Over 300 past students and guests of the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) joined together to observe the Holy Month of Ramadan recently with an Iftar dinner held at Gloria Hotel, Dubai Internet City.

The event was graced by His Excellency Pablo Kang, Australian Ambassador to the UAE and Qatar, along with university officials and faculty members. An annual feature in the University’s calendar, this year’s Iftar was the biggest event of its kind organised by UOWD’s alumni office and gave graduates from over two decades of the University’s history a chance to share their memories of UOWD over the years.

Welcoming guests to the occasion, UOWD’s President Professor Mohamed Salem said: “Our Alumni Iftar is an excellent opportunity for past students to meet other members of the UOWD family and to catch up with old friends and faculty. Our UOWD alumni community is now made up of over 8,000 mature, well-rounded individuals from over 100 different nationalities. It’s a pleasure to watch our community grow, and to witness how many of our alumni keep UOWD so close to their hearts, returning year after year for events such as these.”

Master of Quality Management graduate Abdulla Yousef took the opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues from his time at UOWD. “This is the second year I’ve attended the UOWD Alumni Iftar since I graduated in 2013” explained Abdulla, who is now working for Fujeirah Building Industries. “I have a lot of fond memories of UOWD and it has been great to be able to recall these with old friends.”

Recent Master of Human Resources Management graduate Haleh Golshani Iran also attended hoping to catch up with former lecturers and other friends from her days at UOWD. Haleh said “UOWD is like my family. I’ve just taken the decision to start another Masters this autumn, this time in Strategic Marketing. I can’t wait to be back.”

Arpana Sharma, UOWD’s Manager of External Relations and one of the organisers of the event concluded “It’s wonderful to have an opportunity to celebrate the spirit of Ramadan and give our graduates from across our 22 years in the UAE a chance to meet each other. This year has seen the largest number of registrations for this event, proving that it is greatly appreciated by our alumni community.”

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