day 4

Burj al Salam

On this day, interns ventured to the Burj al Salam, a mixed-use building constructed on Sheikh Zayed Road. The Burj al Salam contains three towers, one a residential building housing 510 apartments, another an office building with 240 shell and core offices, and the third the Sheraton Grand Hotel, which houses 656 rooms. Given the multiple uses of this building, the construction of this building was very complex and required an extensive amount of coordination from Mr. Mazen Hallak, the Project Manager for this project. The visit emphasized the finishes used in the various rooms of the Sheraton Grand Hotel by showing examples of a deluxe suite, executive suite, and presidential suite. Much care was taken in the design and installation of these rooms to ensure that the guests are experiencing the high degree of luxury which Sheraton would like to be synonymous with their brand. For example, the bathtub in the executive suite is oriented faced the television in the next room, and separated from that television by a window with a retractable curtain. A Bose speaker is installed above the bathtub, allowing for guests to enjoy quality television whilst bathing, which is a luxury some of the interns certainly dream of having.

Wastewater Treatment Lecture

In the afternoon, the interns were given a lecture on wastewater treatment by Mrs. Magdalena Hijaz-Ferreira, a Process Engineer at Eagle Electromechanical. This lecture outlined some general information about Eagle Electromechanical, then provided information about what wastewater is, the types of contaminants which can be found in wastewater, and how to treat these contaminants. Solutions such as activated sludge, sequencing batch reactors, and a membrane bioreactor were discussed. 

Week 4: Day 3

Four Seasons Hotel and Resort

On Tuesday the interns visited the Four Seasons Hotel and Resort. The Project Manager, Jihad Choueiri, gave the interns a tour of the building to point out many of its finishes. The luxuriousness of the resort was breathtaking. When you first enter the lobby you are surrounded by a gold mosaic and in front of you is a spiral staircase with hand blown glass railings that are encrusted with gold. The old expression "all that glitters is not gold" does not apply to this resort, everything that glitters is gold. The students also saw columns that were made of book matched marble. Jihad told the interns that each of these columns cost a small fortune and there were at least twelve of them.

Project Feasibility Lecture

When the students returned from the site visit, Mr. Yabroudi gave the interns a brief lecture on project feasibility studies and site assessments. He outlined how critical it was for the client to consider all of the costs related to undertaking a project and how they relate to the expected revenue that the project will make.

Week 4: Day 2

Arbitration and Bowling

On Monday morning, the students sat in on the first of two lectures on delays, disputes, and arbitration. For these lectures, Mr. Ian Harper, a certified arbitrator briefed the interns on what arbitration is and how it is used in the construction industry. As defined in lecture, arbitration is a way to settle a dispute between a client and contractor without official court involvement.

In the afternoon the student s were presented with a mock arbitration case that they would participate in for the next 4 days. With the simple knowledge of arbitration from the morning, Team 1 and Team 2 were assigned a different role in an arbitration case. Team 1 was assigned to be the client and work with Dr. Clemence, and Team 2 was to work with Mr. Yabroudi as the contractor. Directly after the lecture the teams began working on their claims.

After work, the interns went bowling as part of the sports competition. At the competition the B-team came out on top with some impressive efforts and managed to pick up their first win. The previously dominant A-team suffered a tough loss and finished in last place, while the steady S-team finished in second place. 

The MVP of the bowling competition in action.

Week 4: Day 1

Site Visit and Activity

Team 1 went to the DCC Workshop on Sunday morning while Team 2 went to a site known as the Khalfan Villa. On Wednesday, June 3rd, Team 1 had visited the Khalfan Villa and Team 2 went to the workshop.

Khalfan Villa

The Khalfan Villa is managed by Mr. Mazen Hallak.This villa is located in Al Barsha for Mr. Osama Seddiqi. The villa consists of G+1+Roof with built up area of 580 meters squared. When we visited, the villa was in its final stages. Mr. Mazen took us on a brief tour of the Villa, pointing out special features of the finishes in each room, such as concealed door hinges, custom handles, and quartz countertops. He then split us into two groups and had us go into separate rooms and write down all the outstanding works we saw. Examples of such works included the skirting, the electrical fixtures, A/C, and grouting in the bathroom.

Team 1 looking at finishes in Khalfan Villa

 

Later that day at the office, we had in in-class activity that we completed in pairs of two. We were given an architectural drawing of a villa and we had to determine the location of temporary facilities and equipment, material finishes for each room, and the schedule of works. It was a great way to apply a lot of what we have learned in lectures to a real life situation.

Student work on activity

Week 3: Day 7

Midterm Progress Report Preparation

The entire morning was spent in the office working on midterm progress reports. The progress reports cover the information students have learned during site and office visits. These papers will be submitted for review and comments, then students will make corrections and add the final few site visits happening this week to submit as the final report for the internship.

Afternoon Off and Burj Khalifa Visit

After working on progress reports all morning and having lunch at the office, students had some free time in the afternoon. Many of the students went to a local souvenir shop to bargain on prices for various tokens to remember the trip to Dubai by. Others chose to spend the afternoon at the indoor ski resort, Ski Dubai, in the Mall of the Emirates. The rest of the students spent the afternoon at the accommodation lounging by the pool or working more on their progress reports.



At 6:00pm students left the apartments by van to go to Burj Khalifa, the tallest man made structure in the world. An appointment to ride the elevator to the 124th floor was scheduled for 7:00pm. After waiting in line, students made their way to the top and got to experience the best view that Dubai has to offer. Many photos were taken and plenty of souvenirs were purchased at the gift shops, but most importantly, students got to see one of the greatest feats of modern engineering in the world.

Week 3: Day 6

Atlantis: Aquaventure

Monorail system on the Palm

On the DSLIP's 3rd Friday off, the students ventured to the end of the Palm Jumeirah. The interns took the monorail over the palm to the water park. The Atlantis water Park was a cool welcome from the extensive heat the students had experienced earlier in the week at the sites. The day was spent enjoying time in the lazy river and riding every slide the park had to offer. Later in the day the students enjoyed the artificial beach and a game of recreational volleyball.

Overview of Aquaventure

Atlantis Hotel

Enjoying the water at the park

Week 3: Day 5

e.construct Site Visit

                On Thursday morning, the DSLIP students visited the e.construct site and discovered the applications of GFRP and GRC: glass fiber reinforced plastic and glass reinforced concrete, which is composed of cement, silica sand, alkali resistant (IR) glass fibers, water and additives. The Quality of production of the e.construct comes from the perfect molds that are made on an automated cutting table yielding repeatable and identical products. During the visit, the trainees saw a wide range of GRC outcomes that have been used in world-wide projects, such as the New Abu Dhabi Airport, which is still under construction,  and The One Thousand Museum in Miami, Fl which is in pre-construction stage.

 

Albonian Company

              In the afternoon, the students went back to the Bright Start Hotel to check the MEP works that are being done there. The MEP Engineer representing Albonian, the MEP sub-Contractor, took them on a tour in the Hotel and explained about the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems applied. Some systems seen were air conditioning, heating, firefighting, water supply and water drainage.