Demografi mahasiswa Malaysia di Jerman

Di sini penulis ingin lebih merumuskan demografi mahasiswa Malaysia di negara Jerman, setelah pernah menulis satu thread tentang topik ini di Twitter.

Latar belakang penulis dan disclaimer

• 2008 - Setiausaha Agung MARA Kumpel (majlis mahasiswa MARA di Jerman, 2nd ranking member)
• 2009 - Setiausaha Agung Malaysian-German Students' Society (MGSS), selama beberapa bulan sebelum meletakkan jawatan tanpa menamatkan penggal.

Oleh sebab penulis telah tamat pengajian peringkat pasca-siswazah pada awal 2015, maklumat-maklumat di bawah mungkin bercanggah dengan keadaan terkini.

Pembahagian kumpulan mahasiswa

Di dalam thread itu, saya cuba menyatakan bahawa mahasiswa Malaysia di Jerman dapat dibahagikan kepada beberapa kumpulan. Tapi ini tidak bermakna setiap mahasiswa hanya tergolong dalam satu kumpulan sahaja.

 

Kluster: penaja

Gambarajah ini menunjukkan penaja-penaja mahasiswa Malaysia di Jerman.

Penaja-penaja utama mahasiswa Malaysia di Jerman.

Kluster: negeri pengajian

Negeri-negeri Jerman berikut mempunyai bilangan mahasiswa Malaysia yang teramai:

• Bayern (Bavaria)
• Nordrhein-Westfalen
  
• Baden-Württemberg

Ada juga yang belajar di negeri Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Sachsen (Saxony) dan bandaraya-bandaraya Berlin, Bremen dan Hamburg.

Peta negara Republik Persekutuan Jerman [1].

Kluster: institusi persediaan (pra-universiti) di Malaysia

Sepanjang pengetahuan penulis, terdapat 3 institusi di Malaysia yang menawarkan program pra-universiti untuk pengajian di negara Jerman:

• German-Malaysian Institute, Bangi
• International Education Center (INTEC), UiTM Shah Alam
• First City University College (dahulunya dikenali sebagai Kolej Bandar Utama, KBU)

Gambarajah berikut menunjukkan institusi-institusi tersebut yang dihadiri oleh pelajar-pelajar daripada penaja-penaja yang berbeza:

Institusi pra-universiti di Malaysia untuk persediaan pelajar untuk pengajian di Jerman.

Kluster: organisasi mahasiswa Malaysia di Jerman

Ada 2 pertubuhan utama yang dianggotai oleh mahasiswa Malaysia di Jerman:

• MGSS: keahlian terbuka kepada semua pelajar Malaysia di Jerman, tidak tertakluk kepada peringkat pengajian atau penaja, tetapi didominasi oleh mahasiswa tajaan JPA.
• MARA Kumpel: Kumpel - istilah bahasa pasar Jerman yang bermaksud rakan, untuk mahasiswa tajaan MARA.

Dahulu pernah ada polemik tentang penubuhan MARA Kumpel, kerana dibimbangi memecahbelahkan mahasiswa Malaysia di sini. Tetapi harus dipertimbangkan juga bahawa memang kesemua mahasiswa ini telah pun berkelompok dari dahulu lagi atas sebab-sebab yang tidak dapat dielakkan (lihat kluster-kluster lain di atas).

MARA Kumpel sebenarnya lebih kepada satu jawatankuasa untuk menguruskan kebajikan mahasiswa tajaan MARA, terutamanya tentang urusan kewangan (tuntutan elaun, bayaran yuran), dan laporan keputusan peperiksaan semester.

Terdapat persetujuan tidak bertulis antara MARA Kumpel dan MGSS: ahli-ahli MARA Kumpel tidak perlu menyertai MGSS (yakni membayar yuran keahlian), kerana mereka telah pun membayar 'sumbangan' tahunan kepada MARA Kumpel. Mahasiswa MARA dibenarkan menyertai aktiviti-aktiviti MGSS. Sebagai balasan, setiap tahun MARA Kumpel, dengan bajet sendiri perlu mengatur satu aktiviti (terutamanya RENTAP) yang boleh disertai oleh ahli-ahli MGSS.

