HIGHER COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

I T NEWSLETTER

DEPARTMENT OFINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

V o l . 1 , I s s u e 0 9M a y

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

The department appreciates the students and staff who continuously participate actively on its operations that yield to great contributions. It is a challenge to keep moving forward with the power of teamwork, hand-in-hand.

The fast-paced duration of semester 3 never drew dormancy in the operations of the department as it conducted a number of activities such as Certified Ethical Hacker workshop, attendance to international student research conference, WebEx Conference, instructor training qualifica-tion exams, participation to annual CISCO competition, research paper publication, and student fieldtrip.

Enjoy reading as you browse through this May 2017 issue!

Dr. Huda Al-ShuailyHead of IT Department

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

2017

NEWSLETTERSUB-HEADINGS

I T NEWSLETTERWelcoming Rejoining IT Staff

The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Workshop was held last May 10, 2017 in N226, HCT, with the theme “Introduction to Ethical Hacking” which was participated by IT students. The Resource Person, Mr. Ajith Vathakat Abraham (Lecturer, Internet and E-Security Specializa-tion) tackled the following topics: Security, Physical and Digital Assets, Security Triangle, Ethical Hacking, Types of Ethical Hackers, Specializations, Terminology & Elements of Security, Phases of Hacking, Profile of an Ethi-cal Hacker, Security Testing, and History of Hacking and Famous Hackers. The goal of the workshop is to help students master an ethical hacking methodology that can be used in a penetration testing or ethical hacking situa-tion. Moreover, the CEH credential certifies individuals in the specific network security discipline of Ethical Hacking from a ven-dor-neutral perspective. The remaining sec-tions of the CEH Workshop will be conducted in Semester 1, AY2017-2018. Ms. Shaima Al-Amri (Lecturer, Internet and E-Security Specializa-tion) organized the said event. ***

The IT Department conducted a WebEx Conference with the Oracle Academy (OA), Middle East and North Africa (MENA) last May 17, 2017 in N424, HCT. The aim of the WebEx Conference is to distinguish on how to max-imize the benefits of the OA. OA offers at no cost, access to curriculum and faculty/teacher training in the areas of Java programming and Database Design and Programming, which are designed to be embed-ded into the relevant curriculum of each level of the education sector from schools to Degree / Diploma granting institutions.

The event presents a walkthrough on the guide of iLearning using WebEx, OA Overview, OA Courses, and the New Junior Certificates. Thirty-five (35) students participated the event, along with Mr. Talib Al-Mahruqi (Head of Multimedia Section), Mr. Venkatesan Raghavendram, Mr. Leopoldo Maglalang, and Ms. Ronette Rabanal. On the other end, the following were the participants based in Egypt through WebEx, namely: Ola Ramadan (Country Manager, OA, MENA) and Yasmine Badran (Program Specialist, OA, MENA)Ms. Ronette Rabanal, one of the participants of the WebEx, said that “[…] through the ilearning Oracle Academy, students and lecturers can access the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that includes our hosted curriculum materials and provides student progress tracking and reporting mechanisms including courses, quizzes and assessments.” ***

The IT Department is pleased to welcome the following Omani lecturers who completed their PhDs and rejoined the IT Department recently: Dr. Asma Al Marhubi, Dr. Bushra Al Sulaimi, and Dr. Eman Al Abri. ***

Certified Ethical Hacker Workshop

WebEx Conference with the Oracle Academy, Middle East and North Africa

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Dr. Asma Al-Marhubi Dr. Bushra Al-Sulaimi Dr. Eman Al-Abri

NEWSLETTERSUB-HEADINGS

I T NEWSLETTERAnnual CISCO Academy NetRider 2017 –

Successful Passers of Instructor Training Qualification Exam

Math Lecturers Published a Paper

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The Higher College of Technology (HCT) - Muscat Networking Academy conducted the National NetRiders Competitions last May 11, 2017 in N419, HCT. The event was participated in by several Colleges of Technology, namely: HCT, Nizwa, Salalah, and Musanna, and a private local academy, namely: Middle East College. The event was hosted by CISCO Academy – NetRider team from TMENA – (Turkey Middle East and North Africa) over a remote connec-tion.

The top scorers from HCT- CISCO Academy for each of the categories are the following: For CCNA Level: Yousef Rashid Masuod Al-Sedairi (Top 1) and Aqeel Adel Hassan Al Bahrani (Top 2). For CCENT Level: Waleed Al-Hasani (Top 1), Aisha Alzadjali (Top 2), Ashraf Ismael Musabah Al-Rashdi (Top 3), Kawther Shames Ali Al-Kharou-si (Top 4), and Amjaad Hamad Saif Al-Akhzami (Top 5). For IT Essential Level, Shaima Alsabbagh (Top 1), Zuwaina Al-Wahibi (Top 2), and Alzahraa Alomairi (Top 3). ***

Two lecturers of the Networking Special-ization, namely: Dr. Tripti Sharma and Ms. Khadija Sasikala successfully passed the Instructor Training Qualifica-tion (ITQ) Exam of CISCO, which was conducted last March 30, 2017 in Dubai. The ITQ (Instructor Trainer Qualifi-cation) exam certifies individuals to provide trainings to the CISCO instruc-tors in various courses like IT Essentials, CCNA (R & S), etc. under Instructor Train-ing Center (ITC).

