Welcome to the February 2018 issue of this IT Newsletter!

The department consisted of a large pool of enthusiastic staff who always desire significant improvement! Staff had been extensively involved in both staff development as well as student development initiatives which contributed to a good track record of success! As a team, we can always take the department to heights of success! The commitment to excellence in teaching and research of our staff means an engaging intellectual environment which can ultimately empower and prepare our students to excel in their academics. Also, our department maintains a platform of linkage and collaboration with the industry in order to keep abreast with the current and future trends in the field and job market.

In this issue, we have the following news that are equally worth-reading: Winners at the Eighth Technical Festival, SQU, Rank 1st during the Global IP Week, HCT Hackathon: Awarding Ceremony, Freshmen Student Orientation, Launching of Tech-noGroup, A Guest Lecture from an Industry Representative, Seminar on “To Exam Or !(To Exam), Office 365 Training Session, Fire Safety Training for Department Emergency Wardens, and First Aid Responder Certification Training.

Enjoy reading!

HOD’s Message

Higher College of TechnologyDepartment of Information Technology

Volume 02, Issue 06February

IT NEWSLETTER2018

Dr. Huda Al-ShuailyHead of IT Department

http://www.hct.edu.om/academic-departments/it-department

Winners at the 8th Technical Festival, SQU

Out of twenty (20) technical projects, three (3) awards had

been earned by groups of HCT-IT students during the Eight

Technical Festival which was held last February 13-18, 2018 at

the Sultan Qaboos University, under the patronage of Dr.

Rahma bint Ibrahim Al-Mahrouqi, the Vice-President for Grad-

uate Studies and Scienti�c Research at the university. The

festival was highlighted by the showcasing of ICT projects

from participants of the various colleges and universities of

the Sultanate.

The First Prize Award was received by Mohammed Rashid

Abdullah Al-Wahaibi, Ahmed Mohammed Khamis

Al-Mukhaini, and Ibrahim Mohammad Al-Jabri who devel-

oped a project entitled “E�ective English Learning Tool with

Speech Analysis using Arti�cial Intelligence Techniques”. The

Second Prize was handed over to Falah Haider Moosa Al-La-

wati who presented a project called “The Virtual Lab”. The

Third Prize was also garnered by Ahmed Muneer Sulaiman

Al-Masroori who developed a Timetable Generator.

Along with the students, Dr. Huda Al-Shuaily, the Head of IT

Department, and Ms. Shaima Al-Amri, Internet and E-Security

and Head of Department Student Development Committee,

attended the said event. ***

Page 1 of 6 | Volume 2, Issue 06, February 2018

Rank 1st during the Global IPD Week

HCT Hackathon: Awarding Ceremony

The HCT Hackathon Awarding Ceremony event was conduct-

ed to conclude the HCT Campus IoT Hackathon Competition

instigated last January 2018, through the collaborative work

between the Department of Information Technology and the

Engineering Department. The Awarding Ceremony was held

last February 8, 2018 in the HCT Auditorium. The said Award-

ing Ceremony for HCT Hackathon was done as a part of the

event organized by the TechnoGroup of the Department

Student Development Committee. During the event, the

students who won during the HCT-Campus Internet of Things

(IoT) Hackathon Competition had been awarded with prizes

and certi�cates by Dr. Khalid Abdulaziz Ambusaidi, the

College Dean, assisted by Dr. Huda Al-Shuaily, the Head of the

IT Department. Mentors & Instructors were also acknowl-

edged with certi�cates for their training and support to the

students for the competition.

The Higher College of Technology ranked 1st among Medium

ASCs in Middle East for increasing instructor participation in

Global IPD Week. This only shows the active participation of

the department and the college in integrating CISCO into the

curriculum. Ms. Karen Alderson, the Global Technical Manag-

er, Corporate A�airs, CISCO, signed the Certi�cate of Recogni-

tion. ***

The IoT prototype solutions designed by the participating

students were presented in a 4-day exhibition period from

January 29, 2018 to February 1, 2018. The said exhibition show-

cased IoT solutions under �ve (5) di�erent categories, namely:

Smart Home, Smart Campus, Smart City, Industry of Things, and

Internet of Everything, along with three (3) domains: Safety and

Security, Pollution, and Energy Saving.

