Within the proposed program for Environmental Qualifying and Training Unit at the Environmental Research Center (ERC)- University of Technology for the current academic year (2019-2020) and in order to, enhance health and safety concepts in educational institutions generally and in the center particularly, this program was activated by implementing an online workshop using ZOOM platform. Dr. Mukheled Amer Hussien-lecturer in the Department of Environmental Pollution-ERC presented a lecture on Wednesday, 13/5/2020 at 9:30 pm entitled (Enhancement of Health and Safety Concepts in Educational Institutions).  

The lecturer stated through his experience gained during three years of continuous laboratory work in completing a PhD study in the UK that the concepts of health and safety are a principal requirement as a higher policy that is approved and applied from the university level down to the various departments in any faculty or school. In other words, the policy of any department in any faculty or school will essentially reflect that policy in its general lines. The department adopts the policy of health and safety and works to provide all necessary support for its implementation that ensures the safety of all workers in the department including the students of UG and PG (MSc and PhD), post-doctoral, faculty members, technical staff, administrative staff, visitors and others.

This policy was discussed from all aspects related to administrative and technical tasks in terms of the method of following-up, monitoring, inspection, risk assessment, waste management, and etc., according to scientific and applicable principles.

The lecturer recommended the need to take advantage of this experience aligning with the nature of work at the center in achieving health and safety concepts for the work forces in it. Many work teams were formed according to their specialization and interest to express each opinion in this field, so that we can make a guide book for laboratory dealing in the center.

As part of the cultural season of the Environmental Research Center

Assist. Prof. Dr. Azhar Mahmood Haleem-lecturer in the Department of Environmental Technology-ERC presented a lecture online using the ZOOM platform on Tuesday, 5/5/2020 at 12:30 pm entitled “COVID-19 Epidemiology, Pathophysiology and, Vaccination”. The lecturer started generally with primlinary introduction to virology in terms of the most important morphological, chemical properties, strengths and weaknesses of viruses. In addition to their ability, in particular, to cause a variety of epidemics such as poliovirus, measles and smallpox. Furthermore, the serious epidemics that infected the world during the past twenty years due to the coronary family of these viruses where they started from SARS-2002, passing through MERS-2012 and most recently COVID-19. The last type caused the infection of nearly 3.5M people in 187 countries around the world and the death of nearly 2.5K people, and yet it has been still continuing killing the lives and spreading the terror in different societies.

The most important epidemiological features, methods of infection and prevalence rates of this virus have been clarified and compared with other epidemics such as influenza. In addition, the mechanism of its entry into the body and then its impact on it as the host and then causing the death of it was considered.

The lecturer recommended that the development processes of effective vaccines should be continued to reduce infection with this virus by investing the positive role playing by the World Health Organization (WHO) in this regard in providing all requirements in terms of material and technical support and encouraging the directions of research during this critical period.

As part of the cultural season of the Environmental Research Center

Dr. Rana Riyadh Khaleel-lecturer in the Department of Environmental Pollution-ERC presented a lecture online using the ZOOM platform on Tuesday, 28/4/2020 at 12:30 pm entitled “The Effect of Surface Active Agents (Surfactants) on the Aquatic Environment”. The lecturer stated that surface active agents, surfactants, are one of the types of organic pollutants that seep into the water systems as a result of disposing domestic wastes (due to the use of industrial detergents) and industrial wastes (due to industrial activity). These pollutants can cause many health problems, and thus becoming a source of concern in current time.

Surfactants are characterized by their ability to weaken the performance of conventional treatment methods where they play a negative role in the processes of biodegradation of organic components, denitification of ammonium nitrogen and activated sludge. Thus, expecting that these agents can pass through wastewater treatment units in conventional plants to the aquatic environment such as (rivers, lakes, and sediments) and so, affecting aquatic organisms (affecting the entire food chain) or plants (affecting physiological activities and metabolism in plants when these agents are absorbed on their surface or transferred through their roots) or land (soil) due to the discharge of wastewater sludge containing these agents. The bioaccumulation of these agents is an environmental having negative effects on the biological components of the ecosystem (such as toxicity and endocrine balance disorder) at which their nature are toxic and carcinogenic (whatever their concentration are very low).

 The lecturer recommended the necessity to study these agents and monitor their fate and behavior in the environment, and find appropriate methods to treat them at a level that is fit to the approved environmental standards.

As part of the cultural season of the Environmental Research Center

Mrs. Zahraa Zahraw Farhan-Assist. lecturer in the Department of Environmental Pollution-ERC presented a lecture online using the ZOOM platform on Tuesday, 21/4/2020 at 12:30 pm entitled “Digital Platforms”. The lecturer stated that electronic platforms can be defined as an interactive educational environment that depends on the nature of its work on the use of numerous technologies, allowing more participants to communicate and interact with each other. These platforms are characterized by many advantages such as their ability to combining the advantages of electronic content management systems with online communication networks and contributing to the dissemination of various educational activities and achieving a communication between the teacher and the student, which lead to facilitating the process of exchanging ideas and opinions and sharing scientific content between the two sides of communication. Thus, positively reflecting in the achievement of high-quality educational outcomes. The lecturer demonstrated there have been many of these platforms where each of them having characteristics and advantages in terms of the performance and the number of participants as well as the allowed period of time for communication.

Because of the current conditions in terms of the spread of coronavirus and the complete disruption of official working hours in educational institutions, the lecturer recommended that the electronic platforms should be used (easy tools and do not need special skills) to ensure the continuing process of education and academic communication.