Kluster: organisasi berteraskan politik dan agama

Di Jerman juga terdapat kehadiran Kelab UMNO Jerman (2 cawangan) dan Kelab Bunga Raya Jerman. Selain itu, sejak beberapa tahun lepas wujud satu pertubuhan bernama AZIM Jerman, yang bermatlamat mengisi aktiviti-aktiviti kerohanian bagi mahasiswa Muslim Malaysia di sini.

Sumber:

[1] OnTheWorldMap

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Pengajian Universiti di Negara Jerman Bagi Lepasan SPM

Tulisan ini adalah pelengkap untuk satu thread yang telah saya tulis di Twitter pada 2 April 2020. Di sini saya ingin berkongsi sedikit sebanyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan saya tentang pengajian peringkat ijazah di negara Jerman ini, terutamanya tentang persediaan (pra-universiti) di Malaysia.

Ketika itu thread berkenaan ditujukan kepada lepasan SPM 2019 dan bakal-bakal calon SPM 2020. Oleh sebab COVID-19 telah melanda satu dunia, nampaknya SPM 2020 semakin tidak realistik. Maka saya tujukan juga perkongsian ini untuk calon-calon SPM 2021 pula. (Thread itu ada di penghujung artikel ini di bawah sekali)

Latar belakang penulis

Penulis di Berlin.

Akademik:

• Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, MRSM Jasin (kini MRSM Tun Ghafar Baba)
  
• German A-Level Preparatory Program, German-Malaysian Institute (GMI), Kuala Lumpur
  
• Diplom-Ingenieur (FH) Mechatronics Engineering, Uni. of Applied Sciences Mittelhessen (Campus Friedberg)
  
• M. Sc. Computer Vision and Photonics, Darmstadt Uni. of Applied Sciences

Cocurricular:

• Ketua pelajar A-Levels GMI, batch 2003/2005
• Ahli Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar GMI, 2003/2004
  
• Setiausaha Agung MARA Kumpel (majlis pelajar MARA di Jerman), 2008

Bidang pekerjaan:

• robotics
• industrial computer vision 
• financial services (dari pertengahan 2017 hingga kini)

Langkah pertama selepas SPM

Selepas tamat SPM, bakal pelajar harus menyelidik apakah program-program yang ditawarkan oleh MARA dan JPA. Bagi mereka yang tidak memerlukan biasiswa yakni bakal pelajar persendirian, bolehlah merujuk terus kepada program A-Level di http://gmi.edu.my.

Persediaan di Malaysia dijangka mengambil masa setahun setengah, dengan intake setahun sekali, pada bulan Julai.

German-Malaysian Institute, kini di Bangi.

Program A-Level di GMI kebiasaannya disertai oleh pelajar tajaan MARA, JPA, yayasan tertentu dan persendirian. Majoriti pelajar JPA selalunya menjalani program persediaan di INTEC UiTM dan First City Universiy College (dahulunya dikenali sebagai KBU). Saya juga telah dimaklumkan bahawa sudah pun ada pelajar-pelajar MARA yang juga mengikuti persediaan di INTEC.

Penulis bersama rakan-rakan sekelas di GMI Kuala Lumpur.

 

Dari program persediaan di GMI ke negara Jerman

Laluan ke Jerman melalui GMI dapat dirumuskan seperti berikut:

1. A-Levels (Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry) + bahasa Jerman hingga tahap pertengahan + latihan asas industri - di Malaysia (22 bulan)
2. Kursus persediaan akhir bahasa Jerman intensif + ujian terakhir bahasa Jerman tahap universiti - di Jerman (6 bulan).
• di sini, pelajar-pelajar akan dibahagikan kepada kumpulan yang akan menjalani kursus intensif bahasa Jerman di institut yang berbeza.
  
3. Universiti: pengajian bermula dari semester pertama

Kursus-kursus kejuruteraan di negara Jerman

Contoh-contoh kursus teknikal yang boleh dipilih:

• Mechatronics engineering
  
• Technical computer science
• Physikalische Technik (susah untuk diterjemahkan)
• Optical engineering and industrial computer vision
• Plastics engineering
• Chemical engineering, etc. 

Kenapa belajar di negara Jerman

• Kos pengajian universiti dan kos hidup pelajar yang rendah
• Kelengkapan universiti awam yang sangat baik
• Accessibility untuk bahan-bahan ilmiah (perpustakaan dan akses percuma untuk scientific research articles)

Penulis semasa mengulangkaji subjek Robotik untuk peperiksaan semester.

• Teknologi tinggi di industri - tidak perlu dipertikaikan lagi.

