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For any educational institution, student satisfaction is an important goal. Thus, the purpose of the study is to use a structured improvement process, define–measure–analyse–improve–control (DMAIC) methodology, to improve students’ satisfaction regarding their learning experience at the College of Pharmacy/Umm Al-Qura University.

The study first defines the problem and develops the project charter. Then the study visualizes the students’ learning experience process that is defined using a flow chart and a value stream map. Students’ voices were captured through a modified version of a survey developed by Levitz (2015-2016) that covered different aspects of the students’ learning experience. Next, Pareto analysis and cause-and-effect diagrams were used to identify the few vital factors affecting students’ satisfaction. The net promoter score was chosen as a primary metric to measure students’ satisfaction regarding their learning experience.

The analysis results revealed that there were eight areas of dissatisfaction: poor catering services, improper physical environment, students’ feedback being overlooked, inappropriate measures for course delivery, absence of appropriate advice about future career, inefficient field experience and finally and poor academic support. Based on these results, an improvement plan was prepared and the first stage of the plan was implemented. The success of the plan was investigated by measuring the net promoter score which was increased by about 11.9 per cent after implementation of the first stage of the plan.

The study emphasizes that the DMAIC methodology can be applied successfully to improve students’ learning experience and to discover additional value for students.

This paper aims to study the corrosion performance and physical properties of hybrid paint systems based on zinc-rich primer (ZRP) and to determine the optimum modification approach that guarantees the most overall performance enhancement for the developed coating films that have been fabricated based on the usage of ZRP.

Four different approaches were applied to enhance the corrosion protection performance and the physical properties of ZRP-based paint systems, namely, incorporation with TiO₂ pigment, introducing SiO₂ nanoparticles, usage of polyamide curing agent and application of epoxy base coating as a second layer. The physico-mechanical properties were examined using pull-off test, glossiness test, pencil hardness test and cross-cut adhesion tape test. Moreover, the contact angle measurement was used to study the wettability of the developed coated surfaces and the corrosion protection performances were evaluated by using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and salt spray test.

The obtained results revealed the ability of a certain approach to enhance the physical and corrosion protection properties of the ZRP paint system. Moreover, developing an intact hydrophobic nanocomposite paint system based on the usage of ZRP as the host matrix and SiO₂ nanoparticles as the reinforcing agent was confirmed without altering the cathodic protection mechanism or the other desired characteristics of ZRP paint system.

The innovation of this work can be clearly observed by the ability to enhance the physical and corrosion protection properties of ZRP with four different approaches.

The aim of this study is to investigate the usability of horsetail, sunflower stalk, wheat stalk and corn stalk ashes as additives in paints and their performance against corrosion resistance when used.

The ashes of horsetail, sunflower stalk, wheat stalk and corn stalk were investigated in this study in single, binary and ternary combinations with three different percentages as additives in paints. Samples of concrete with any combinations of ashes resisted against the corrosion of steel reinforcements, but horsetail ash proved to be the most effective.

It can be said that these research results show that the paint containing horsetail ash is an excellent coating material that can be used in paints for the corrosion resistance of steel in reinforced concrete. The corrosion rate decreased with the increase in the amount of reactive SiO₂. There was less mass loss with the formation of resistance against corrosion in the horsetail ash added concretes. That is why horsetail ash is one of the most effective options for the aforementioned purpose.

Being cheap and easily obtainable, the materials used for coating in this study are perfect candidates for industrial use.