Molood Noori Alavijeh

Role: President
Department: Computer Sience and Engineering
Nationality: Iranian
Languages: English, Persian, Swedish (in progress)

“Coming from a very different culture in pursue of discovering other styles of living and more opportunities in studying computer security, I ended up in Sweden and Chalmers. I am highly motivated to satisfy my interest in getting to know new people. That’s why I make lots of friends where ever I go and I always remember their experiences as they have been mine. I have gained a lot of experiences by working in variety of fields such as journalism, translation, marketing, IT, Teaching English, physics, mathematics, Computer programming, … But I never get enough of learning about different people. Chalmers and specially CIRC is definitely the best place to get to know hundreds of students having very different backgrounds and trying to help them as much as I can. I am made to help people and experience new aspects of life with them while learning many new things. Chalmers is a great place that provides a wonderful atmosphere for having fun at the same time as studying. It’s hard to feel bored during your time in Chalmers. We, all the CIRC members are here to welcome all of you new international students in Chalmers with interesting activities and help you to be integrated with your new exciting environment as soon as possible.”

Zahid Hossain

Role: Vice President
Department: Signals & System
Nationality: Bangladeshi
Languages: Bangla, English

“Hi, this is Zahid from Bangladesh. I am a simple man from a big crowded city-Dhaka. I love to meet new people, new culture and make new friends. My first passion is drawing. I am a Cartoonist and an Engineer. I am doing Masters in Biomedical Engineering at Chalmers. I was involved with CIRC through different activities last year. CIRC has been helping the new students at Chalmers in many different ways. I feel privileged to be part of CIRC 2010 and would like to carry on the good works started by my predecessors.”

Ubaid Khan

Role: Secretary
Department: Signal & System; Communication Engineering
Nationality: Pakistani
Languages: English, Urdu & Panjabi

“I am from a small town called Hassanabdal situated near the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad. I completed my undergraduate degree from Muhammad Ali Jinnah University Islamabad in Electronic Engineering. I came to Sweden to do my Masters degree in Communication Engineering. I arrived to Sweden on 15th September 2008. When I reached Chalmers it was the last day of enrolment and only two hours were left and I made it right on time. I joined CIRC after one year of education in Chalmers and I am serving in CIRC 2010 as a Secretary. I like to spend time with my friends and to travel. I have travelled few countries in Europe and in Asia all by road. Studying in Chalmers no doubt is one of the best experiences of my life. I got a chance to meet with different cultures and make new friends from all around the world. We warmly welcome students from all around the world and I can guarantee that you will not regret to be in Chalmers and when you will leave Chalmers you will proudly say to yourself a “Chalmerist”.”

Karl-Oscar Skalberg

Role: Treasurer
Department: Engineering Physics
Nationality: Swedish
Languages: Swedish, English, and some Spanish and German.

“Born and raised in Hudiksvall, which is situated near the geographical middle of Sweden, I first got intrigued by Gothenburg during the last years of high school. Before that I was certain that Stockholm would be the place for my continued studies. However, as you can see, the city took hold of me and at the end of high school I knew for sure where I was heading. Outside of school I like to do all kinds of stuff, be it skiing, sailing, playing guitar or watching a movie with friends. I also try to get some exercise (which isn’t entirely easy when you are a few assignments behind in math/mechanics/programming or whatever). The reason I got into CIRC was because of the unrivaled opportunity to meet and learn about other cultures, as well as actually get to speak some of the languages you’ve studied for years but never really used.”

Rashid Minhas

Role: Information Manager
Department: Signals and Systems
Nationality: Pakistani
Languages: Urdu, English, Swedish

“Came from very different culture and climate, off course study was the only motivating reason to leave Pakistan but here I experienced and learned lot more than that. I joined Chalmers in 2008 in the Master’s program of communication engineering. By nature I used to be a calm and quiet person, usually I take time to socialize although now CIRC making me able break these habits. Travelling, learning new languages was always fun for me. Being a CIRC member I am enjoying diversity of different cultures and languages. Gothenburg is having fairly peaceful environment and natives. Organizing and participating in events are quite helpful to balance the life in the calm environment of City.”

Ahmad Salama

Role: External Relations
Department: Mechanical Engineering
Nationality: Egyptian
Languages: Arabic, Enlgish, German, Swedish (on the way!)