 

Penulis semasa bekerja dalam bidang robotik di Jerman, tahun 2016.

• Lokasi Jerman yang strategik untuk mengembara ke negara-negara Eropah yang lain. 

Penulis dan rakan-rakan di Camp Nou - stadium rumah FC Barcelona

Penulis dan rakan-rakan di Istanbul

Penulis dan rakan-rakan di Saint Peter's Square.

• Reputasi universiti-universiti awam Jerman: kelulusan dari Jerman akan memudahkan anda untuk mencari pekerjaan di dalam Jerman.

Fachhochschule, Hochschule dan Universität

Majoriti pelajar Malaysia akan mengaji di Fachhochschule atau Hochschule (university of applied sciences). Ada juga yang memilih Universität. Kedua-dua sistem universiti tersebut berbeza.

Di Fachhochschule (FH) atau Hochschule (HS), pengajian lebih menekankan sistem praktikal: lebih sesi makmal & latihan industri.

Manakala di Universität pula terdapat sistem klasik yang lebih mengutamakan pengetahuan teori. Universität juga menawarkan pengajian sehingga peringkat PhD.

Kedua-dua universiti menawarkan ijazah Bachelor dan Master.

Kelebihan di Fachhochschule/Hochschule:

• Nisbah bilangan pelajar kepada pensyarah lebih rendah berbanding di Universität.
• Saiz kuliah atau kelas lebih kecil - maka mudah untuk mendapatkan perhatian atau pertolongan daripada pensyarah.

Pesanan kepada pelajar-pelajar Malaysia di Jerman oleh MEC

Malaysia Engineering Community atau MEC - ialah satu pertubuhan baru yang ditubuhkan oleh sekumpulan jurutera Malaysia di Jerman, yang majoritinya terdiri daripada graduan universiti-universiti Jerman. Satu soal selidik telah diadakan pada bulan Julai 2020 tentang nasihat-nasihat yang ingin dikongsikan dengan bakal-bakal pelajar di negara Jerman. Graf di bawah merumuskan nasihat-nasihat tersebut, mengikut undian:

Tips oleh MEC untuk pelajar-pelajar Malaysia di Jerman.

 

Disclaimer dan akhir kata

Ada kemungkinan maklumat-maklumat di atas telah berubah mengikut keadaan semasa.

 

Banyak cabaran yang akan dihadapi oleh pelajar-pelajar Malaysia di perantauan. Saya memilih untuk tidak menghuraikan pengalaman milik diri sendiri mahupun rakan-rakan lain di blogpost ini. Hanya off the record sahaja.

 

Akhir kata, jika anda memilih untuk ke Jerman, saya ucapkan Viel Erfolg - selamat berjaya.

Penulis di Burg Eltz (Eltz Castle).

Follow @HafizVonPJ

 

Ada lepasan #SPM2019 atau calon #SPM2020 yang bercita-cita untuk belajar di negara Jerman tak?

Mungkin saya akan berkongsi sedikit sebanyak maklumat yang dapat membantu.

— der Hafız 🇲🇾 (@HafizVonPJ) April 2, 2020

Welcome to Germany...and Welcome to the Suck

First of all - the second phrase in the title above is just a pun by the writer. The writer dedicates this blog post to the group of 41 products of German A-Level Preparatory Program (GAPP), which arrived to Germany via its Frankfurt International Airport a.k.a. Fraport on the last March 15, 2014, and to the current GAPP students at the German-Malaysian Institute (GMI) in Bangi, Malaysia. This article is intended to provide simple yet sufficient information for them about the main challenge that awaits them in Germany once they arrive here: the TestDaF.

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On Saturday March 15, 2014 - a group of 41 future students arrived at the Fraport. Once they came out from the arrival gate in Fraport Terminal 2, they were led to an area in the Terminal 2. There they were given short briefings by 2 officers from the General Consulate of Malaysia in Frankfurt am Main. Afterwards they were separated to 4 groups - each group would then journey to a different state in Germany: Bayern (Bavaria), Sachsen (Saxony), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North-Rhein Westphalia / NRW) and Hessen (Hesse).  At each place they must then undergo a preparation course for the ultimate German language test for them - the TestDaF / Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache (German as Foreign Language).

The writer congratulates them for making it this far and hope they have adjusted themselves well in their first week in Germany.

