Establishment of BBK Lab .. The University Of Bahrain Inaugurates a Virtual Reality Lab for Supporting the Academic Process

Sakhir – University of Bahrain (Ali Al-Sabbagh)

November 22, 2021

The University of Bahrain inaugurated the BBK Lab for Virtual and Augmented Reality at the E-Learning Center of the University of Bahrain, to help faculty members and students conduct scientific research and to support teaching and training processes.

The opening ceremony of the Lab, which is the first of its kind in the university, was attended by the President of the University of Bahrain, Dr. Jawaher bint Shaheen Al-Mudhahki, the CEO of BBK Group, Dr. Abdulrahman Ali Saif, and a number of officials of the university and the bank.

In her speech Dr. Al-Mudhahki explained, “Different virtual reality technologies will enable researchers to reach advanced stages in training, scientific research, development, and find new solutions to problems the society faces in researchers’ field of academic study.” She noted that “This integrated virtual environment helps students achieve their academic goals, develop technical products, achieve great outcomes in a record time with minimal effort and at the lowest cost, which contributes to increasing the quality of professional and research academic outputs, and leads to sustainability of the resources used in this new technique of education and training, and knowledge industry and acquisition.”

Dr. Al-Mudhahki stated, “There is no doubt that this project will contribute to supporting the sustainable development goals, as virtual reality software contributes to the development of research that would develop the cities of the Kingdom of Bahrain and make them smart and more sustainable.” She lauded the efforts of the team that worked hard to complete the project, and provided the Lab with the latest equipment and designs, which create a modern and attractive environment that stimulates both students and faculty members.”

Dr. Al-Mudhahki also lauded the support of BBK for establishing this unique Lab, stressing that the bank, which is distinguished by its efficient Bahraini leadership, has always been one of the Bahraini institutions that most support the National University in its pioneering projects. She stated, “This support from the Bank contributed to taking this important step towards developing education at the university. This indicates the importance of this harmonious form of cooperation between community institutions for the sake of raising the level of qualified cadres and providing all institutions with creative energies.”

Virtual reality technology provides a three-dimensional environment that surrounds the user and responds to his actions in a natural way, usually through head-mounted displays, as well as manual controls through touch.

For his part, the CEO of BBK Group, Abdul Rahman Ali Saif, stated, “It is a source of pride and honor for me that the bank has been a major supporter and partner for the establishment of a virtual reality lab that supports the academic process at the University of Bahrain. The bank is one of the bodies supporting this prestigious national university to make outstanding contributions. It is my pleasure to see our dear Bahraini students making full use of BBK’s educational initiatives that support the university and help students develop their knowledge and skills to become more competitiveness in the labor market.”

Dr. Saif added, “We stand today in this pioneering lab which has turned from a vision into a reality thanks to the concerted efforts of the bank’s work team and the efforts of those in charge of this lab at the university. The lab aims to serve students from different academic disciplines to train and make full use of equipment provided by the bank to conduct high quality technical projects.”

He stressed, “At BBK, we always look forward to leadership in the field of digital banking in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and search for modern technologies that lead the future directions of various industries and sectors. Therefore, the Bank continues to support this type of projects and initiatives to serve the Bahraini community.”

In conclusion, Dr. Saif emphasized that BBK places the issue of educating, training and qualifying young male and female Bahrainis, in accordance with the latest global trends, at the forefront of its social responsibility and sustainability program, based on the fact that investing in youth is an investment in building the prosperous future the Kingdom of Bahrain aspires to.

It is noteworthy that the idea of ​​the lab originated with two assistant professors in the Department of Architecture and Interior Design at the university; Dr. Sheikha Fai bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, and Dr. Nihal Al-Morbati, in February 2019. The idea was soon supported by the Deanship of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research at the university, leading to the search for financing options for the project.

The Director of the E-Learning Center at the University of Bahrain, Dr. Sheikha Fai bint Abdullah Al Khalifa, pointed out that “BBK was the leading respondent to the team’s initiative of establishing the lab which will serve students and professors at the center. The bank believed in the idea, adopted the initiative in the last quarter of 2019 and offered generous support for establishing the lab.”

Dr. Sheikha Fai bint Abdullah Al Khalifa added, “Despite the delay in establishing laboratories during 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and the university’s total turning to e-learning, the project team was able to prepare the laboratories in a record time during 2021.” She hoped that “the virtual and augmented reality laboratory will be used in the E-Learning Center at the University of Bahrain by faculty members and students, after the students return to study on campus.”