Page 2 of 6 | Volume 2, Issue 06, February 2018

[Continued from Page 1]

The following students had participated during the event:

Salem Al-Aidroos, Orwa Al-Habsi & Israa Al-Tobi (Smart Personal

Protection Equipment ( SPPE ), Al Yaqdhan Alraisi, Shuaib

Al-Mandhari, & Alzahraa Alomairi (Limpo House), Safa Al Harthi,

Marya Al Shaaibi & Anwaar Al Battashi (Clever Chimney), Azhar

Al-Wahaibi, Kawther Al-Kharusi & Safa Al-Musalmi (ESoSH

System), Athraa Al Hadidi, Ahmed Al Siyabi & Alanood Alsaadi

(Smart City), Shaima Mohammed Alsabbagh & Zuwaina Hamed

Alwahibi (Smart Pharmacy), and Hajer Alsharji, Suaad Alsaqri &

Khalid Alshukaili (Super Smart Eco Road).

The winners were selected on the basis of the comments given

by the jury members and online voting by students. The

winners of HCT IoT Hackathon will represent the Higher College

of Technology on April 2018 during the IoT Olympics Hack-

athon, Oman. The winners were the following: First Place:

Salem Al-Aidroos, Orwa Al-Habsi & Israa Al-Tobi (Smart Personal

Protection Equipment); Second Place: Safa Al-Harthi, Marya

Al-Shaaibi and Anwaar Al-Battashi (Clever Chimney); and Third

Place: Hajer Alsharji, Suaad Alsaqri & Khalid Alshukaili (Super

Smart Eco Road).

The following IT Sta� received Certi�cates of Appreciation

for their vital roles throughout the event: Mr. Leopoldo

Maglalang Jr. (Hackaton Event Head Organizer), Dr. Maryam

Al-Barwani (Hackathon Manager/Mentor and Coach Activi-

ty/Event Organizer/Facilitator and Coordinator), Mr. Russell

Diona, Mrs. Praba, Dr. Seema Al-Raisi, Dr. Najiba, Dr. Tripti

and Mrs. Kathija Sasikala (as Jury members). On the other

hand, the following Engineering sta� also received the

same certi�cates: Ms. Sameera Al-Esry (Jury), Mr. Bernard

Cruz (Hackathon Manager & Mentor and Coach), Mr. Dios-

dado Martinez Aler II (Hackathon Facilitator and Mentor),

Mr. Alex Pabayo (Electronics Expert and Mentor), Mr. Bernar-

do Gumapac (Mentor), and Mr. Aldwin (Mentor).

Other participants during the awarding were the Tech-

noGroup student-leaders of the Department Student

Development Committee, supervised by Ms. Shaima

Al-Amri and Ms. Bashayer Al-Ajmi. ***

Students are encouraged to transform their best gradua-

tion projects into ICT startups to bring socio-economic

bene�t to Oman. The topics include Arti�cial Intelligence,

Information Security, Blockchain, Smart Cities, Internet of

Things, and Big Data. The deadline for submission is May 5,

2018. For further information, please contact the College

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Unit. ***

Announcements

Students are encouraged to participate during the Imagine

Cup, otherwise known as “Olympics of Technology”, which

is an annual competition sponsored by Microsoft Corpora-

tion. Winners can bring cash prizes as well as mentorship

opportunities! The deadline for submission is April 30,

2018. For further information, please contact the College

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Unit. ***

Submission Deadline for ‘Imagine Cup’ Entries

Submission Deadline for ‘Upgrade’ Project Entries

The Advising, Timetabling, and Registration Committee conduct-

ed the Freshmen Student Orientation last February 7 at

12:30-2:00PM in N419. It was participated in by sixty-four (64)

attentive freshmen students.

