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With great pleasure and pride we would like to share that the ‘Global Congress on Computing and Media Technologies’- GCMT 2015 organized by the prestigious Sathyabama University, Chennai, India in association with Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation, Malaysia (APU) from November 25th  to 27th, 2015 was a great success. GCMT 2015 gave an opportunity for both the Universities to bring together researchers, developers and practitioners from academia and industry to share their research results and developments in area of Innovative Computing and Media Technology.

GCMT 2015 received more than 500 papers in early submission and 240 papers were accepted. More than 85% of the papers were from international participants as far as USA, Africa, Singapore and UAE apart from Malaysia. All accepted papers in GCMT '15 will be published in Scopus/ Web of Science Indexed journals. It is also a pleasure to share that 11 APU Staff from the School of Computing & Technology presented their research papers in GCMT 2015 either by physically attending the conference or presenting through Skype sessions.

We are also proud to announce that the paper presented by Mr. Daniel Mago, co-authored by Ms. Gayatri brought laurels to APU by winning the ‘Best Paper Award’ at GCMT-2015. 

GCMT-2015 was covered exclusively by most of the national and regional media channels/newspapers in Tamil Nadu. Most importantly, Doordharshan – the India National Television Channel covered the event, which was broadcasted all across India in Prime Time News.

Mr. Leo Gertrude David, lecturer School of Computing was the initiator and the link behind our association with Sathyabama University. He had spearheaded this collaboration with Sathyabama to organize the entire conference representing APU. Academic Leaders Mr. Kamalanathan, Dr. Chen Tet Khuan and Mr. Naresh Kumar Appadurai represented APU in the event. Dr. Chen Tet Khuan also delivered keynote address entitled "Computer Games Development： From the Perspective of Game Level Design & Documentation" and chaired one of the parallel sessions. Mr. Muhammad Ehsan Rana, Head of the School of Computing, provided overall leadership and guidance to the staff towards ensuring the overall success of GCMT 2015.

A Career Day which involved over 40 local and international corporations took place on the 23rd of June and the 25th of June at APU Campus, TPM and Faculty of Business & Management (FBM), Mines respectively. The event that was organised by APU Careers Centre saw participation of prestigious companies, such as Alliance Bank, Top Glove, Mediasoft, Public Bank, Fusionex, Sony EMCS and more.

The main objective of the event was to provide APU students with the opportunities to participate in on-the-spot interviews with potential employers, which is essential for them to secure internship and career opportunities in the respective companies. Apart from the exhibition booths, career talks also took place in the classrooms; in which students were given the opportunities to understand more about the companies’ background, as well as to be exposed to the academic requirements, personalities and traits needed to secure a job in the respective companies.

It was a great effort being put in by APU Careers Centre in organising the career days; we look forward for more events of such nature, which are beneficial for all current APU students in terms of increasing their employability and enhancing their professionalism.

A group of 28 students and lecturers from the APU Media, Tourism and Services Cluster of the Faculty of Business and Management (FBM) embarked on a learning journey outside the classroom on the 19th of August 2015 (Wednesday), as they explored the majestic caves of Batu Caves and admired the Malaysian history of the tin industry at the Royal Selangor Pewter Visitor Centre. This educational trip was held to educate the students on the concepts and execution methods required to operate a tourist attraction, as well as the tips and techniques required to conduct an efficient and effective guided tour at renowned tourism attractions.

The caves expedition was an eye opening experience for the students; as it was not only an adventure into the unknown, but also a combined history, biology and geology lesson about the formation of Malaysia as a landmass and how the elements worked together to create a wonderful specimen of a time warp, with a living fossil (the Trapdoor Spider, Liphistius batuensis) being preserved for research and future generations. The heart and soul of the experience was the amazing dedication and knowledge of the guides who were truly dedicated and passionate towards preserving a living ecosystem. 

The next stage of the trip was a glimpse of another part of the history of Malaysia. A guided tour of the Royal Selangor Visitor Centre did not only showcase the history of tin mining and its subsequent flourishing enterprise, but also the artistry and processes that enabled high quality, handmade products to be produced with minimum waste and maximum efficiency. 

The overall trip was an AWESOME experience for the students as they enjoyed learning outside the classroom in the truest sense. Hopefully more trips like these can be organised in the future, to benefit our students as they are able to attain knowledge in a more interesting and creative way. 

It is to share with great pleasure that APU organized a free Computer Programming Session “KidoCode Hour of Code” for the children of APIIT Education Group staff who are at the age group of 6-11 years, in collaboration with KidoCode on Saturday, August 15, 2015. It was well attended with over 40 children and parents. It was a session of amusement and fun as the atmosphere was thick with love–love for Computer Science programming (full of logical thinking).
 
