IT

Under the guidance of Dr. Kalai Anand Ratnam from Faculty of Computing, Engineering & Technology (FCET) and Mr. Hari from APIIT Corporate Training, a total of 80 students from the APU Schools of Computing & Technology participated in an engagement session with Microsoft Malaysia recently, on the 22nd of February 2017. We are pleased to share that this visit has given them an insight of the working culture within the tech giant company, which was located at the Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC). 
 
Despite being amazed by the view and the well-decorated offices of Microsoft Malaysia during the office tour conducted by a staff from Microsoft, students were also given a short workshop on building their first “cross-platform” application. Upon completion, the students also walked away with some goodies from Microsoft, together with photos that documented their memories of visiting the Malaysian office of one of the world’s largest IT corporation.

 
 
The 1-day visit aspired many of our students to undertake their career path in software development. What’s more? Some of them even set a goal for themselves, as they wish to be a member of Microsoft in the future! 

To develop an application over 24 hours was not easy, but our students made it through, and excelled!

Adel Maratova, our student of the Software Engineering programme, bagged the first prize of the 24-hour IoT Hackathon, that was organised by MDEC, Cyberview and The Things Network from Amsterdam. In addition, Tumenbayeva Dara, Uzair Mustafa and Junon Lee from the Faculty of Computing, Engineering & Technology (FCET) were crowned the Best Student Team, as they also walked away with a special robotics kit.

The competition was an initiative by MDEC to encourage future IT professionals to develop usable Internet of Things (IoT) solutions based on LoRa technology. The students who were mentored by Seyed Amir Hossein Mousavi had excelled and had once again proven that APU students are capable of tackling the world’s current issues by using the latest technological tools.

We are absolutely proud of the students’ achievements! Congratulations and good job well done!

Here’s another good news to share!

Team MD1337, comprising students from APU’s School of Computing & Technology (SCT), Ahmed Nabil Al-Eryani, Alexander Sukhamera and Marat Omaraliev, was announced as the champion of the F-Secure IT Security Competition Malaysia 2016. They were among the top ten semi-finalists who competed for the championship that was held at Bangsar South Nexus Mall on the 14th of April 2016. 

The competition was open to all full-time IT undergraduate students who are enrolled in Malaysian public and private universities. It was also a joint effort between F-Secure and the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) as part of their initiatives to transfer and empower high technology skills to the local labour force through education. As such, the competition had provided students with the platform to demonstrate their academic skills and express their interests in the IT security field.

This year’s championship revolved around the theme of “Protection against Advanced. Persistent. Threat (APT)”. Prior to their advancement into the grand finals that took place in the form of Jeopardy-style, the team excelled at the university-based qualifying test and the semi-finals, in which they were given IT security challenges in the forms of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) and Multistage Challenge. Participating students were required to be equipped with a wide range of knowledge in the IT Security field, such as news and current events related to cyber threats, security and targeted attacks, malware, forensics, programming, encryption, debugging, and more.

The team put in a lot of effort in preparing themselves for the competition the guidance of Yusnita Bt Yusof, Yogeswaran A/L Nathan and Sulaiman bin Harun. By demonstrating outstanding technical skills and excellent teamwork throughout the competition, their hard work paid off as they walked away with a MacBook Pro each, a 1-year license for F-Secure SAFE product, as well as a free Student Pass to the 19th Association of Anti-Virus Asia Researchers (AVAR) International Conference 2016, the largest Asia Pacific conference on anti-malware. 

Good job and thumbs up to the team and their mentors for making APU proud! 

14 Multimedia and Internet Technology students together with 2 lecturers from the School of Computing participated in an industrial visit to the Bank Negara Museum & Art Gallery and Knowledge Management Center on Wednesday 16th  March, 2016.  This visit was arranged by Mrs Gaayaatri Nambiyaar and Mr. Leo Gertrude David. 

The visit was an introduction to actual applications of multimedia technologies at the museum, which allowed the students to understand the need for Information Technology in the banking industry.  The highlight of the visit was when students were able to question the usage technologies applied and the needs for the museum to further enhance the current system of demonstrating visual arts to the tourists.