As the Head of the IT Department, Dr. Huda Al-Shuaily, welcomed

and delivered an inspiring message to the freshmen students.

She enlightened the students about the latest trends in Informa-

tion Technology and how to achieve their goals being future IT

professionals. She encouraged them to participate in various

departmental activities. Thereafter, Ms. Jeba Roseline, the IT

Registrar, discussed about the IT Curriculum as well as the advis-

ing, registration, attendance, and other related procedures.

Ms. Bashayer Obaid Salim Al-Ajmi, Information Systems Lecturer

and Department Student Development Committee member,

informed students about academic issues and course withdrawal

and invited them to participate in student activities. She also

invited them for the Technogroup Launching event. Dr. Kallilur

Rahman, the College Librarian, discussed about the availability of

book collections and other facilities of the library. Also, a repre-

sentative of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Unit had

encouraged the students to join student activities that may

improve their entrepreneurial skills.

Other participants during the orientation were Mr. Rishi Shankar

and Mr. Muhammed Furqan, the Advising and Registration Level

Coordinators, and Dr. Amando P. Singun Jr., the Department

Quality Assurance Coordinator. ***

Launching of TechnoGroup

The Department Student Development Committee had

o�cially launched TechnoGroup last February 8, 2018 in the

College Auditorium. The TechnoGroup is the main student

organization in the IT Department, under the supervision of

Ms. Shaima Al-Amri. Under the TechnoGroup are the follow-

ing student organizations that are specialization-speci�c as

follows: Dbases, ICONS, and ITBiz.

One highlight of the event was the inspirational talk of Ms.

Meaad Al-Obaidani who was once a student-leader during

her college life. She was the very �rst President of the ITBiz

student organization, having pioneered the said organiza-

tion.

The Dbases is composed of Software Engineering and Data-

bases students and is supervised by Dr. Eman Al-Abri. ICONS

consists of Networking and Internet and e-Security

students who are under the supervision of Ms. Bashayer

Al-Ajmi. The ITBiz constitutes Information Systems students

who are under the supervision of Ms. Bashayer Al-Ajmi.

Other subgroups which consist of student representatives

include the following: (1) The IT Students Health and Safety

Group which is under the supervision of Ms. Ranjini Nair, (2)

The IT Students Research Group which is under the supervi-

sion of Dr.Asma Al-Marhubi, and (3) The IT Students Help

Center which is under the supervision of Ms.Shaima Al-Am-

ri. Simultaneously, the launching event of the TehnoGroup

overlaid a chance to honor the participants and awardees of

the recently-concluded HCT-Campus Internet of Things

(IoT) Hackathon Competition. ***

Freshmen Student Orientation

Page 3 of 6 | Volume 2, Issue 06, February 2018

The students who bene�tted from this lecture were

students of Dr. Shabbeer Shaik and Dr. Mary Ann Paguio,

Software Engineering Lecturers. The students were given

challenging coursework related to the topics that had been

discussed during the lecture. Special thanks to Dr. Manal

Al-Rawahi who invited the Guest Lecturer. ***

A Seminar-Lecture during ITNT3105 Class

Page 4 of 6 | Volume 2, Issue 06, February 2018

It had been a pride to have invited a well-experienced

project manager from the industry who had delivered a

talk among the classes of Project Management (ITDB3111).

The invited guest lecturer was Ms. Salma, the Head of

Project Management Section, Ministry of Manpower, last

February 14, 2018 in N226, HCT. The guest lecturer shared

real-life scenarios on the �eld of Project Management. She

covered topics such as principles of project management,

project planning, quality, team and project risk manage-

ment, project execution, project deliverables, and other

practical techniques and tools.

As part of teaching methodology in the classroom, a semi-

nar-lecture entitled “VoIP phone Design and Implementation

Workshop” was conducted last February 27, 2018 in N330, HCT

in the course “General High Speed Networks (ITNT3105)”. Fifteen

(15) students attended the said lecture with the presence of Mr.

