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17 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 JANUARY 2020 COMMERCIAL MARK Mercieca, Matthew Aquilina and Alexander Gutev are the winners of the BOV Final Year Best Students' Projects Awards in Engineering organized by the Chamber of Engineers. Mark Mercieca won the 2018 Me- chanical Award with his project 'Mod- ular Design of a Reconfigurable Cyber Physical Production System.' This pro- ject aims to explore emerging technolo- gies in the manufacturing field, and the impact on the current manufacturing landscape. Matthew Aquilina's dissertation 'De- sign and Implementation of a Smart Wheelchair' won the Electrical Award with the design of a smart wheelchair with autonomous and remote capabil- ities from the ground up. Alexander Gutev, a graduate from the University of Malta in Bachelor of Computing Sci- ence in 2018 won the ICT award with his project that follows the tracking of objects in 3D video content. Presenting the awards to the winners, Albert Frendo, Chief Credit Business Development Officer at Bank of Val- letta said 'Engineers make things hap- pen. Such profession inherently propels innovation, creativity and efficiencies which are essential ingredients for cre- ating economic wealth and growth. It is with great pleasure that I pres- ent the BOV awards to these students who have distinguished themselves and achieved outstanding engineering ac- complishments that will leave an im- print on the evolvement of engineering in Maltese society.' Bank of Valletta is a long-term partner of the Chamber of Engineers. Over the past years, the two parties have introduced the BOV Engineering Student Award, with the aim of encour- aging the top engineering students to expose themselves and their projects to international fora, thereby investing in their future. Top engineering student projects rewarded by BOV NEWLY formed dance platform ODT (Other Dance Theatre) will present its first international tour in Spain with performances in Madrid, Leon and As- turias. The programme of original works in contemporary dance entitled 'Stories in Whispers' will highlight the collabo- ration between Maltese dancer Florinda Camilleri and Spanish choreographer Dr Lucía Piquero. Camilleri and Piquero, both renowned for their work in con- temporary dance in Malta, established the platform to share their own explora- tions in dance and other forms, with in- terdisciplinarity at the heart of their work and research. Stories in Whispers will include Minn Taħt l-Ilsien (In Whispers) and Kha- jal. Minn Taħt l-Ilsien (In Whispers) is a performance premiered and com- missioned by the Malta International Arts Festival in 2019. Choreographed by Lucía Piquero and performed by Florinda Camilleri, the work is based on Professor Michael Zammit's book of in- cantations 'Għana 'l Hena'. The incanta- tions are brought to life through sound and movement, taking the audience on a unique passage through Maltese lan- guage, philosophy, and contemporary dance theatre. Khajal, choreographed by Lucía Pique- ro and performed by Florinda Camilleri, Zoe Camilleri and Valentine Soucy was developed during an artistic residency by Piquero and is inspired by the Pal- estinians'immense capacity for joy and their desire to change a dire situation into a reason for extreme creativity. The performance programme will also include a sound performance, 'Pause', by Niels Plotard that roots the interdisciplinarity of the work. As part of its touring programme, ODT will al- so be holding a workshop at Universi- dad Complutense de Madrid The tour is made possible thanks to the support of the Embassy of Malta in Madrid through the Cultural Diploma- cy Fund within the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs. Dr Vanni Xuer- eb, Malta's Ambassador to Spain said that 'the Embassy is proud to present contemporary artistic work from Malta, improving both our work in cultural di- plomacy and opening up new opportu- nities for artistic cooperation between artists'. Prior to the tour, ODT will be present- ing the production in Malta on 3 Feb- ruary at 8pm at the Valletta Campus Theatre. Entrance is by donation at the door. Stories in Whispers is also supported by the School of Performing Arts, Val- letta Campus Theatre at the University of Malta and is co-produced with Cul- ture Venture. Maltese dance platform on tour in Spain Alexander Gutev, a graduate in Bachelor of Computing Science in 2018 won the ICT award The pieces are choreographed by Lucía Piquero and performed by the Other Dance Theatre