Students were given the task to select an area of interest within the museum and prepare a proposal for improving the current technologies applied at the museum, as part of their learning process. They learnt to analyse and provide constructive feedback, in which their ideas were listened by Ms Juliana Abdul Rahman, the Curator from Bank Negara Museum. This was a great learning experience for all students who participated, in which they know what it takes while facing challenges from the current IT and Multimedia industry.

Here comes another good news to share!

Our Software Engineering student, Lai Woon Siew, from the School of Computing (SoC), received the Bronze Award, in Category 2: Science and Technology, for his mobile application, 'I-cHeart' – Pill Time: Pill reminder system at the 1st Innovative Practices in Education and Industry Exhibition 2016 (I-PEINX '16), that was held on Monday, 14th March in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor. 

The innovative development of "Pill Time"- a medicine reminder application that reminds users to take every dose of medicine on time, which integrates the schedule function that notifies patients on the order of consumption of each medicine. The application also provides a few features like the ability to record appointments with the doctor, to save the patient’s own personal symptoms’ profile and to locate the nearest hospital for emergencies.

Congratulations to Woon Siew for he outstanding achievement! Special thanks and good job to Ms Aida Zamnah binti Zainal Abidin and Miss Vinothini Kasinathan, who mentored and guided Woon Siew throughout the competition. 

13 Multimedia and Computer Games students together with 5 lecturers from School of Computing & Technology participated in an industrial visit cum demonstration to Integrasi Erat Sdn Bhd Petaling Jaya on Tuesday, 1st March 2016. This visit was arranged by Mr. Naresh Kumar Appadurai, Mr Kamalanathan Shanmugam and Mr. Mohd Najib Bin Ismail from the School of Computing & Technology, FCET, APU.

During the visit, representatives from the company introduced their Virtalis software range and solutions to staff and students in actual applications and case studies, which allowed them to have a better understanding of the concept of 3D virtualization in various sectors from business to education. Virtalis is a world-leading Virtual Reality (VR) and advanced visualization solutions provider.

A wide range of software were showcased; such as the ActiveMove, a transportable VR system that is part of the ActiveWorks suite, which allowed visualization in stereoscopic 3D with full immersion and interaction through Virtalis’ integrated head and hand tracking solution. Another solution showcased was the GeoVisionary, which was developed by Virtalis in collaboration with the British Geological Survey as a specialist software for high-resolution visualization of spatial data.  Furthermore there was the Visionary Render, a software that allows users to access and experience a real-time, interactive and immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environment created from huge 3D datasets.

The highlight of the visit was when the students had the opportunity to experience firsthand immersive 3D virtualization on various applications created using the Virtalis software by using special visors with sensors. It was indeed a useful and interesting demonstration, which exposed students to various application and areas of 3D virtualization. We look forward to more out-of-classroom learning experiences for our students in the future! 

Staff attended: Muhammad Ehsan Rana, Naresh Kumar Appadurai, Kamalanathan Shanmugam, Zierasmayu Bte Abd Rahman, Md Baharul Islam
Students attended: Ahmed Nabeeh Abdul Sattar, Sheikh Ahmed Sheikh Al-Kaf, Sharma A/L Rajasekaran, Nicholas Inggih, Kenny Kwee King, Lew Tin Wah, Bestly Edyson, Mohammed Saleh Mohammed Alzawbari, Lai Jia Lok, Muhammad Zohaib Malik, Pidial Yvan Hans, Nida Shaugi Seff

Our students made it again!

Our students from the School of Computing & Technology (SCT),  Leong Min On, Chan Ying Ying, Wong Yun Hwa, Chung Wei Teng and Gavin Sung were announced as one of the top 10 finalists in the 2016 Hilti International Industrial Mobile Application Competition. Through this competition, students had a platform to demonstrate their creativity and innovation in designing and developing tailor-made mobile applications, which will be used to enhance the digital experience of Hilti employees and customers.

Prior to the competition, Hilti organised a Case Study Workshop on the 14th of November 2015, in which a general overview about the competition was provided. After attending the workshop which was coordinated by Jacob Sow and Zailan Arabee, lecturers of School of Computing & Technology (SCT), 3 teams of APU students were selected to take part in the semifinals that was conducted via video conferencing.  Min On, Ying Ying, Yun Hwa, Wei Teng and Gavin stood out among other semifinalists and were qualified for the International Finals, which was held at the Hilti Malaysia office on Wednesday, 24 February 2016.

