CHAD test - Certified Heroku Architecture Designer Updated: 2023

AWS Certified Solutions Architect test Guide

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect certification is an industry‑recognized professional certification that validates one’s knowledge in the design and deployment of distributed applications in AWS Cloud. Having the certification can be a unique opportunity to grow your career, boost your resume, highlight in‑demand skills and generally become more competitive.

Get this prep guide for FREE and learn all you need to know to pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect certification exam:

• Deep dive into test domains (including storage, networking, security and more!)
• Tips on how to prepare and understand theories
• Links to useful resources and demo test questions

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Earning specialized certifications is a surefire way to advance your career in the IT field, regardless of industry or current career level. The right certification validates your skills and knowledge, which makes you more desirable to future employers who want to attract and retain the best employees. Below, we’ll explore the top IT certifications and share how to examine your goals to choose the right path forward. 

With connected cars predicted to make up as much as 95% of new vehicles sold by 2030, there’s clearly huge commercial opportunity here for tech vendors. This week sees Salesforce expanding its Automotive Cloud offering, providing real-time views of driver and vehicle data, including location, speed, and in-vehicle apps and systems.

As per the formal announcement, coming early in 2024: 

• Connected Vehicle Visualization, pitched as “a real-time visualization of a vehicle’s connected features and services that will help make it easy for automakers to provide better in-car experiences, like remote assistance, and surface relevant new services to consumers – like notifying them about a free park assist trial”.
• Actionable Telematics - these are intended to help automakers monitor telematics data, like vehicle location, speed, fuel, or battery consumption, and use automation to detect and alert customers to changes in their car’s status. Salesforce cites the example of Automotive Cloud being able to read the data coming off of a vehicle, noting an increase in revolutions per minute (RPMs), or loss of tire pressure, and automatically sending an alert to the driver in their infotainment console to warn them of the potential safety issue.
• More data management - Automotive Cloud taps into Salesforce Data Cloud and as such is positioned as securely connecting data from any source, like telematics and dealership management systems, so automotive companies have a unified, real-time data foundation to build connected vehicle and driver experiences.
• AI - Inevitably there’s an AI angle. Automakers can use Einstein Studio to build and train custom AI models. Using connected car data with custom AI models will enable automakers to deliver predictive insights, such as automakers being able to alert dealers automatically when a driver’s vehicle is about to hit 100,000 miles and proactively pitch new vehicles or offer personalized discounts and trade-in offers.

Opportunities

I confess at this point that I’m not a ‘car person’ myself  (unlike Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff who’s a big EV fan), but this announcement brought me back to the Automative keynote session at Dreamforce a couple of months back, where the company’s thinking around the future of mobility was laid out. 

According to Bart Seidner, Senior AVP Sales for Energy, Automotive and Utilities at Salesforce, while the company has been working with leading players in the automotive industry for over two decades, advances in technology mean that everyone is navigating what he calls “uneven terrain”. Expectations have never been higher, he says: 

Customer experience is a top priority. With the advent of the EV, new vehicle innovations are no longer just about the vehicle itself; it's about the software that differentiates the vehicle. Every vehicle is a connected vehicle. The automotive industry is trying to find new revenue streams, recurring revenue streams. Finally, [there's] sustainability. There's so much happening with sustainability, sustainability with EVs, sustainability in the value chain. Customers are driving sustainability behaviors. 

Seidner also highlights the amount of data that’s being generated by connected vehicles.  According to consultancy McKinsey, a connected car can generate around 25 GB of data every hour - and that’s just today. With further advances in technology, how much larger does that number become? This new stream of data is an opportunity, suggests Seidner: 

We must be smart about how we leverage this data. We can take advantage of AI, automation, analytics. We can leverage this data at scale. I have the opportunity to talk to customers in the automotive industry from all over the world and everybody agrees the opportunity in this industry could not be bigger. Strategic imperatives are changing the way that we operate. We must harness all this data so we can create new experiences to increase customer lifetime value, increase vehicle lifetime value, create those new revenue models, and deliver on the promise of AI.

The Mercedes-Benz journey 

Among Salesforce customers putting this into practice is German giant Mercedes-Benz. Timo Bularczyk, Director of Global Operations at Mercedes-Benz Mobility AG, has a clear vision of  the direction of travel for his industry: 

There's no doubt that the future is is fully electric and fully connected. We have more and more devices where we get data from. It's up to us to make use of that data, to ensure that we can offer the right product at the right time to our customers. 