Three (3) Math lecturers, namely: Dr. Abraham Varghese , Mr. Shajidmon Kolamban & Mr. Jagath Prasad Shreedhar published a paper entitled “Outcome based Assessment using Fuzzy Logic” in the International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications (IJACSA) Volume 8 Issue 1 January 2017. IJACSA has been accepted for indexing in the Thomson Reuters Emerging Sources Citation Index, a new edition of Web of Science (ISI). IJACSA is also listed in the Thomson Reuters Master Journal List. Some other indexing includes Inspec, DOAJ, Micro-soft Academic, WorldCat, NASA ADS (Harvard Univ.). IJACSA has associations with University Libraries like Univer-sity of Karlsruhe, Germany, PennState University, University of Washington, and Georgetown University. ***

After passing the exam, the two lecturers are now certified instructors to qualify other instructors. Other benefits of passing the exam includes: a) the acquisition of addition-al qualification; b) the utilization of the knowledge gained to provide high quality teaching in order to produce com-petitive graduates who can enter the labor market with strong technical skills; and c) the production of high quali-ty instructors who can provide high quality teaching to empower students. ***

Dr. Tripti Sharma

Ms. Khadija Sasikala

NEWSLETTERSUB-HEADINGS

I T NEWSLETTERStudent Field trip to AOU International Student

Research Conference 2017

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The Arab Open University (AOU) organized an Interna-tional Students Research Conference last May 24-25, 2017 at the Majan International Hotel, Muscat. The aim of the conference is to encourage more students to pursue research. A number of students and supervisors from the various colleges and universities presented research papers and participated during the open forum discussions. Seven (7) research papers were entries of the Higher College of Technology, all of which are from the IT Department. Below is the list of papers:

Paper 1 Title: “Implementation of Cloud Computing Infrastructure in Higher College of Technology”Student-Presenters: Talal AL-RuqaishiResearch Supervisor: Dr. Manal Al-Rawahi

Paper 2 Title: “Empirical Investigation of Acceptance of Moodle’s in Higher Educational Institutions”Student-Presenters: Esraa Al Maani, Areen Al Rawahi, Buthaina Al DabouniResearch Supervisor: Dr. Ashish Rastogi

Paper 3 Title: “AES Parallel Implementation on a Homogeneous Multicore Microcontroller”Student-Presenters: Rajaa Ahmed Almamri & Aseela Said Alawaid Research Supervisor: Mohammed Said Albahri

The Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) students, along with Dr. Fatma Al-Abri and Ms. Bashayer Al-Ajmi, paid a visit to the Al-Noor Association for Blind last May 17, 2017 at Al-Noor Association, Al-Khuwair. The aims of the field trip are to introduce the students to the association, to explore the different Assistive technologies available with the association, to meet with the members of the association and understand how blind people use the current technologies, and to establish a link with the association for future projects. The following are the activities during the event: a) Students meet with the members of the asso-ciation who are responsible for the assistive technologies for blind, b) students were orient-ed about the association and its goals, c) students were shown the available technolo-gies that blind people can use and how these could be used for teaching and in daily life, and d) students had a discussion on the chal-lenges that are encountered by blind people while using the current technologies.

Dr. Fatma Al-Abri, HCI lecturer, said that “[…] the field trip was very good experience for the students. They appreciated the need for assis-tive technologies and accessibility and was a good chance to build future collaboration with the association. ***

UPCOMING EVENT. . .

Al-Noor Association for Blind

The IT Department will facilitate a 6-week special classes/trainings on Internet of Things (IoT) that will start on May 8, 2017. ***

alumni corner

I am Adil Khamis Al-Shihi, an alumnus of the IT Depart-ment of Higher College of Technology, who completed Advanced Diploma in Information Systems in 2017. While starting my Bachelor studies, the government had offered me a job opportunity which I openly accepted. I believe to the concept of continuous learning. I am optimistic to learn many things and share the same to the community. As a student, I had been actively involved in various student activities which honed my leadership and com-munication skills. I had been happy to balance my stud-ies and my student activities then. I believe that extra-curricular activities may also improve me holisti-cally so I considered student activities (extra-curricular) very essential to become a better person.

In my current work, I am happy to handle all the assigned tasks which would really improve my career. I have learned a lot of things in the workplace. This is for this reason to mention under this Alumni Corner some of my guiding principles which may also help the students and fresh graduates as well: “Life is full of complexities and yet offers an array of opportunities. Gradually, as we have been immersed into the challenges as we jour-ney in life and so we, too, are immersed into the trade and mechanism of solving our issues in life that would make us even stronger as we move forward. Life offers too many opportunities and it may come across our way once… Grab it after a rigid decision-making. What hap-pens in our own life is our own making as well as our own choice! Do not stop learning. Do not feel exhausted of learning. Enjoy it as you journey in life.” ***

NEWSLETTERSUB-HEADINGS

I T NEWSLETTER

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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

Paper 4 Title: “Logical Framework approach (LFA) for Oman Taxi application”Student-Presenters: Al Zahra Ahmed Al Omairi, Shaima Mohammed Al SabbaghResearch Supervisor: Dr. Brijesh Jajal

Paper 5 Title: “An Analytical Performance Comparison of Proactive and Reactive Routing Protocols in MANET”Student-Presenters: Yousef Al-Sedeiri, Aqeelm Al-BahraniResearch Supervisor: Dr. Tripti Sharma Paper 6 Title: “Performance Analysis of MPLS-TE”Student-Presenters: Salwa Yousuf Al-Sarmi, Lamees Al hosniResearch Supervisor: Ms. Praba P.

Paper 7 Title: “Online Airside Vehicle Opera-tor Infraction System for Muscat International Airport”Student-Presenters: Wafa Hamood Al Amri, Afrah Hamad ALQarwashi, Azza Saif Al Habsi Research Supervisor: Dr. Vinu Sherimon ***

[Continued from page 3]

Mr. Adil Khamis Al-Shihi

“Enjoy learning

Staff, Government Sector

as you journey in life...”