Available courses

This module will expose participants to an overview of the field of GIS and in doing so establish a framework for the study of GIS. The unit will provide a broad description of the scope and nature of the field of GIS, define GIS and its components, establish the linkage between technology, data, methods and organizations in the use of GIS as well as identifying the issues involved in the design, creation and running  of  such a system.

The module focuses principally on the applications of the remote sensing technologies to particular matter of urban planning and environmental resources development and management

The GIS course is part of the B.Sc. degree in Urban and Regional Planning (URP) and is offered the first semester of each academic year to the third year URP students. The module als serves as an elective for students from other faculties who wish to be introduced to GIS. This course is designed to expose students to GIS as a tool for planning and the challenges of the environment in which they operate. The course is an introductory one  and cannot equip individuals with the knowledge required to become an expert in the field but students will have the opportunity to conduct data input, data manipulation/analysis and data output procedures.

This module will expose participants to an overview of the field of GIS and in doing so establish a framework for the study of GIS. The unit will provide a broad description of the scope and nature of the field of GIS, define GIS and its components, establish the linkage between technology, data, methods and organizations in the use of GIS as well as identifying the issues involved in the design, creation and running  of  such a system.

The module focuses principally on the applications of the remote sensing technologies to particular matter of urban planning and environmental resources development and management

This is a practical module that provides a review of blasting theory and blasting products, and

emphasizes the design, assessment and optimization of blasting practices. The module focuses on

drilling and blasting as it is applied in surface mines and quarries. Design methodology for safe

and efficient blasting is provided. Monitoring and assessment to improve blast performance and

reduce blast vibrations are discussed and examples of optimization programs are provided to

illustrate the process. Topics are presented in an applied manner and address the impact of

blasting on mine design and overall mining efficiency.


In many decisions and observations in the real world, spatial analysis plays an important part. For example, expensive land is concentrated in the core of the city, we visualize the campus map layout to find the best route to get to lectures, we know that contagious diseases spread rapidly in closed communities, and we are concerned about the distribution of industrial pollutants in our surroundings. In each of these, we let our mind process observations in space and time to arrive at an understanding. This mind processing becomes inadequate for large volumes of data and we therefore need to depend more on computer based spatial data analysis methods to support our planning and decision-making strategies.

The module will be an integration of lectures, discussions and computer labs on various spatial analysis topics.