Financial Management during the Language Course

In a briefing by one of the officers, students were advised to manage their allowance smartly and told to spare a certain amount of money from their early allowance for certain reasons. From their monthly allowance they must pay for living costs: mostly for room rent, health insurance, cellphone bills and of course foods and drinks. Here the writer would like to urge these students to refrain from spending on large (read: expensive) items such as TV-Monitor, desktop PC, musical instruments etc, which would then trouble them during the process of relocation to their respective college.

The process of moving into a new rent room always involves a big sum of money. They need to consider the costs of transportation, deposit of the rent (which is usually 2 or 3 month of monthly rent), the first month rent, new furniture and so on, hence the reminder of sparing some money from their early allowance. Apart from those, they must also be prepared to pay the semester fee (€ 200 and above).

The TestDaF

From here onward, the writer addresses the 41 students as TestDaF candidates. The writer welcomes comments from other fellow students who have also experienced the TestDaF, especially those who scored 16 points and above, to share their opinions and tips.

The writer took a liberty to briefly view the website of TestDaF-Institut [1], to refresh himself on information regarding the TestDaF. The following is the summary on TestDaF along with tips/suggestions by the writer. TestDaF candidates are hereby recommended to read further information and tips at the official website (the website is unforgiving - everything is in German, but that is the whole point - to test your German language competence). The writer predicts that all 41 candidates will do their TestDaF on July 15, 2014 [2].

1) The Structure of TestDaF

The following image (Fig. 1) shows that TestDaF is divided to 4 parts in chronological order:

• Reading comprehension (Leseverstehen / LV),
• Listening comprehension (Hörverstehen / HV),
• Text composition (Schriftlicher Ausdruck / SA) and
• Oral (Mündlicher Ausdruck / MA).

Figure 1: The structure of TestDaF [3]

The total time of the test is 3 hours and 10 minutes, without the break time. The answer papers with the recording of the oral test (yes, it will be recorded) would then be sent to the TestDaF-Institut in Bochum for evaluation [3]. It takes at least 6 weeks until the result will be released.

2) Grading

The test result on TestDaF-certificate will be ordered in 3 grade levels to all 4 parts:

• TestDaF-Niveaustufe 3 (TDN 3)
• TestDaF-Niveaustufe 4 (TDN 4)
• TestDaF-Niveaustufe 5 (TDN 5)

The highest grade is TDN 5 - which makes the total highest grade overall is 20. If a grade is below 3, then it will be displayed as 'unter TDN 3' - which is obviously undesired by any German university. In comparison to certain English language certificates which are only valid for 2 years, a TestDaF certificate is described as 'valid without limit' [3].

3) The Required Grade for Enrollment

A candidate is considered to have passed the TestDaF if the total grade or points is 12 (TDN 3 multiplied by 4). To the writer's knowledge, so far only colleges in Bayern that accept such result. The writer would like to shift the reader's attention to colleges in other states, particularly in Hessen. This can be regarded as a highly significant case study.

In the process of application for a placement at a Hessian college, generally it is sufficient for an applicant to provide that she/he has acquired 15 points.

HOWEVER, upon enrollment the candidate must provide a TestDaF-certificate with minimum 16 points, with minimum TDN 4 in every part of the test (4 times TDN 4). The reason behind this is: applicants with 15 points are expected to re-sit the TestDaF and improve their results after sending their college application.

To clarify this matter, last year the writer made a phone call to the Director of International Affairs of Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen and consulted the advisor-in-charge for foreign students of Hochschule Darmstadt. A common point from them was the logic of requiring every applicant to get 16 points and above. They insisted that foreign students should be competent in their German language, to provide the very basic strength in doing an undergraduate degree in Germany. The writer could only agree with them.

4) Tips/Suggestions

As a starter, the writer suggests that TestDaF candidates go through the TestDaF website and download everything available to help them: from the sample test papers in PDF format to the audio files for HV part in MP3 format.

Be active when possessing all those materials - analyze them.

Read articles that come along with tables and graphs. Many phrases to describe the statistics are so useful that they can be applied later especially in the part SA of the TestDaF.

Candidates should also always practice to answer the oral questions effectively. Their all hi-tech gadgets should be utilized to record their voices and replay them. Do mock oral tests during free time.

