THE
LUMINARY
UNIVERSIT Y OF MALTA ALUMNI NEWSLET TER
www.um.edu.mt/alumni
FEBRUARY 2015
The University recognises
exceptional Alumni
The University of Malta has
launched the ‘Outstanding Alumni
Achievement Award’ (OAAA), to
celebrate its graduates who have
attained exceptional distinction in
their chosen fields or professions
or in public service and have used
their education and their talents to
reach out to and improve the lives of
others. The chosen Awardee may be
someone well known to the Maltese
public but might equally be someone
that most of us have never heard of
but who, in his or her own way, has
achieved something that makes the
University proud to count him or her
amongst its alumni.
Persons entitled to put forward
nominations are all those who
qualify as alumni of the University
of Malta; all current members of
the academic body and all other
members of staff of the University
of Malta and all registered students
of the University of Malta.
The nominee, in terms of this
Award, must be someone who holds
at least a Bachelor’s degree or higher
qualification from the University of
Malta. Present academics, other
members of staff and registered
students of the University are not
eligible for the Award.
The process is confidential and
no disclosure can be made to the
nominee or others until after the
nomination process has been
completed and the nominee has
accepted the Award.
The successful nominee will be
honoured at a reception given by
the University of Malta and will
have his or her name inscribed
on a plaque which will hang in a
prominent place at the University.
A commemorative pin is also being
especially designed and created in
a limited edition to be presented to
the successful nominee.
This initiative is part of the
University’s
undertaking
to
recognise and value its Alumni.
Each year, thousands of students
graduate from the University of
Malta. Many of these have become
leaders in different spheres of life
and have shaped the country as
we now know it. In recent years
the University has been actively
increasing its contact with the
Alumni community by introducing
a number of projects such as a
‘for life’ University email address.
Past graduates now automatically
become part of the Alumni Online
Community and can access their
own University records, receive an
online newsletter, The Luminary,
and can contact their course
peers and anyone else linked to
the database.
THE
LUMINARY
FEBRUARY 2015
2
Faculty of Education Visits Mater
Dei Hospital Children’s Wards
11 February is World Day of the Sick. People all over
the world take time to pray and help to alleviate the
sufferings of the sick on this day. Different organisations
in most countries around the globe mark this special
day with various types of events and initiatives with
the main scope of showing solidarity with the sick
and helping them live life to the best notwithstanding
their sufferings.
To mark this day, the Staff Development & Wellbeing
Committee of the Faculty of Education at the University
of Malta, in collaboration with M.U.S.T. (Malta
University Student Teachers) organised a special event
at the Children’s Wards at Mater Dei Hospital, namely,
Fairyland, Disneyland, Wonderland and Rainbow Wards.
The scope of the event was threefold: to give students
and academic staff the opportunity to learn about
the community, become more visible in it and be of a
better service to it; to help children in hospital and
their relatives enjoy some special activities, all of an
educational nature; to create a carnival atmosphere in
children’s wards in hospital.
The children in the various wards were engaged in
a number of educational activities, ably prepared and
conducted by a group of Faculty students, supported
by academic staff. The activities, based on four
specific themes, namely children’s literature, science
experiments, games and sports, and crafts were
expertly presented and organised by the B.Ed. (Hons)
students who put to practice modern methods and
techniques of teaching acquired as part of their course
at University.
As part of the same event, which was kindly
sponsored by Agenda Bookshop and supported
by Vivian Corporation, not only did all children receive
a book as a gift but also a number of other books
and educational toys donated by both staff and
students were presented to the Children’s Hospital
Library. As educators we strongly believe that the
best gift a person can give to children is a book,
as interactions with books and reading materials
contributes to personal knowledge, development and
enrichment.
Prof. Ing. Zammit Mangion awarded the
100 Years of Aviation in Malta Award
The 100 Years of Aviation in Malta Award has been
awarded to Professor Ing. David Zammit Mangion
for his Engineering and Technical contribution to the
country. The award was presented during a gala event
attended by dignitaries and local senior professionals
in the aviation industry to commemorate the centenary
of aviation in Malta.
