Today we visited Cyprus Marine Maritime Institute (CMMI) and were presented with information about all of the various work they do. CMMI is a research focused nonprofit that started in 2019 and has just over 40 employees, they operate with funding from the government and donations to develop research and projects aimed at many aspects around Cyprus. They devote time and resources through a team of scientists and environmentalists to promote carbon neutrality, reduce pollution, retain the workforce of the blue group, as well as other strategic missions and research projects resulting in improving customer satisfactions, value for stockholders, and industry wide recognition. They shared ambitious plans to increase their operational capacity by explaining into Makenzie Beach Area and their plans to open a marine bioscience and technology university. Many of their projects focus specifically on improving marine life and preventative approaches for the future. They showed us what they could about confidential projects and robotics developments with customer satisfaction in mind and how they implement technology in their inventions.
We listened to a team of robotic engineers explain their progress on the different projects, one specifically being the creation and implementation of a life saving device to replace the duty of a life guard. They successfully developed and are continuously improving a fully autonomous device that stays in the water and can save swimmers in distress. In addition to this they are also using technology to increase consumer satisfaction in the tourism sector by being able to track wind speeds and direction more percise than ever. We were shown these models through matlab and lectured about how the technology they are using is not to replace humans but to increase data and efficiently. It was interesting to hear how they plot this data and interpret it through various programs we have all started to use our freshman year in the college of business administration (matlab, python). We also learned the framework of how to interpret, share, and code the data through ROB and other types of robot operating systems and databases. It was interesting and informative to heard form all sectors of this small but innovative business. I think they are getting ahead of something that is to be way bigger in the next few years. I learned that Cyprus business practices are mostly human centered and learned about the strategic role in the supply chain that CMMI takes.
CMMI’s research, innovation, and educational activities focus on improving the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of the maritime industry. CMMI’s research can help to improve supply chain risk management while their education and training programs can also contribute to improving the skills and knowledge of professionals involved in the maritime supply chain.
After a morning of business we had lunch on the Finikoudes pier. We walked to the oldest and largest church of Larnaca, St. Lazarus Church. Then we took the bus to the Angeloktisti church. After seeing these amazing and intricate churches as well as hearing the religious stories behind them we went into the mountains for the first time and wandered the Leftkara village. The drive up was amazing, we drove up long windy roads where you could see almost everything on the island. We did a lot of shopping at the small hand craft stores and watched craftsmen make items such as silver rings, hand woven lace, and intricate cookies. The town seems unaffected by anything happening outside of it and was its own world.
