HIGHER COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

I T NEWSLETTER

DEPARTMENT OFINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

V o l . 1 , I s s u e 0 6F e b r u a r y

HOD'S MESSAGEWelcome to the February 2017 issue of this IT Newsletter!

Annually, one highlight of the month of February is the Teachers’ Day which reminds everyone that teachers are the unsung heroes of the young generation. I salute all my fellow educators who have been so sincere in the exemplification of such a noble vocation of teaching! Lucky we are who are called to facilitate and enrich the learning experience of our students for we are the noblest of all! I urge everyone to continuously be a blessing to others and a role model-teacher who could make a difference in the career lives of our students!

February had been a fruitful month that stimulated the department, along with its stakeholders, for a remarkable set of activities such as teaching excellence awarding, consistent and mutual collaboration with the industry, technology integration, conduct of student-organized activities and staff development opportunities, productive meetings, and alumni matters. All these key areas are covered throughout the pages of this newsletter! Enjoy reading!

Dr. Huda Al-ShuailyHead of IT Department

w w w . h c t . e d u . o m

2017

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• Teacher’s Excellence Award 2017….... Dr. Eduardo Lacap Jr (Math Lecturer)

• Best Lecturer in

Database Specialization 2017…….............................. Mr. Gregorio Dela Cruz

Information Systems Specialization 2017…................ Dr. Amando P. Singun Jr.

Internet & e-Security Specialization 2017............ Ms. Shaima Amur Al-Amri

Networking Specialization 2017…............................... Mr. Russell Diona

Software Engineering Specialization 2017.................. Mr. Anand V.K.

Foundation Information Technology 2017….............. Mr. Ahmad Abdalla Attar

Mathematics 2017…..................................................... Ms. Helen Anitha Rani

Mathematics 2017 (Foundation Program)................. Ms. Nisha M.A.

• Students’ Choice Award as Best Lecturer in Mathematics 2017….. Ms. Eman

Rashid Al-Kindi

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A heartfelt welcome to the newly-joined Math lecturers, namely: Dr. Kamal Kumar and Mr. Syed Yaqoob who recently joined the IT Depart-ment last January 2017. ***

Welcoming new staff

The Social Committee organized the Teachers’ Day Party highlighting the Teaching Excellence Awarding on February 26, 2017 in N239, HCT.

Teaching Excellence Awarding 2017

Below were the staff who received recognition and awards during the said event.

With the presence of the IT/Math staff and the IT Council members, Dr. Huda Al-Shuaily (HoD-IT) recognized the teaching staff who have demonstrated outstanding contributions in the field of teaching that have significantly impact-ed the growth and development of the students through excellence in teaching. In addition, the most senior staff who have ren-dered the most number of years in the depart-ment and those heads of various committees who have done exemplary job had also been recognized and awarded.

“We are what we repeatedly DO. EXCELLENCE then, is not

an ACT but a HABIT.” – Aristotle

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HCT-CISCO : 2nd Most Active during Global IPD Week

IT Students and Staff IN Google Hashcode 2017Google Hashcode – 2017 is an online programming event by Google conducted globally every year. This year, it was conducted from February 23-24, 2017 with time duration of 7 hours. The following HCT-IT Staff and Student had participated the said event: Mohammed Mushtaq Ahamed (IT Lecturer/Trainer and participant), Roby Surendran (IT Lecturer/ Trainer and participant), and Mohammed Al Rashdi (HCT-IT Student/Participant). Along with them in a team was Majid Al Kalbani (MIECT Student/Participant). ***

HCT, Muscat had been awarded as the 2nd Most Active during the Global Instructor Professional Development (IPD)Week held last January 2017 (Middle East), with respect to the most number of attendees. The said award was based on the quarterly Global IPD. As a result, HCT name will be listed in the ASC Hall of Fame in the GIPD Course and it will receive a CCNA R&S or CCNA Security voucher. Sincere appreciation goes to the HCT-CISCO Academy Support Center Team for such a splendid achievement. ***

• Service Award

24 Years….............................................. Dr. Safiya Al-Sharji (IT Lecturer)

23 Years….............................................. Mr. Wael Jaber (IT Lecturer)

22 Years….............................................. Mr. Ahmad Attar (IT Lecturer)

22 Years….............................................. Mr. Basil Othman (IT Lecturer)

20 Years…......................................... Dr. Maryam Al-Awadi (IT Lecturer)

17 years….............................................. Dr. Saad Ahmad (HoS-Math)

14 Years…............................................. Ms. Jeba Rosline G (IT Lecturer)

14 Years…....................................... Mr. Zameer Hussain (Math Lecturer)

• Outstanding Committee Heads

Final Exam Supervisory Committee..Mr. Roby Surendran (IT Lecturer)

Time Table Committee…........Ms. Hemalatha Jai Kumari (IT Lecturer)

Social Committee…. Ms. Shaima Hamdan Al-Haddabi (IT Lecturer)

“Teaching is more than a profes-sion. It is a vocation.”

Congratulations...to the awardees of Teaching Excel-lence Award 2017!