Talib Al-Mahruqi, the Head of Multimedia Section, and with the

supervision of Mr. Russell Diona, the ITNT3105 Course Lecturer.

The aim of the seminar-lecture was to provide the students of

General High Speed Networks (ITNT3105) a glimpse of how VoIP

networks are implemented and operated in the industry. The

speaker provided a comprehensive orientation about VoIP

networks and the basic components used for its implementa-

tion. Actual device con�guration was demonstrated during the

2-hr workshop, and the students learned basic VoIP con�gura-

tion commands. The guest lecturer was Mr. Mohammed Al-Zad-

jali, Gulf Busimess Machine (GBM), TSS Network Engineer CCNP

R&S.

According to Mr. Russell Diona, the Lecturer of the Course, “An

invited resource speaker with industry experience and expertise

could provide additional knowledge and information about

topics related to a course being taught inside the classroom. It

provides an extended horizon for the students to learn more

outside the classroom.” ***

A Seminar-Lecture during ITDB3111 Class

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep

looking. Don't settle.” - Steve Jobs

Some IT Sta� attended the Workshop called “O�ce 365

Training Session” which was organized by ETC last February

11, 2018, held in N419. The resource speaker was Mr. Bassel

Ajlani, Microsoft Learning Consultant from Microsoft Gulf.

"O�ce 365" refers to subscription plans that include access

to O�ce applications plus other productivity services that

are enabled over the Internet (cloud services). O�ce 365

consists of a number of subscriptions that provide produc-

tivity software and related services, developed by Microsoft

Corporation. ***

Office 365 Training Session

First Aid Responder Certification Training

Along with the other department/unit �rst aid responders,

fourteen (14) �rst aid responders who represented the IT

Department attended the First Aid Responder Certi�cation

Training that was organized by the College Risk, Health and

Safety Committee which was held last February 8, 2018 in

the College Multi-Purpose Hall. The Resource Speaker was

Mr. Sarath Nair, Sustainability & Safety professional, J.D Insti-

tute, Oman.

Seminar on “(To Exam) OR !(To Exam)”

Fire Safety Training for Department Emergency Wardens

Page 5 of 6 | Volume 2, Issue 06, February 2018

The Department Sta� Development Committee organized a

Workshop on Chatbot last February 1, 2018 in BS002. The

resource speaker was Dr. L. Ram Kumar of the College of Applied

Sciences, Sur. The aim of the workshop was to make the partici-

pants understand the recent development of Chatbot, its bene-

�ts and underlying methods and development tools.

According to the Resource Speaker, “Chat bots are comput-

er programs that simulates conversation with users via

auditory or textual modes, using arti�cial intelligence.

Today, many chatbots are used as virtual assistants for

instant messaging platforms.” ***

The College RHS Committee conducted �re safety training

for all the department warden groups last February 1, 2018

in the Multi-Purpose Hall. The resource speaker was Mr.

Sarath Nair who is known as Sustainability & Safety Profes-

sional of J.D. Institute, Oman. The training covered all the

aspects of basic �re safety awareness such as �re-�ghting

essentials, live �re extinguishing demonstration and

hands-on session. From the IT Department, eight (8) �re

wardens attended the meeting as follows: Ms. Ranjini S.

Nair, Ms. Rachana Marathe, Mr. Vineet Pandit, Mr. Farhan, Dr.

Shabbeer Shaikh, Ms. Nisha M.A., Ms. Mercy Claravall, and

Dr. Seema Faqeer Al Raisi. Interestingly, an IT student

named Ms. Hanadi Abdulaziz Al-Harrasi attended the

event.

The training had equipped the participants with the neces-

sary knowledge and skills required in times of calamities

such as �re or dreadful call for evacuation. The training had

boosted the con�dence of the emergency evacuation

responders. Other participants of the training included

other department/unit emergency warden groups. ***

The Department Sta� Development Committee organized a

Seminar entitled “To Exam Or !(To Exam)” last February 8, 2017 in

BS002. Dr. Fatma Al-Abri, the Department Curriculum Commit-

tee Head, was invited as the resource speaker.