With the children’s hearts full of passion, the session kicked off with a presentation from Uncle Code (Mr Hossein Tohidi). Uncle Code started the session by showing video clips on “Hour of Code” and Thomas Suarez, a 12 years old boy who had developed mobile applications. He then talked about the importance of Computer Science for the children in the coming 10 years; as well as the impact of not having the knowledge of programming and how it would affect the whole nation. 

   
 
The children were very excited when Uncle Code introduced “Cup Stack” – a technique where children learnt the concept of computer programming without the use of computer. This enhanced the children’s analytical skills and logical thinking skills. Even the parents enjoyed playing this as well!
 
They also had fun playing with Angry Birds, using Blockly (a project of Google which is a client-side JavaScript library for creating visual block programming editors) in which they found ways to reach the enemies with the use of programming. With teamwork comes success! Each of them were able to learn the logic behind programming and at the same time enjoyed the company of their new-found friends. 

At the end, certificates were issued to all children who participated. He also shared his insights to overcome the common perception of parents in programming. Overall it was an awesome session for the parents and their children to get together and to attain new knowledge. Special thanks to the staff from School of Computing and Technology, Muhammad Ehsan Rana, Hema Latha Krishna Nair and Yogeswaran A/L Nathan for organising and facilitating the event. We look forward to our next KidoCode Hour of Code session with more children in the future!

APU’s Kenny Lock, a BSc (Hons) in Software Engineering graduate undertook a 6-week Global Internship Programme from May to June 2015 at HDE, Inc., based in Tokyo, Japan.  HDE is a trusted leader in Enterprise Cloud Security and provides security solutions to many large organisations in Japan. On completion of his internship recently, Kenny was offered a full-time position at HDE!

According to Mr Vijay Reddy, Senior Manager, APU, “In October 2014, during a visit to HDE Inc Japan, there was a discussion on internship and career opportunities for APU graduates, just when HDE had just introduced their Global Internship Programme. This invaluable internship opportunity was then made available to APU students”.

Kenny explains that he first applied for the internship through the APU Careers Portal. “Firstly, there was a three-step challenge to test my programming skills. After passing that, there was an online interview from the company to know more about my personalities and communication skills. It was happiness when I received a confirmation mail after HDE decided to hire me as an intern”.

 
Kazuhiro Ogura, Representative Director and Chief Executive Office of HDE, Inc. (left) with Kenny Lock (right)

Q: Can you briefly describe your workday at HDE Japan?
A: I was assigned to complete multiple challenging tasks by my mentors, which allowed them to evaluate my technical skills and soft skills based on my performance. Most importantly, I was able to learn and acquire essential knowledge as well as to meet people to develop my personal network, which are both important and useful for my future career.

 
Kenny Lock (bottom, third from left) with his colleagues at the Development Team of HDE, Inc.

Q. How has your Software Engineering studies been useful to you?
A: Fundamentals of software development and communication skills were relevant during my internship. Today's technology is moving at the fastest pace ever. The things we learned before may become obsolete within a short period of time. In my opinion, the most important skills to have as an IT expert are the ability to learn and adapt to new technology quickly and having the solid foundation of the fundamental knowledge that is related to one's IT field. I would always stay up-to-date with the latest news about technology and  the latest IT knowledge that potentially increases my value as an IT expert. With these skills one can be more versatile and competitive to face the next challenge.

 
Kenny doing a presentation in front of the staff during a monthly technical session where employees share their ideas and knowledge about technology

Q: Briefly describe your experience in Japan.
A: People are extremely friendly and the hospitality that I have experienced was like nothing I have experienced before, especially in the working environment of HDE. Everything is taken care of very professionally and all I need to do was only to concentrate on learning and exploring the Japanese way of working and their professionalism.

Q: What are your favourite foods and activities in Japan?
A: Japanese culture was always a huge influence to me while I was growing up. From the mysterious and sophisticated ancient traditional Japanese culture to the fascinating and advanced modern Japanese culture, the explorations to be made are endless. One of my favourite things to do is definitely roam around the famous Akihabara in Tokyo to hunt for rare collector’s items for my favourite movies, animes and mangas as I am a huge collector myself. I am also a huge fan of the Japanese cuisines as it is widely popular all around the world. I think they are generally healthier and there a huge variety of different foods as well.

It is with great pride we announce that APU students from the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Technology (FCET) excelled in the International Energy Innovation Competition (EiC), which was organised by the Institute of Engineers Singapore (IES). 3 of our APU teams qualified as the finalists of the competition; and stood above the rest, as all three teams were placed the First Runner Up, 4th Place and Finalist respectively. 

Held in Suntec Exhibition Centre in parallel with the 2015 World Engineers Summit, the Energy Innovation Challenge attracted participation of teams from Singapore, China, Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Despite having stiff competition from their fellow competitors, the APU teams impressed the judges with their innovative ideas and outstanding presentation. APU Team A, which comprised Cleopatra Musa and Syed Abdullah, integrated fitness with eco-friendly technology to produce the “Eco-Friendly Weight Lifting Machine”. Their innovative prototype outstood other teams; as they bagged the First Runner Up position and walked away with a cash prize of S$ 5,000 and a trophy! 