Stop listening to MP3s when candidates are in places full of German-speaking people. Pay attention to their pronunciation, accents and tones. Try to emulate their accent. Try to slightly understand the topic of their conversation - it may be a dry humor, or may be about their music taste, outing plan, their train destination, how old they are, what kind of pets they have, the current political situation in EU or elsewhere, etc. Whatever. Anything.

It is important to remember why all of this matters so much. The candidates should bear in mind that they will have to attend countless lectures, spend hours to write lab reports, digest lecture scripts and notes - everything in German. The most challenging part would then be to write the final year thesis (Abschlussarbeit), for which bachelor candidates are required to write in impeccable German, before presenting it during a colloquium for final evaluation.

Conclusion

The candidates should fully utilize their 4 month-course to prepare themselves for the TestDaF. The writer urge them to NOT regard this 4-month-period as a rewarding time for them after passing the GAPP course in Malaysia. Instead they should take this as an opportunity to put their German knowledge in practice. No more simulation of dialog - but real-time conversation with native speakers. The candidates are also urged to aim for 16 points or above, for it shall open many doors to them afterward. The writer wishes all the best to the TestDaF candidates and again: 'Welcome To The Suck'*.

Sources:

[1] TestDaF-Institut official website

[2] Available dates for TestDaF

[3] Overview of the TestDaF

*borrowed from the catchphrase of the film Jarhead.

MATLAB Code to Generate a Chessboard

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In the last 2 years, the writer attended a lecture on Linear Filters in Image Processing. Among the various assignments was to write a function which generates a chessboard/checkerboard, which then can be visualized as a conventional 2D image. This is a tutorial on how to apply a function called 'schachbrett' (the German word for chessboard) in MATLAB [1].

Why chessboard?

Figure 1: An artificially generated image of chessboard (256 x 256 pixel)

The chessboard (Figure 1) was deemed an interesting object to investigate frequencies after applying Fourier Transform. The test would looked like Figure 2 and Figure 3 below.

Figure 2: The real part of the Fourier Transform of lohSchahmat

Figure 3: The real part of the Fourier Transform of lohSchahmat (as a 3D-mesh plot)

The results would look finer if the writer had applied:

1. a higher number of pixel and/or
2. a higher number of fields. 

The function schachbrett()

This function takes 2 arguments - namely the no. of pixel and and the no. of fields to be displayed.

function [chessBoard] = schachbrett(noPxl,noField)

And the output is - chessBoard.

For security, the writer set default values as follows:

% Setting the default no. of pixels

if noPxl <= 0

    noPxl = 10;

end

% Dimension of the board => noField x noField

if noField <= 0

    noField = 2;

end

The here is where the magic happens:

boardTemp = 255*[ones(noPxl) zeros(noPxl); zeros(noPxl) ones(noPxl)];

chessBoard = repmat(boardTemp,noField/2,noField/2);

Firstly a 2x2 board of ones and zeros are generated, which resembles an identity matrix, except that this matrix is NOT an identity matrix. Then it is multiplied by the value of 255, so that all values of 1 become 255 (the color white in 8-bit grayscale).

Then the matrix is replicated with the help of a built-in MATLAB function called repmat() - replicated as half as the number of fields given as the argument noField in schachbrett() above.

How to apply the function schachbrett()

This step is very easy just like below, which has generated the image in Figure 1 above:

noPixel = 2^5;

noLineColumn = 2^3;

lohSchahmat = schachbrett(noPixel, noLineColumn);

figure('Name', 'BetHaMikdash'),

imshow(lohSchahmat)

title('Rosfah Schlomo')

That is all. Have fun with coding in MATLAB!

Remarks:

[1]. MATLAB is a registered trademark of The Mathworks, Inc. The code above was strictly used for academical and research purpose.

FingKinector - Interacting with the Kinect Motor

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The pivot which connects the Kinect sensor to its base is motorized. This post is about an app called 'FingKinector', which is developed to utilize that motorized pivot without having to rotate the Kinect sensor manually. This is tested only on the Kinect sensor for XBOX 360 and developed for Windows 7.

"K.I.S.S. = Keep It Stupid, Simple"

Image 1: Kinect Sensor for XBOX 360, equipped with a wide-angle lens.

To be able to control the Kinect sensor from a PC, you will need an AC-adapter for your Kinect. It costs around € 8.00 on the Amazon. It has 2 outputs: the orange plug connector is used to supply the Kinect with 12 V at 1 A, whereas the second output is a regular USB connector [1].