Their participation in the International Finals was an eye-opening experience; as they competed with participants from universities worldwide, including from Germany and Australia. Apart from demonstrating their impressive presentation skills and teamwork, their innovative solution that includes big data analytics also impressed the international panel of judges. It was also an additional delight when Leong Min On, Final Year student, was offered a job as an IT Process Consultant, even before his final year results were confirmed!

Hilti Asia IT Services, based in Malaysia, has been in an active collaborations with APU over the last two years. To date, they have hired 8 of our IT graduates and 3 interns. They also offered 10 project titles for final year studies and dissertations. We look forward to more collaborations and achievements like this; to ensure that our students possess industry-competent skills. Congratulations to the team for their outstanding achievement, and good job to their mentor, Hema Latha Krishna Nair, for the dedication and effort in leading the team towards success!

39 Diploma in Information & Communications Technology (ICT) students participated in an industrial visit to MAS Operation Office on Monday, 18th of January 2016. This visit was arranged by Ms Tham Hoong Ching from School of Technology. During the visit, MAS had introduced their Crew Management System to the students, in which allowed them to have a better understanding of the integrations of five (5) components of Information Systems (IS), and the importance of IT in supporting business processes.
 
MAS also introduced their future plans such as advancement of system towards higher mobility and the usage of Information Technology hardware/software to achieve competitive advantages. After completion of the briefing, MAS arranged a visit to their operation and crew reporting offices. In the operation office, students observed the working environment of the Crew Management teams and were able to understand the role of the operations staff including preparation of weather reports for the pilots of different airline companies. In the crew reporting office, the students managed to witness the reporting and briefing processes. Every day, the crew reports to work through a web-based system. 

The APU School of Technology and Cyber Security & Forensics Club (CSFC) with the sponsorship of e-Cop Surveillance Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia, organized APU’s first Capture the Flag (CTF) IT security competition on Thursday, 28 January 2016.

 
The aims of the competition were to;

• Expose students to near-real-world security challenges
• Build a sustainable community to learn security 
• Provide platform for students to excel their specialism

The Competition was in the format of Jeopardy; in which participants were required to solve as many security challenges as possible within the time limit. A total of 20 students took part in the challenge, which provided both students and lecturers a chance to improve their skills and widen their scopes by applying theory into practical means. The participants had the opportunity to use their knowledge and skills to analyse examples of bad coding, to bypass security measures, and to know what should be done to avoid repeating mistakes. Participants were also introduced to many new topics and subjects which might not be covered in typical classes allowing easy expansion of knowledge without going for lectures and tests. 
 

Winner List:
Champion: n00bs - Alexander Sumahera (Diploma in Information Technology)
1st Runner Up: ThomasIsAvaliable - Toong Chee Sheng, Thomas Teoh Zi Eng, Mohammed Farook Bin Rafiuddin (Degree in IT Level 2)
2nd Runner Up: Sherlock - Khor Chia Ler, Soo Jia Cheng, Chan Xin Wei (Degree in IT Level 3)
 

Organising Committee
School of Technology (NSF Staff):

1. Yusnita Yusof (Chair)
2. Nurul Haniza Mohtar 
3. Nor Azlina Abdul Rahman
4. Sulaiman Harun
5. Yogeswaran AL Nathan
6. Khoo Li Jing 

Students’ Organizing Team:
Main organizer team / Challenge creators:

1. Nicholas Ian Nonis TP034089
2. Choong Chih Xien TP033739
3. Goh Eu Gene TP034120

Event organizer team:

1. Celine Deong Sim Yee (TP033597)
2. Oh Yenyi (TP033656)

Network team:

1. Daniel Raj S/O Divagaran (TP022419)
2. Chu Jian Hao (TP030899)
3. Nor Natasha Ashira Binti Shamsudin (TP035315)
4. Mohamad Fahad Islam (TP034685)
5. Yuan Yichao (TP032893)

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.