For a brand like Mercedes-Benz, a key concept is luxury and that extends to the customer journey itself, with consumers expecting a seamless online/offline convergence. That presents two challenges, according to Bularczyk: 

First of all, we need to run this in the most efficient way that you can imagine. The other [challenge] is that it must be very customer-specific. So, two targets that are contradicting themselves. With Salesforce, we have 'out of the box' scalability with standard processes that we can use throughout the globe, and we enrich that with the data that we are getting from all of the different sources to create that luxury journey with unstandard processes. 

Mercedes-Benz's engagement with Salesforce on this transformation dates back a couple of years to when the automotive manufacturer carried out an analysis of where there would be room and opportunity to optimize potential. Salesforce was invited to take part. Bularczyk recalls: 

We saw that there was a lot of potential when we integrate the different Salesforce implementations that we have in Mercedes-Benz. With the replacement of legacy [systems], we could pull data together much better. We started the journey together with Salesforce Professional Services. They came in and they helped us to refine our strategy, gain confidence on the way forward, and ensured that we have the right skills in place to go on that journey together.

The customer experience is at the heart of the Mercedes-Benz transformation, insists Bularczyk:

As the customer, you don't want to understand that sales, after sales, financial services are independent legal entities with different people, different telephone numbers, different call centers. If you have a roadside assistance case with a leased vehicle, the last thing that you want to have to figure out is who you have to call to get assistance. 

Just imagine that you have a single source of truth, of customer data, and the agent has that available at their fingertips - that's where we want to go. That's how we want to integrate our products seamlessly together…So when it comes to the fact that there is a roadside assistance case that we can bring the best customer experience in that special moment.

Automotive Cloud is helping to enable this, he concludes: 

It helps us with the standardization of our data. There's a data model in place. Within Mercedes, we have different opinions on how this should be done, but we want to stick to the standard. We leverage the capabilities of the platform. You don't want to bring new services into every market with legacy software and re-invent the wheel every time.  You want to go on a platform. You want to have easy integration. You want to have the data available. And that's the journey that we're currently on, that we have started with, that we're successful with, and that we will grow. So, Automotive Cloud will have an increasing footprint in our strategy.  

For every student, apprentice, and academic in architectural education throughout the UK, the last few weeks have been puzzling, stressful and unpredictable. We’re all reacting in different ways to this crisis, mostly with concerns for the wellbeing of family and friends. Being confined to our homes more than is usual and losing physical touch with our social circle are also new challenges we’re adapting to.

The RIBA understands that – irrespective of which part of the programme they’re studying –everyone in a school of architecture has worries about completing their work. People are concerned how their submissions will be taught and assessed, whether the usual deadlines will apply, and the effect this will have on their studies and employment.

The RIBA has no greater ability to foresee the future of this pandemic than any other organisation, news source or independent commentator. However, we’re offering some common sense advice for everyone in UK schools of architecture, accepting that as the situation develops, we will review and revise what we’ve said – and provide more help.

Part 1 and Part 2 students and apprentices who are not scheduled to graduate this year

• Focus on the long view: you need to stay focused on being successful with your studies this academic year. Remember that although the present situation is a challenge, your future is more important. What you do now will have implications for your degree, and your employment in the profession.
• Moving online: with the accurate closure of all UK universities, teaching has moved online. You should now all be able to talk to your tutors and lecturers online with a video and audio link. If you don’t yet have this set up, please ask your school how to do it; there are helplines on your school and university websites. If you don’t have access to a computer, please make your tutors aware of this as soon as possible.
• Media and representation: university closures will affect your ability to produce 3D analogue and physical models, so consider instead how you’ll represent the same ideas entirely through drawing (or whatever materials you have at home).
• Showing up and submitting: When your tutors schedule virtual meetings with them, please make sure you ‘attend’. You need to ensure you receive clear feedback from your tutors, and know what to do next. Structure each day to achieve defined goals (even if they’re modest), critically reflecting on what you’ve achieved. Stick to set submission dates for your work. Instead of asking whether your deadline should be moved, plan for hitting that deadline as effectively as you can.
• Don’t forget your classmates: A critical part of studying architecture is your peer group – all those friends and colleagues in your studio and lecture room who you learn with and from. Keep in touch with them as regularly as you would in the world outside, exchanging progress updates, information, and support

Part 1 and Part 2 students and apprentices who are scheduled to graduate this year

• Strengthening your degree: it’s particularly important for graduating students to concentrate on working to given deadlines. Your degree needs to be as valuable and strong in its own right, and not compromised by the health crisis. Remote working offers you a unique time to produce a wonderful digital portfolio, which will be the passport to the next stage of your career in architecture. In most schools, there will still be interviews with external examiners at the end of this academic year, even if you’re likely to meet them through a video link. These external examiner interactions are a critical point to work to as they offer you the chance to demonstrate everything you’ve learnt – and how this is expressed through your work.