If your Kinect is connected to your PC for the first time, by default Windows will attempt to automatically download and install the driver for that Kinect, which comes from PrimeSense. PrimeSense is the developer of the range camera in the Kinect sensor and it is an Israeli 3D sensing technology. As of this time - PrimeSense has become a subsidiary of Apple Inc [2].

At the bottom of this post, the writer puts a link for you to download FingKinector.

FingKinector works in 2 options:

1. Single run
2. Sequential run

The following image shows the first mode (single run). It is known from [3] that the motor is allowed to be tilted to an angle between -27° and 27°.

Image 2: Single Run mode on FingKinector

The second mode, as seen in Image 3 below - the sequential run, uses a factor to divide the range [-27°,27°] up to 10 sectors. By default this mode will first turn the Kinect to the position of 0°, then starts the sequential movement from either top (at 27°) or bottom (at -27°).

Image 3: Sequential mode on FingKinector

The writer also took a liberty to record an amateur video to demonstrate the sequential mode. The Kinect here is seen with an extra hardware called Kinect Zoom Wide-Angle Lens by Nyko [4]. Its cost is around € 14.00.

Sources:

[1]: Kinect Adapter in Amazon.de

[2]: PrimeSense (Wikipedia)

[3]: Kinect Sensor - Microsoft Developer Network

[4]: Kinect Zoom Wide-Angle Lense by Nyko (Amazon.de)

REMINDER / WARNING:

1. For Windows only. (Linux version will be made available in the next development)
2. The writer is NOT liable for any damage.
3. Use at your own risk.

Have fun!

Download link:
Download link for FingKinector (Windows)

Report on the Seminar: Media and Democracy

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On the last Nov. 2 until Nov. 4 of 2012, World University Service e.V. (WUS) through its wing STUBE Hessen (stands for STUdienBEgleitprogramm) organized a weekend seminar with the theme: Media and democracy: On methods and means of mobilization. This event was held in a youth hostel in Fulda, a Baroque city located to the east of the state Hesse. Around 18 foreign students were present, all from numerous Hessian colleges - Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Fulda, Marburg, Giessen and so on. Three presenters delivered talks during separate sessions and it was moderated by a representative of STUBE from WUS headquarter in Wiesbaden (the capital of the state Hesse). This is the writer's report on this event.

For participation on its programs, STUBE targets foreign students from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Students of nationalities such as Mongolian, Chinese, Chilean, Mexican, Georgian, Albanian, Kenyan, Nepalese, Syria etc were spotted during this event.

During the introduction session on the day of our arrival, participants were introduced to the President of the Uni. of Applied Sciences of Fulda, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karim Khakzar, who was accompanied by his daughter. He expressed welcome to us to the city Fulda and briefly informed us about his college.

The talks/lectures

Among the objectives of this seminar was to discuss some questions on the social media, which is proven to be a critical factor in today's politics everywhere in this world. This was so as many recent and current events - London Riot, Arab Spring, Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign etc, were known of involving a lot of mobilization via social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and so on. Therefore the invited lecturers were picked from relevant backgrounds - one graduate student of information science, an NGO activist and a journalist who happened to be an active blogger. All talks were delivered in English.

The first talk was delivered by a Vietnamese postgraduate student from Darmstadt, Mr. T.A. Nguyen. He gave a presentation which taught the pariticipants about the Internet and its impacts. Began with the introduction to the Internet, he lead us to the issues of network security, related incidents such as the London Riot and Wikileaks and censorship.

Then Mr. T. Kowohl, a law clerk by profession, talked about NGO-campaigns, mentioning some case studies from Amnesty International, of which he is a member. His objective is to show us the risks and benefits of social media froma legal perspective. He also requested us to form groups, in which the participants were to discuss make suggestions to Amnesty International on how it should conduct its campaigns everywhere.

On the next day, the final talk was delivered by Mr. J. Kucharz. who is the editor of the website http://netzfeuilleton.de/. He mentioned that he wanted to engage us into becoming our own media mogul, by starting to be active in online media. Various successful examples on online media were shown to us - bloggers, authors, YouTube-ers and so on. The Participants have also discussed the question of how they envision the media landscape of the future.

