On Jan. 27, The Office of First Year Experience kick-started the Spring semester with the third annual Istakshif Abu Dhabi race. This year’s event was based on the themes “stories, spaces, and perspectives.”

The participating students, numbering more than 130, formed over 20 teams and began their exploratory journey through Abu Dhabi. The afternoon was spent at places including Al Mina Fish Market and Madinat Zayed completing tasks such as trying camel milk and performing random acts of kindness. The race was meant to help freshmen discover the city and find potential study and hang out spots.

The Highline Food Festival, organized by the Office of Residential Education, took place in the evening. Students purchased meal tickets for various food trucks such as Burro Blanco and Crepes & Poffs. Some student performers took to the stage, such as the band The 1AM. The prizes for Istakshif were later distributed. The Fam Bams came in first place and won tickets to Ferrari World.

“Istakshif was such a valuable experience,” said Aya Bouhelal, Class of 2021. “I got to meet visiting students and ask about other campuses as we were all running through Abu Dhabi's streets. It brought me closer to the city I've been calling home for the past semester. Also, school paid for my henna.”

The NYU Abu Dhabi Institute hosted three events this week.

On Jan. 25, Sumaya Al Hajiri, Head of Space Policy and Regulations at the UAE Space Agency, Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and Hoor Al Mazmi, Design Engineer at the UAE Space Agency gave a talk titled Women in Space Industry: How Space Projects Impact Humanity. The talk was moderated by Nasser Al Rashidi, Director of Space Policy and Regulations at the UAE Space Agency.

On Jan. 27 and Jan. 28, the NYUAD Institute hosted a conference called The Theory and Modern Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics. This was held in memory of a renowned scholar in this field, Professor Ali H. Nayfeh.

A talk titled How Did Our Solar System Form? was also held on Jan. 28. The speaker was Kleomenis Tsiganis, Associate Professor of the Department of Physics at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Upcoming talks include Genomics & Systems Biology VIII and The Role of Technology in Feeding 10 Billion People on Feb. 6 and the opening of the exhibition Markazi on Feb. 1.

The annual Spring Opportunities Fair was held on Feb. 1 by the Career Development Center. Over 55 employers participated this year, including World Business Times, Hedayah, Goals UAE and the Ability Center for the Handicapped. The NYUAD Arts Center and the NYUAD Art Gallery were two of the on campus employers present.

NYU IT released its inaugural annual report for the year 2017 under the title Building a Strong Foundation for the Future. The report includes a message from Len Peters, the Vice President and Chief Information Officer of NYU IT, on insights and accomplishments in areas such as Research Technology and IT Governance.

NYU Albert, the university-wide portal to the student information system, has been upgraded. It now has a mobile-ready design, and improved student, faculty and advisor centers.