The resource speaker emphasized about the need of enhancing

the creativity of the students through challenging activities that

may allow them to think out-of-the-box, which in some way or

the other, may address the proper technique of promoting a

student-centered teaching-learning process. The a�uent

Resource Speaker had provided an earnest re�ection among the

participants. ***

Chatbot Workshop

IT Staff Attended the Ergonomics Workshop

Alumni Corner

Moderator: Dr. Huda Al-Shuaily

Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Amando P. Singun, Jr.

Content Editors:

1. Mr. Talib Al-Mahruqi

2. Ms. Jacqueline Fat Yara

3. Dr. Tripti Sharma

Contributors: Department Committees

External A�airs:

1. Ms. Bashayer Al-Ajmi

2. Ms. Khalida Salim Al-Siyabi

Graphic Designer:Mr. Ibrahim Al-Azzi (Diploma Student)

Publicity: Ms. Mercy Claravall

EDITORIAL BOARD

I am Ms. Shurooq Al-Farsi, an alumnae of the Department

of Information Technology, Higher College of Technolo-

gy, under batch 2011 of the Bachelor in Technology,

Networking Specialization.

Let me begin with an African proverb that I absolutely

adore which goes “Smooth seas do not make skillful

Sailors…“ I could not agree more with this proverb. Now

one thing to know after graduating from HCT is that you

are a little bit ahead in life already, now ask me “how?”

The fact that we never had everything at our disposal,

and we went through challenges both mental and physi-

cal, the fact that we woke up at four in the morning

during a registration day just to get �rst in-line to register

in order to get a suitable timetable, or being an hour

early to class just so you can actually �nd a place to park

without getting a police ticket -- with all of these I can

honestly say, I have never been more grateful to anything

than the experiences during college days! Well, I am not

saying all of these had been good, but I am admitting

that these had a huge in�uence in shaping my personali-

ty and prepare me to what is ahead of me, in both

personal and career lives.

Here is the truth, just like college, in your life you will face

a lot of challenges in which you may come across uncom-

fortably in some situations, and you may face matters

which require all the patience in the world, and having a

glimpse of that during college days, made it possible for

us to manage and overcome whatever we come across.

What I am trying to say is that, “if you can set your mind to

graduate despite of everything while having a high posi-

tive attitude, then you’re already a warrior.” To cut it short,

“if you do not succeed in college, trust me, it is not going

to be the end of your life; Instead, it is just the beginning!”

Have fun all! ***

An Ergonomics Workshop that o�ered free medical checkup

services was held last February 22, 2018 in MPH and VIP Recep-

tion Halls. A team from Al-Ra�ah Hospital, Muscat was invited.

Ms. Bilqees Parker, a physiotherapist from the same hospital,

was the invited workshop facilitator. Nineteen (19) IT sta�

participated the workshop which actively engaged the partici-

pants into practical training sessions of performing various

exercises and o�ered free medical checkup services such as

physical examinations, rapid tests for sugar, blood pressure,

basic vision, spirometry (lung) and Body Mass Index (BMI). ***

Page 6 of 6| Volume 2, Issue 06, February 2018

Ms. Shurooq Al Farsi Mi Store Marketing Manager

The training aimed at ensuring that all individuals whether

students, sta� or visitors are safe while in the premises of the

College. The �rst aid responders who attended the training were

the following: Ms. Ranjini S. Nair, Ms. Rachana Marathe, Mr.

Vineet Pandit, Mr. Farhan, Dr. Shabbeer Shaikh, Ms. Nisha M.A.,

Ms. Mercy Claravall, Dr. Seema Faqeer Al-Raisi, Ms. Bashayer Al

Ajmi, Ms. Khalida Al Siyabi, Dr. Narasimha Prasad, Dr. AbdulRah-

man, Mr. Mushtaq Mohammed, and Dr. Madhusudhana Rao. In

addition, one (1) student named Hanadi Abdulaziz Al-Harrasi

also attended the said training. ***

[Continued from Page 5]