The Baroque city Fulda

That was the writer's second time coming to Fulda - the first one was in January 2009, when the writer went there as a lone wolf. Nothing much has changed since the last time. Prof. Khakzar, who the writer has mentioned above, told us that Fulda has the reputation of being the cleanest city in Hesse. It does not have much attractions for students - i.e. students find this city not so entertaining at nights, hence the weekend life of students here are relatively quiet. This, as Prof. Khakzar has alleged, is contributing to the high rate of students graduating from Fulda. The writer personally would agree with that, since Fulda is located so far away from other major cities in Hesse - 2 hours of train journey from Frankfurt alone to get there.

Nevertheless, some of the participants attending the seminar, went out during the second night in Fulda. They searched for any student-friendly place to have drinks and they have managed to spot a cosy shisha bar. The writer can't recall the price, but the writer would say it was so affordable that one could order one shisha just for oneself alone.

The conduct/behaviour of the students

Some students were found to be very articulate - actively asking questions and expressing opinions, accompanying their points with examples from their respective home countries. However a few of the participants could also be considered as rude, impolite and irritating because they talked to each other during the lectures, half as loud as the voice of the presenter in the approximately 50 m² room.

Apart from that, a few students also were found to be unfocused or diverted from the main objectives of this seminar. Some were even expressing disappointment that current political issues e.g. Arab Spring were not brought into discussion - as they thought this was the purpose of this seminar. As the writer thought this critic was unnecessary and unfair to the organizer, The writer pointed out that they have been not reading the clear descriptions of this seminar on its brochure, which was already distributed much earlier.

During the second / last night in the youth hostel, some students who were staying (not going to the shisha bar), used the seminar room as a place to put on some loud music and dance. They were having fun until one 40-year-old-plus man, who happened to be another guest the hostel, came to them and gave a threat, telling them to stop partying or he'll complain tomorrow to the hostel admin, saying that this would be their last time to come here. That was very ironic, since this hostel was supposed to be a youth hostel.

Summary

This seminar can be considered as successful in achieving its objectives. Participants were exposed on the availability of social media as a very useful tool in promoting their causes - be it political or anything else. Participants generally found the conducting of the seminar in English very favorable. The seminar has motivated the writer to be more active in using social media, hence by being active again in writing on this blogspot. The venue - a youth hostel in Fulda - it was a good place to hold a instructive events such as this, but located very far from the central  part of Fulda.

Studying at the Hochschule Darmstadt, Germany

A brief introduction to Hochschule Darmstadt

Starting from Summer Semester 2012, I am pursuing a Master's degree in Optical Engineering and Image Processing at the Hochschule Darmstadt (another Hessian public university of applied sciences).

HS Darmstadt [1]

HS Darmstadt, or 'h_da' as the college uses it commercially, is situated in the city Darmstadt, just south of the metropolis Frankfurt am Main.

As usual, students here are entitled to use the transportations of the RMV within its region. From Darmstadt in the south, up to Marburg in the north of Hesse, as well as from Hanau in the east to Mainz (in the state Rheinland-Pfalz) in the west. In other words, just like the rest of the students in Hesse, mobility is easy for them.

Malaysian students at the h_da

Currently there are 3 Malaysian students at this college, including me myself. The other 2 (ladies) are students under the scholarship of Yayasan Telekom Malaysia, a foundation of Malaysian telecommunication consortium. Both are studying electrical engineering.

So far there has been only 1 known Malaysian graduate from this college, who has studied mechanical engineering and was a scholar of the JPA/PSD.

Courses available at the h_da


Under this adress one can find the whole list of courses taught at the h_da:
Studienangebot der HS Darmstadt

Optotechnik und Bildverarbeitung at the h_da

Here I would like to highlight the course which I am currently taking. Firstly I will tell you, how I jumped into this field due to my experiences during my undergraduate studies.

I am a graduate of mechatronics engineering and during the last phases of my studies in mechatronics, I took an elective subject - Industrialle Bildverarbeitung (industrial image processing). From that subject I took a keen interest in this field, hence agreed to take a project (Projektarbeit), which was compulsory and of which the theme was a simple image analysis (Bilderkennung). From this project I looked further to search a theme with digital image processing for my final thesis (Diplomarbeit), which landed me an attachment at the German firm Werth Messtechnik GmbH in Giessen. At the end of my thesis I had realized that I need proper trainings, lessons or courses in image processing, if this field is what I want to do for my professional job, hence the master course in the h_da.