“Raised in the ancient, culturally rich, really hot and extremely large city of Cairo, completed my B.Sc. degree from the German University in Cairo, with the exception of one semester in Stuttgart, Germany, and currently pursuing my Master studies in Material Sciences at Chalmers. My hobbies include traveling, reading and meeting new people.
I first came to Sweden by the end of August 2009 knowing very little about Sweden, the culture and absolutely nobody. I know exactly how it feels to be away from your country, family, friends and all the things you love. But it only took me few days thanks to CIRC’09 team to have a circle of friends still growing until now. At first, it took me sometime to learn and get used to the system in Sweden, and I’m willing to pass the knowledge and help new students accommodating.
Our mission is to help you have fun but most of all to build friendships. I think I’m fully confident when I say that you can always count on us, either myself or any of the other team members, we will be there for you.”

Sumaiya Sayed

Role: Activity Manager
Department: Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
Nationality: Bangladeshi
Languages: Bangla, English

“Hi, I’m Sumaiya from Bangladesh, a very small country from South Asia. I came to Sweden last September, 2009. My first days in Göteborg, I meet a lot of international students through the CIRC activities, made some awesome good friends. Since then I am enjoying the European culture and been traveling every now and then with my friends. If you see a big group of multinational people having lunch together in the Chalmers student union, well you know where to find me! I love to paint, travel, cooking and love to bug my friends. Göteborg is a beautiful place to continue your studies. It offers a lot of activities all around the city, and you will enjoy the most of it if you have a bunch of nice friends to share the moments with. In this case CIRC will be there for you, hope you find some nice friends during the reception period. Welcome to Chalmers!”

Sebastian Bernholtz Fredriksson

Role: Activity Manager
Department: Engineering Physics
Nationality: Swedish
Languages: Swedish, English, German and some Spanish

“Hi, there! I’m from a small town in the southern parts of Sweden, but since a year I live here in Gothenburg, probably the friendliest city in Sweden. And Chalmers is, in my opinion of course, the best university. So I think it’s in its place to congratulate you for coming to this awesome city!
One thing you might notice about me is that the mood I’m in tend to be dependant on the weather, like it is to many swedes. I love the sun, and there’s nothing better than to take walks, have picnics and barbecues and do sports in the sunshine, after the long cold swedish winter.
I really enjoy meeting people from different cultures and backgrounds, and getting to know their views on life and their societies. And so, I love to travel! Though I usually want to see new places when i travel, there is one place I always go back to…the Alps. Perhaps because skiing is among the things I love most in life. There’s something about strapping things to your feet that will glide or roll that just makes me feel boyishly happy! I’m sure you’re gonna have a good time here in Sweden! See you around!”

Abhilash Ram

Role: Phadder Manager
Department: Microtechnology
Nationality: Indian
Languages: Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, English, and learning Swedish along several other!

“Hi! I’m Abhilash. You can call me Abhi. Everyone does! I’m from India and here at Chalmers I study Microtechnology. Before I came to Sweden I worked for 3 years as a software engineer at India’s largest and best known software engineering consultancy – Infosys. During that time, I also taught English, mathematics and Hindi to visually challenged children. Here at CIRC 1.0 I’m one of the Phadder Managers. Apart from “phaddering”, I love music, singing, my violin, making friends, meeting people, helping them, learning about languages, customs and cultures, food, movies, space science, and so many other things I cannot even imagine about beginning to finish my list! People know me as someone who is always smiling and having a good time. I joined CIRC, because this is where I can put all of my energy, skills and experience to help those who really need help. It gives me immense satisfaction in putting a smile on the face of a student and I thank CIRC ’09 for having given me the opportunity to do so everyday for the next one year. So if you need anything do not hesitate to contact any of us at CIRC. We are here to help you”

Jun Ge

Role: Phadder Manager
Department: Materials and Nanotechnology
Nationality: Chinese
Languages: Chinese, English, some Japanese

“Hej, this is Jun and many people also call me Joanna. I am from Shanghai which is a very big city in China. After my graduation in the home university, I decided to go to another country to further my study in order to experience a totally different culture. Finally, I found that Sweden is my dream country and Chalmers is my dream school. In this place, there are no crowded streets, no high rise buildings and no open-night stores but here you can find very kind people, fairy-tale house and a wonderful student life. This year I am so lucky to join Circ which let me meet so good friends and take part in so awesome activities. If you also want a very wonderful student life in Gothenburg, don’t be hesitated to participate in our activities!”

Jorge Diz Pico

Role: Webmaster
Department: Computer Science
Nationality: Spanish
Languages: Spanish, Galician/Portuguese, English and some French

“Hola, this is Jorge, I’m the technical guy here at CIRC, which means I mostly take care of troubleshooting the mailing list issues and all things with little lights that go beep. Well, those are my compulsory duties, but here at CIRC everybody lends a hand in all aspects. Too many things to do! I came here as an Erasmus student, but life in exchange is too good so I decided to stay a bit longer. Not much left to say… blabla, Chalmers is awesome, CIRC rocks, and buy new boots if you’re coming to Sweden.”