PARALLEL wORKSHOPS HELD: VB.NET AND INFOGRAPHICSA 4-day workshop on VB.Net was conducted by an IT Student named Usama Adil Sabil Al Balushi. The workshop continued for 4 days, from 4pm-7pm which was attended by a good number of partici-pants. In the workshop, many points had been discussed like basic controls in VB.net, Database Con-nectivity, Database Navigation, Validation, Security, Search, Authorization Levels for different types of users, and many others. All of these points had been applied in an application called “Pizza Hut System”.” This workshop was organized by the Techno Group (an IT student organization) with the supervision of Ms. Shaima Al-Amri and Ms. Shaima Al-Haddabi.

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A session on Cloud Computing , which was orga-nized by the Industrial Link Committee headed by Dr. Manal Nasser Al-Rawahi, was conducted by Mr. Ara-vind Raghunathan (Senior Solution Architecture, Oman Data Park) on February 1, 2017 in Oman Data Park, Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) 4. Also, the IT staff and student-participants were invited for a tour around the Modern Data Centre. Below are some of

Workshop and Ocular Visit at Oman Data Park (

Yours truly is Ms. Ms. Hanadi Abdulaziz Al-Hara-si, IT Student. At the end of the session I realized that Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of computing power, database storage, applications, and other IT resources through a cloud service plat-form via the internet. After that they took us on a tour in Oman Data Park sections and watched how cloud computing works. Indeed, it was an exciting experience!

“

I am Ms. Mahfoodha Saleh Al-Farqani, an ETC Staff of HCT. Indeed, it was a great experience to have visited the Oman Data Park which has a state of art Data Centre where every component was designed and implemented carefully in order to assure uptime and availability which considers redun-dant systems with an integrated facility manage-ment infrastructure.

“

”

”

Olive e-solutions, LLC

In parallel with the VB.Net workshop, another work-shop on “Infographics and Basics in Design” had been conducted by Ahmed Al-Harthi and Asma Al-Amri. ***

As a company focusing on providing ERP Solutions, Olive e-Solutions is continuously in touch with HCT-IT for further mutual arrangements such as ERP Module Sessions and Technical Full Course with SAP Business One Workshop-Certification. It had all started when an Introductory Session on Olive e-Solutions and ERP was conducted by Ms. Bashaier Salim Al-Harrasi (SAP Specialist, Olive e-Solutions, LLC) last January 5, 2017 among IT students and staff. The event was orga-nized by the Industrial and Social Engagement Com-mittee headed by Dr. Kauthar Al-Khaifi.***

My name is Salem AlAidroos, Computer Engineer-ing student. I would like to say that I really enjoyed the chance of joining the IT Department to visit such a great company - ODP, to learn more about cloud computing from such experts and to see closely the great Technologies they use.

“”

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A workshop on the use of technology to enhance student learning was conducted last February 27, 2017 in N419, HCT. The workshop covered a series of sessions that covered the usage of various multime-dia tools which are available for free along with some interesting concepts. The workshop was attended by a number of participants from various departments of the College. The resource persons were Dhivya Bino (Senior Lecturer and Coordinator – Centre for Academic Practices, Middle East College), Dr. Smitha Sunil Kumar Nair (Assistant Professor and Programme Man-ager, Department of Computing, Middle East College), and Vikas Rao Naidu (Senior Lecturer – Multimedia, Department of Computing, Middle East College). ***

Math Section MeetingThe Math Section headed by Dr. Saad Ahmad (HoS, Math) called for a meeting last February 1, 2017 in N310, HCT. During the first half of the meeting dura-tion, Ms. Jacqeline Fat Yara (QA Officer) discussed in detail the vision-mission statement and the gradu-ate attributes, followed by Dr. Amando P. Singun Jr. (QA Officer) who briefed the staff about the scope of the forthcoming College Internal Audit. He presented the Approach, Deployment, Result, and Improvement (ADRI) model. In addition, he explained the Teaching Staff Performance Evalua-tion System (TSPES). On the other hand, Dr. Mary Ann Paguio (PMC Officer) showed the steps on how to review policies, how to acknowledge them, and how to download its sample copies. Finally, Dr. Saad Ahmad facilitated the remaining session with focus on Math Section-related matters such as self-study, class activities, assessments, and the like. ***

Technology to ENHANCE

G-Cloud: ITA Presentation

Student Learning: A WORKSHOP

Academic Committee MeetingThe Academic Committee that comprises of the Head/Assistant Head of the Committee, Program Coordinators and Assistant Coordinators of various specializations conducted a meeting last February 12, 2016 in N310, HCT. The following agenda had been discussed: QA Operational Tasks assigned to the Academic Committee, Course Delivery Follow-Up, Self-Study Topics, Student-Centered Learning, Course Project, and other academic-re-lated matters.***

G-Cloud Project Managers of Information Technolo-gy Authority (ITA), namely: Ms. Shanthi Vijay and Mr. Khalid Al-Rahbi spread awareness about the Cloud Service and the Cloud Service market needs in Oman. The presentation, which was organized by the Industrial Link Committee headed by Dr. Manal Nasser Al-Rawahi, was held on February 7, 2017 in N330, HCT. ***

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FOSS CONFERENCE AT SQU

IT Staff Induction on Academic Advising/Registration A staff induction session on Academic Advising and Registration using the College Information Management System (CIMS) among academic advisors was held last February 2, 2017 in N226, HCT. The speaker of the session was Ms. Jeba Ros-line (Department Registrar).***

Staff of the IT Department presented research papers at The Free and Open Source Software Conference (FOSSC Oman), jointly organized by the Communication and Information Research Center (CIRC) at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and the Information Technology Authority (ITA) on February 15, 2017.