This course is an engineering discipline in the industrial and research field in optical technologies. The Optotechnik (optical engineering) covers optical metrology, laser technology and classical technical optics including its modern elements such as microoptics, illuminations and fiber optics. Meanwhile, Bildverarbeitung (image processing), also known as machine vision, combines illuminations, image acquisition and the processing of image datas for technical and scientifical applications. [2]

I can name a few examples of the application of image processing, used in scenes in 2 Hollywood films:

1) letters/pattern recognition which was featured in the recently released film Mission Impossible IV (Ghost Protocol): the early scene involved face recognition.

2) length/height measurement - featured in the film The Italian Job (2003): from the traffic camera at the streets, the tyres of the security trucks with the gold are measured from the captured images.

Applying for a placement

Generally among the uni. of applied sciences in Germany, for the intake Summer Semester (SS) every year, usually the closing date of applications is July 15, whereas for Winter Semester (WS) it is January 15.

Those closing dates may seem to cause a predicament for applicants who will get their test results (A-Levels, Test DaF, DSH etc.) AFTER the dates. Nevertheless, to my knowledge, applicants CAN still send their forms for courses, which are NOT classified as Numerus Clausus (NC). NC-courses, such as medicine, are considered critical for Germany and applications for them are strictly limited.

Should you prefer to apply ahead of the deadline, I would recommend you to prepare your documents with some support/statement letter(s), which states that your test result (e.g. German language test) is pending. I would say, your applications might be accepted and you get your placement, but eventually you MUST show your original test result/certificate upon immatriculation/registration day. Immatriculation or registration day does NOT mean the first day of the lectures.

At this link, you can find your way to apply online for a placement at h_da:

Hochschule Darmstadt - Studieninteressierte (open in a new window)

Online application for Hochschule Darmstadt

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Sources/Quellen:


[1] Brigitte Zypries [SPD], Darmstadt - Studieren in Darmstadt
[2] Optotechnik und Bildverarbeitung, Fachbereich MN, HS Darmstadt

Studying at the TH Mittelhessen

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Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (Uni. of Applied Sciences Mittelhessen)


Having been among the earliest MARA students to enroll in and to graduate from the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen or THM (formerly known as Fachhochschule Giessen-Friedberg), I feel obliged to promote this college to other fellow MARA as well as others (JPA, YTM etc.) to study here.


THM with campuses in Giessen (main campus), Friedberg and Wetzlar, is the largest public university of applied sciences in the state Hesse.


For the undergraduate courses - the courses which are taken by us MARA students are mechatronics and mechanical engineering.

THM's website

However many more courses are available, such as E&E, EIT, ICT etc.


THM's official website is http://www.thm.de/site/ .

Under 'Fachbereiche', one can find the list of the faculties of THM.


The mechanical engineering courses - with different majors, are divided into both campuses Giessen and Friedberg.


Mechatronics engineering course falls under the latter faculty 'FB 12'.


As of now, in the Summer Semester 2012, there are three JPA students who are undergoing Master's course in THM Campus Friedberg. Certain Master courses like their's are conducted in English.


Malaysian graduates from TH Mittelhessen


Until now, as of Summer Semester 2012:-

• Mechanical engineering (Friedberg): 2 MARA students (Diplom)
• Mechatronics engineering (Friedberg): 1 MARA student (Diplom)
• Medical engineering (Giessen): 1 MARA student (Diplom)
• Biotech/Biomedical (Giessen): 1 private student (Diplom)
• Information and Communication engineering (Friedberg): 1 private student (Master)

The town Friedberg


Friedberg is situated between Germany's financial hub city Frankfurt am Main and Giessen.
Both cities are easily reachable via railway transports.


Enrolled students in the state Hesse usually have the 'RMV-Semesterticket' - which is also counted in the semester fees, and allows students to freely ride public transports like buses, trams, regional and subway trains within the region covered by the consortium RMV. So the question of mobility for students in Hesse is hardly a big issue here.


To be able to reach the large and hectic Frankfurt for shoppings, weekend hangouts etc while living peacefully, with relatively low living costs in Friedberg - is what the town Friedberg does have to offer to us students.


Applying for a placement?


Simply go to the section 'Bewerbung + Immatrikulation' at the website.


On behalf of the students in Friedberg, I would like to urge Malaysian students, who are aiming to study in Hesse especially in the town Friedberg or Giessen, to approach us, if our asssistance is needed.


- Vivat academia, vivant professores -