Whether in a team or individually, our students performed marvelously, as Jasmine Kaur, who fought alone with strong determination in Team C, walked away as the 4th Place winner, with her innovative solution – “Eco-Friendly Ceiling Fan as an Alternative Approach to Air-Conditioners”. On the other hand, Breena Theseira and Choon Yun Lim, who were from Team B, qualified into the grand finals with their project, “Infinite Loop”.

All 3 teams were mentored by Prof Dr Ir Vinesh Thiruchelvam, Dean of Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Technology (FCET). These achievements have proven that our students are able to perform astonishing results, both locally and internationally. It was a great platform for the students to showcase their talents at the international level; moreover, they had the honourable opportunity to receive the prizes from Singaporean Minister for Education, Mr Heng Swee Keat!

A talk entitled “Flying Through Crisis MH370: Lessons in Crisis Communications” was held on the 17th June 2015 (Wednesday) from 10.45am – 12.45pm in the FBM @ Mines campus for Tourism, Media and Communications students. A total of 110 students and lecturers attended the event.  The speaker was Mr Krishanamoorthy Muthaly, a full time journalist for the past 25 years. He is currently freelancing for CNN, German, Australian TV networks and newspapers in Malaysia. The talk was an enlightening view from the media perspective on how the MH370 crisis was handled. He shared interactive professional insights on how to project a better corporate image at a global level. He also promoted his new book co-written with Mr David Kirkham, who is a fellow crisis communication trainer. The book titled Flying Through Crisis MH370: Lessons in Crisis Communication touches on lack of practice, preparation and planning in facing the media and suggestions on how to overcome these issues.

Overall, it was an inspiring talk which dealt with issues of real-life media experience from a professional point of view.

A student workshop entitled “Stress Management” organised by Asia Pacific Language Centre (APLC) for APU and APLC students was held on 15th June 2015 (Monday), from 4.30p.m. – 6.00pm. The event which took place in APU Main campus was not only attended by APU and APLC students, but lecturers as well. The presenter was Mr Kenny Cheah Soon Lee, a full-time lecturer from the Faculty of Business & Management. The workshop focused on creating awareness on how to identify stress level, depression and the effective methods of managing them. Mr. Cheah, who was insightful and motivating throughout the whole session, shared various techniques which filled the participants with useful guides. As a bonus, participants were taken through a soul-searching session at the end.

Overall, it was an inspirational session which highlighted the importance managing stress positively and effectively.

The Maybank Go Ahead Challenge – Campus Level took place this year on Saturday, 30 May 2015 at APU Campus, TPM. The annual challenge is an international case competition that challenges the participants’ intellect, stretches their creative ability and tests their endurance. Several APU students who took part in the challenge last year secured internships and job opportunities with Maybank Malaysia. Mr Gurpardeep Singh, Vice President of Operations, officiated the event with an opening speech.

This year, the campus level challenge saw participation of 85 students from APU. Although they were tested both mentally and physically, the students demonstrated high endurance and outstanding teamwork as they ran around the APU Main Campus building to complete various challenges, such as playing a futsal game in sumo suits and painting a masterpiece and then selling it to the assessors within a given timeframe. Assessors for the painting challenge were Mr Vijay Reddy, APU and Ms. Sophia , Head of Talent Branding, Maybank.

After a competitive day, 17 students from APU were selected to enter the National Level Maybank Go Ahead Challenge, which will be held on Wednesday, 5 August, at Menara Maybank, Kuala Lumpur. Winners at the National level will eventually enter the Grand Finals, in which they stand a chance to win attractive cash prizes, all-expenses-paid overseas internship opportunities with Maybank, as well as be a part of the Maybank family through the Global Maybank Apprentice Programme. The apprentice programme offers interns a holistic learning experience with customised on-the-job rotations; international assignments and face-to-face development interventions through a dedicated coach and mentor.

All the best to the 17 students who entered the national level; hopefully they will succeed in the upcoming challenges and bring pride to themselves and APU. 

We are pleased to announce that APU’s Taekwondo Team achieved astonishing results at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) Taekwondo Open Invitation Championship 2015, which was held on Sunday, 5 April 2015. The championship saw participation of 180 participants from 17 universities throughout Malaysia.
 
The team from APU comprises 31 participants, 2 team coaches and 2 team managers. Majority of the members who participated were junior members, who never had the experience of participating in a Taekwondo open championship. However, all members demonstrated outstanding performance and soaring spirits at the competition, which resulted in the victory of the team. In the Kyorugi (sparring) category, our team bagged 10 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze medals, and was eventually announced as the Overall Champion, followed by Sunway University College and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) at the First Runner-Up and Second Runner-Up positions respectively.