Professor Ing. Zammit Mangion has spearheaded
research and international collaboration in the
aerospace sector at the University of Malta bringing in
nearly 4 million Euro in contracts working with major
European stakeholders in the sector, whilst creating
postgraduate opportunities at the University. He is
author of over 80 academic papers, is inventor in 5
awarded patents and has contributed to over 100
industrial research documents.
Professor Ing. Zammit Mangion is an Associate
Professor in the Department of Electronic Systems
Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Director of
the Institute of Aerospace Technologies.
THE
LUMINARY
3
FEBRUARY 2015
Upcoming study
tour to Eastern Sicily
As part of the M.A. in Mediterranean Studies, the
Faculty of Arts is organising a Study Tour to Eastern
Sicily between 21 and 26 April 2015. The five-day tour will
be led by three lecturers: Ms Charlene Vella (History of
Art), Dr Timmy Gambin (Classics & Archaeology) and Dr
Mark Aloisio (History). Guest participants are welcome
to join the group.
Click here for the itinerary which includes Messina,
Milazzo, Naxos, Castelmola, Taormina, Syracuse, Aci
Castello and Catania.
For more information contact Ms Charlene Vella.
Lapel Pins - Wear the
symbol of our alma mater!
The official lapel pin featuring the official University of Malta logo in red, white and gold. This crestshaped lapel pin is made of a metal alloy. It is 21mm
in height and has a gold-coloured butterfly clutch
fastener.
The lapel pin is also available with
course colours. The colour denoting
the degree course is at the top of the
lapel pin.
Price including felt pouch: EUR 5.
G.F. Abela Junior College wins best translation
Sephora Francalanza from G.F. Abela Junior College
was one of the 28 winners of the European Union
announced recently by the European Commission.
There were 28 sixth form students, one from each
member state, who won the annual translation
contest Juvenes Translatores with over 3000
participants from 740 schools across the continent.
The budding translators will travel to Brussels
in April to pick up their prizes from European
Commission Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva.
“Knowledge of languages unites people because it
enables us to communicate with one another across
borders and national identities. Languages are an
important life skill and will enhance your career too.
So with this contest, we want to encourage students
to learn languages, use them and be a part of our
European family,” Vice-President Georgieva said.
This year, the participants in Juvenes Translatores had
to translate texts on the topic of European identity.
They were prepared especially for the contest by the
European Commission’s in-house translators, who were
also in charge of checking and marking the translations.
Although all original texts were on the same topic,
they approached it from very different angles,
including football fans, the American view on Europe
and a 15th century Czech king who wanted to unite
the continent. A specially formed group of polyglots
ensured all texts had a similar level of difficulty.
The participating students could choose from
any of the 552 possible combinations between
any two of the EU’s 24 official languages. This
year students used 148 language combinations,
including translating from Czech into Spanish, from
Polish into Greek and from Polish into Swedish, and
from Spanish into Bulgarian. All winners chose to
translate into their strongest language, as the official
translators in EU institutions usually do. Sephora
Francalanza translated from English into Maltese.
Background
The Juvenes Translatores (Latin for ‘young
translators’) contest has been organised every year
since 2007 by the European Commission’s DirectorateGeneral for Translation. An expression of the European
Commission’s translators’ passion for languages, its
aim is to promote language learning in schools and give
young people a taste of what it is like to be a translator.
It is open to 17-year old sixth form students (for those
born in 1997 in the case of the 2014-2015 contest) and
takes place at the same time in all selected schools
across the EU, including in its outermost regions.
Over the years, the contest has encouraged some
of the participants to continue studying languages
at university level and to become translators.
This newsletter is published by the Communications and Alumni
Relations Office within the University of Malta.
All Rights Reserved 2015