Dr. Ben George Ephrem, Mr. N. Balasupramanian, and Dr. Huda Salim Al Shuaily, presented the research paper titled “Projection of Students’ Exam Marks using Predictive Data Analytics” while Dr. Vinu Sherimon presented the research paper titled “From Relational Model to Rich Document Data Models - Best Practices Using MongoDB”.***

IT Student Induction

A student induction session was held last Febru-ary 5, 2017 in N330, HCT, attended by the new-ly-joined students of the IT department, other-wise known as new-intake students. At the outset, Dr. Huda Al-Shuaily (HoD-IT) delivered her welcome message, followed by a presenta-tion by Ms. Jeba Rosline (Department Registrar). The highlights of the topics presented were the following: rules and regulations, information on advising, registration, probation, specialization, and College-bylaw. ***

college internal audit

College Internal Audit is conducted annually by the QAU to determine compliance with OAAA Standards, Ministerial decrees and policies, Col-lege Bylaws, Quality Assurance Manual (QAM), QA Sub-manuals (QASM), College Strategic Plan and College Policies. This year, the said audit was conducted by QAU in the IT Department last February 2, 2017. The auditors were Ms. Samira Al-Esry, Ms. Humera Jamil and Mr. Francis Rajendran. To answer the queries of the auditors, the department had been represented by Dr. Huda Al-Shuaily (HoD-IT), Mr. Talib Al-Mahruqi (HoS-MM), Dr. Amando P. Singun, Jr. (QA Officer, IT), and Ms. Jacqueline Fat Yara (QA Officer, IT). ***

HCT OPEN DAY

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EDITORIAL BOARD

Moderator: Dr. Huda Al-ShuailyEditor-in-Chief: Dr. Amando P. Singun, Jr.Graphic Designer: Mr. Waleed Al-Barwani Content Editors:1. Mr. Talib Al-Mahruqi2. Dr. Kauthar Al-Khaifi3. Dr. Vinu Sherimon4. Ms. Jacqueline Fat YaraContributors: Department CommitteesPublicity: Ms. Samar Abdullah Al-Araimi

alumni cornerTurnitin staff orientation

I am Bashaier Salim Al-Harrasi. I graduated at HCT way back 2015, with Software Engineering as my field of specialization. Currently, I am the SAP Specialist of Muscat National Develop-ment and Investment S.A.O.C. I have brief yet substantial message to all students. “I always hope that you have a strong passion to learn. Have the full faith in one’s self that one can be creative and smart. Dont give up whatever the situation is. I sincerely advise you to work very hard for your own career. The market is rich of opportunities to offer but there exists a close competition. Always think of engaging into the emerging challenges you may have because these may make you stronger and unique. Have a target and look up to it every day and every night. Leave or set any barrier aside and move on towards your goals. Always remember that education is power”. ***

Ms. Bashaier Salim Al-Harrasi

“Have Full Faith in Yourself!

Education is Power.”

SAP Specialist, Muscat National and Investment S.A.O.C.

by IT/Math staff. The speaker was Ms. Ronet S. Rabanal (IT Lecturer, Assistant Head of E-Learning Committee). The speaker discussed about the decisions made during the ADAA Meeting with HoDs (Meeting No. 8: 2016 – 2017) as follows: a) Research papers, questions papers, exams and assignments will be reviewed for plagiarism using turnitin. Teaching materials are exempted as per the Oman Royal Decree 65/2008, and b) Toler-ance for plagiarism to be reduced and accepted percentage is less than 25%. Any submission with a result of 25% or above will be considered plagia-rized. Such criterion has to also be applied to proj-ects and OJT reports for all levels. ***

A staff induction session on Turnitin was conducted on February 16, 2017 in F239, HCT. The workshop was attended

announcement . . .ITA Summer InternshipApplication for ITA Summer Internship has been done online through the link http://www.ita.gov-.om/itaweb/Internship/applyforInternship.aspx from March 1 to April 15, 2017.

The said summer internship seeks application from male and female undergraduate students who are in their final year. The internship will be running from May to October 2017 in various periods. Moreover, the total number of summer internship positions is: 70+. ***

The IT students and staff joined the College in cele-brating its “Open Day” last February 7, 2017. Also, they attended the Closing Ceremony of the Open Day on the same day at 7:00 PM in the College Auditorium. ***