The big picture: keep in mind that the profession of architecture will still be there when this pandemic ends. There will be economic challenges ahead, but the best practices will still want to recruit the best talent, so nothing has changed. What you do now in your online school will affect your opportunities in the professional context outside, so keep all your big plans in mind, and work to the same goals you had before; your portfolio is as important now as it was before all this happened. Finally, don’t hesitate to get your beautifully written and illustrated CVs to those practices you want to work with.

Part 3 candidates

Understandably, your primary concern, at this time, may be about redundancy, so it’s important to ask what your employer is doing to keep their workforce together – and how this affects you. With construction sites closing, projects you’re working on and using for a part 3 case study could be suspended for some time.

PEDR: use this change in circumstances as an opportunity. You could (for example) describe in detail in your case study: how your practice, its clients, and the design team adapted to the new situation, transitioning to homeworking; what challenges did this create, and what were the implications for business management and resourcing? In other words, you could talk about the professional responses made to complex and unpredictable circumstances.

Examination of Part 3: check with your Part 3 provider that the timeline for your Part 3 submissions, examinations and viva is proceeding as usual. Though it is likely that the format for your exams and viva may change to an online format, the rigour of the process will be no different.

As much as possible, whether you are a Part 1, Part 2 or Part 3 student, try to retain your long-term aspirations for your career; your goal to register as an architect in the UK should not be affected or impaired by this crisis.

 RIBA Future Architects is our network and community for future and emerging architects, designed to support, inspire and provide a voice as you transition from study to practice. View our resources.

Article by David Gloster, RIBA Director of Education.

Since 1834, RIBA has been committed to setting standards in architecture, both in the education of architecture students and the continuing professional development of architects. The Way Ahead is RIBA’s Education and Professional Development Framework which maps the different stages of career development and their level of responsibility.

In education, RIBA is a global organisation representing over 23,500 student members and 52,000 members around the world. We validate over 230 architectural programmes at over 120 schools of architecture around the world, preparing students for professional practice.

We support architecture students through our suite of scholarships and bursaries and award excellence through the President’s Medals – RIBA’s oldest awards which are regarded as the most prestigious prizes for architecture students in the world.

Whether you decide to become an architect or explore a career in wider disciplines, there are university courses, RIBA’s own RIBA Studio examination programme, degree apprenticeships and collaborative practice models available, to fit your style of learning.

Watch a video of RIBA President Muyiwa Oki taking about his career so far.

Past President Simon Allford explains 'architecture's skills for life' in a RIBAJ article from May 2023:

"I have been hurry to promote the connection of the RIBA membership with those who have studied architecture for Part 1 and/or 2 - and even 3 but gone on to work in other fields, ranging from film to construction, Artificial Intelligence to finance and many more. So many of these people will tell me that the culture, craft and discipline of architecture is core to their thinking. It has given them the skills to analyse situations and contexts, identify opportunities and to put forward creative solutions.'

If you’re new to the industry, see our become an architect page for guidance on education, training and study options. Architecture is always evolving - get inspired through our learning workshops for all ages, or keep up to speed with professional CPD – check out the What’s On page and RIBA Academy platform.

KEAM 2023 entrance examination was held on 17th May and is conducted annually by the Commissioner of Entrance Examinations (CEE), Kerala for admission to undergraduate engineering and medical programs in the state of Kerala, India. The test pattern for KEAM is as follows:

• Mode of Examination: KEAM is conducted in offline mode (pen and paper-based test).

• Type of Questions: The test consists of multiple-choice questions (MCQs).

• Number of Papers: KEAM is held in two papers, Paper 1 and Paper 2.

• Duration of Exam: Each paper is of 2 hours and 30 minutes.

• Number of Questions: There are 120 questions in Paper 1 and 120 questions in Paper 2, each carrying 4 marks.

• Marking Scheme: For every correct answer, 4 marks will be awarded and for every incorrect answer, 1 mark will be deducted.

• Language of Examination: KEAM examination is conducted in the English language.

Note: Candidates must keep in mind that the aforementioned pattern is subject to change each year, and it is advisable to keep up with the latest information available on the official website of CEE (https://cee.kerala.gov.in/)