Tag Archives: lifestyle
Neighbouring emirates benefit from high Dubai rents
The strong demand for properties in Dubai has enabled landlords to significantly increase their rents in recent months and this is having a knock-on effect in neighbouring emirates.Cluttons has revealed that many people looking to relocate to the UAE have been priced out of Dubai and are instead heading slightly further north to Sharjah, the National reports.This has inevitably led to rising rents in the smaller emirate, with property brokers confirming that rates have soared by 15 per cent in the last six months. Experts also predict a further 15 per cent increase in the second half of 2013.In more exclusive parts of Sharjah, landlords are demanding rents that are almost at the same level as those charged in 2007 when the real estate market was booming.Shane Breen, associate director at Cluttons in Sharjah, told the news provider: “Landlords are taking advantage of higher rents in Dubai and tenants are paying.”He added that the massive demand for rented accommodation in this particular emirate has caught the attention of property investors.”Investors are not looking to develop their own projects at the moment but we have seen a number of these people coming in and buying existing buildings,” Mr Breen was quoted as saying.It does not take long at all for Sharjah residents to travel into the heart of Dubai and there is every chance that transport networks between the two emirates will be strengthened in the near future.Migrants continue to flood into the UAE in search of better job opportunities and a more relaxed way of life, which is having an impact on property availability.Farouk Soussa, the chief economist in the Middle East for Citigroup, told the same news provider that he expects Dubai house prices to go up by 35 per cent this year and rental rates will rise by a similar amount.His comments came shortly after the Dubai Statistics Centre confirmed that property prices increased at their fastest rate for more than three years in April 2013.The First Group can help you find perfect properties in the UAE Continue reading
Masdar delves into printed electronics
Masdar delves into printed electronics Staff Reporter / 29 May 2013 Researchers at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology have taken the initial steps towards printed organic optoelectronics, placing the UAE firmly on the global map of this promising sector. Printed electronics is a combination of the technologies employed in printing, electronics, chemistry and material science. Industries across the world are embracing this nascent sector for commercial implications. New innovations are much sought after because this technology can offer benefits such as low cost, high throughput, ease of manufacturing and use in new applications. Dr Samuele Lilliu, a post-doctoral fellow working at the Nano-Optics and Optoelectronics Research (NOOR) Laboratory under Dr Marcus Dahlem, Assistant Professor, Microsystems Engineering, is leading a major project on organic photodetectors, including solar cells and photodiodes. Novel research strategies and innovative concepts are also being developed to make Masdar Institute a strong player in the printed electronics arena. A current study by IDTechEx, a consulting company for printed electronics, shows that the market for printed and potentially printed electronics is already worth $9.4 billion. A study by Silicon Valley-headquartered business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan predicts the market for organic and printed electronics will increase by more than 100 per cent to around $25 billion by 2015. Tracking the global trend, the Masdar Institute recently installed Fujifilm Dimatix DMP2831, one of the most flexible tools for ink development in inkjet-printing. The application of inkjet-printing as a fabrication tool for organic devices shows the potential of these organic materials for low-cost third-generation electronics and optoelectronics. “Dr Lilliu fabricated the first high-quality inkjet-printed organic photodiodes at Dr Sandro Tedde’s labs in Siemens AG, Germany, which currently holds the largest patent portfolio on organic photodiodes. His experience holds the key and his research project brings value to Abu Dhabi and the UAE,” Dr Dahlem stated. Training programmes on operating the Fujifilm Dimatix DMP2831 for graduate students are currently being scheduled. Students will also learn to print polymers on (Indium Tin Oxide) ITO-coated glass and flexible substrates such as paper, textiles and plastics. “Organic semiconductors are highly attractive for electronic applications thanks to their ease of processing and tunability, which offers great potential for low fabrication costs. Bulk-heterojunction organic photodetectors based on semiconductive polymers and small molecules are currently among the best performing organic electronic devices,” Dr Lilliu said. The development and the optimisation of semiconductor and nanoparticle inks is an essential step for the commercialisation of low-cost organic photodetectors. Since organic solar cells can be coated on flexible transparent substrates, their potential applications range from self-powered electronic newspapers to building-integrated photovoltaics. The combination of organic photovoltaics with inkjet-printing also offers interesting opportunities in the field of multi-colour aesthetic solar cells, a field that is currently unexplored and that could be highly attractive for designers and artists. olivia@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Boost in firefighting services a hot topic
Boost in firefighting services a hot topic Olivia Olarte-Ulherr / 29 May 2013 Detailed investigation and analysis of the circumstances surrounding a fire incident, big or small, are imperative to improving firefighting services and operational procedures, an expert says. “We don’t put enough emphasis into what we should be doing…The amount of time and effort that is spent on the investigation of fires is not enough. We need to be spending time analysing the fire, not just the cause of the fire,” said Peter Holland, an adviser to the UK’s Department for Communities and Local Government. “Most fire investigations done around the world are very much focused on the cause of the fire, it needs to be focusing more on analysing the circumstances around that fire,” he stressed. The new or modern methods of (building) construction pose a huge challenge globally to firefighting services, Holland said. People need to learn that fires sometimes behave differently from what was initially thought. “We need to look at the structure and how that behaves, but we also need to look at the content and how they are behaving. Modern materials are being used inside our homes, our buildings, we need to gather that information more quickly and we need to gather it not just from the tragedies, not just from the big fires, but we need to gather it from smaller fires,” said the fire chief of over 40 years. Speaking on Tuesday at the third annual Fire Safety Technology Forum in the Capital, Holland, who is also the international president of the Institution of Fire Engineers, underscored the importance of “gathering evidence” to help review standards, testing regimes and operational procedures. “It’s about collation of that information and reviewing it so that we improve our test standards, we improve our building regulations, our buildings codes to ensure that they are fit for purpose for the future.” Disaster Victim Identification Casualty tracking is important in the management of a major incident, said Richard Gordon, director of Bournemouth University International Disaster Management in the UK. In his presentation at the forum, Gordon highlighted the benefits of having a dedicated missing person unit or a place the public can call to inquire about their family members suspected to be involved in a big accident. This, he said, would help effectively lead the public away from the accident site. “Dead or not, we need to know who you are…according to Interpol, you and I have the right not to lose our identity because you died away from home,” Gordon pointed out. The physical description of each missing person gathered from relatives often helped easily identify people, especially those involved in an “open event” or when an accident happened in public places with large mass gatherings. “We want to provide that care, so that people don’t lose that identity,” Gordon said. olivia@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
