On January 24th 2013, SUTA Toronto Chapter hosted a talk along with a networking session at Bayview Golf and Country Club. Dr. Hossein Nivi, President & CEO of Pendaran Inc., gave the talk on how advanced technology can accelerate active learning. Members from Fanni Alumni Association in Ontario and Mohandes association also attended the event and they each had a table for their members. There were also guests from University of Waterloo and University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
Event started with a short networking session. While guests were being registered and assigned to their tables, there was time for people on the same table to get to know each other.
Dr. Bahram Zahir, Secretary of the Board of Directors opened the session and introduced Dr. Nivi. Dr. Nivi then started his talk with the importance of experience along with education and how it can affect the quality of the jobs done in the society. This gave him the idea of the Pendaran Inc. to be “a library of experience” as he put it. Pendaran provides its clients with virtual environments of their desired workspace. During the workshops, students are exposed to the obstacles and problems they may face during work. One of the people who has been through this course, Mr. Ali Rahmani, was also present at the event and was invited to talk about his experience during the workshop.
During the question and answer session, interesting questions were asked such as how this idea of virtual experience can turn into a four-year bachelor’s degree to improve the quality of education in universities. However, the importance of science and theory was also emphasized.
After the talk, dinner was served and ideas were exchanged between the attendees.
