Imagine Cup: Academia Viewpoint Zubair A. Shaikh Professor & Assoc. Dean Faculty of Computer Sc. & Software E

1. Imagine Cup: Academia Viewpoint Zubair A. Shaikh Professor & Assoc. Dean Faculty of Computer Sc. & Software Engineering FAST National Univ. of Computer & Emerging Sc. , Pakistan Principal Investigator Microsoft Innovation Centre, Karachi Pakistan

2. ? • The industry’s largest student technology competition • Over 130,000 students from 100 countries entered in 2007 • Each year features a unique altruistic theme, encouraging students to tackle the world’s toughest problems • Nine ways to compete, spanning Software Design to the digital arts • Software Design semi-finals are held locally in over 60 countries; all other semi-finalists are selected online • As in the Olympics, all finalists compete at the world finals (held in a different country each year) • Judges evaluate adherence to the theme, potential global impact, usability, originality, creativity, teamwork, and more

3. 2003: Barcelona, Spain  • 2004: Sao Paulo, Brazil “Imagine a world where smart technology makes everyday life easier” • 2005: Yokohama, Japan “Imagine a world where technology dissolves boundaries” • 2006: Agra, India “Imagine a world where technology enables us to live healthier lives” • 2007: Seoul, South Korea “Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all” • 2008: Paris, France “Imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment” History

4. The Imagine Cup attracts elite technology students from campuses around the world: • Competitors: University and high school students studying software design, computer networking, mathematics, IT photography, film, and user interface design • Mentors: Professors, teachers, and past competitors • Supporters: Government ministries and UNESCO

5. One world. Unlimited possibilities.Why do students participate in the Imagine Cup? Academic Viewpoint “I wish there had been an Imagine Cup when I was growing up. It gets people involved in seeing that software is changing the world.” - Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corp.

6. Curriculum Integration Collaborative Curriculum Existing Curriculum Gap

7. Integrating Imagine Cup in Curriculum • Integration of concepts within the existing courses such as: • Software Engineering, • Interface Design, • Web Design courses and • final year projects. • Enroll the faculty members in the Microsoft Faculty Connection • A fully Microsoft sponsored expert instructor will visit campus and train faculty on the required aspects of technology • Provide offline consultancy for individual teams and faculty members

8. Evaluation Criteria • 10% Problem Definition • 10% Consistency • 10% Innovation • 10% Impact • 10% Effectiveness • 10% User Experience • 10% Extendibility • 10% Complexity Management • 10% Functional Completeness • 10% Presentation

9. How we are doing at FAST-NU?

10. One world. Unlimited possibilities.Why do students participate in the Imagine Cup? “I wish there had been an Imagine Cup when I was growing up. It gets people involved in seeing that software is changing the world.” - Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft Corp.

13. THANK YOU Zubair A. Shaikh FAST-NU, Pakistan zubair.shaikh@nu.edu.pk http://nu.edu.pk/karachi http://khi.nu.edu.pk/cruc

14. KFUPM Best Academic Practice with Microsoft Dr. Kanaan Faisal Chairman of the Information & Computer Science Department King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

15. Agenda • About KFUPM • Research at KFUPM • KFUPM International Advisory Board • KFUPM Collaboration with Microsoft

16. About KFUPM • Established in 1963 • Vision: “To be a vibrant multicultural University of international repute focused on quality education and innovative research that prepares professionals and entrepreneurs to lead social, economic and technical development in the region” • Colleges • Five colleges • Focus is on Engineering & Computing

17. Research at KFUPM • Research Institute • Dhahran Techno-Valley • International Advisory Board • President of the Georgia Institute of Technology , • Former Acting President of Harvard • Former President of the University of Chicago • Provost of Stanford University • President and CEO of Saudi Aramco • Schlumberger CEO • And others…

18. KFUPM International Advisory Board • Advise on strategic planning, future directions and policy development • Facilitate and support links with international institutions from academia and industry • Support the university in developing a competitive edge and improving its standing and reputation • Ensure that KFUPM’s excellent tradition in the areas of teaching and research is sustained on a global basis

19. KFUPM Collaboration with Microsoft • Computer Science Department Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) • Objectives: “to help the department to successfully accomplish its mission and to continuously improve the quality of its graduates so as to meet current and future needs of the Kingdom in terms of highly qualified workforce” • Microsoft is an active member of the board: • Microsoft GM Dr. KhaledAlDhaher • Members from Developer & Platform team (Mr. Adel AlMAssarani & Mr. AmmarAbuthuraya) • Curriculum changes based on the IAB feedback

20. KFUPM Collaboration with Microsoft • Imagine cup • KFUPM participated actively for the last few years • For the last three years KFUPM Represented the kingdom in the finals • Some Software Engineering Senior project use the imagine cup theme for their senior project

21. KFUPM Collaboration with Microsoft • .NET club • Student branch of .NET club • Helped the students in building stronger knowledge learning and background

22. Summary • KFUPM has a good Collaboration with the industry especially Microsoft • Computer Science Department Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) • Imagine cup • .NET club

23. THE HIGHER COLLEGES OF TECHNOLOGY Hassan Khabbazeh Department Chair – Information Technology ProgramsDubai Men’s CollegeHigher Colleges of Technology United Arab Emirates

24. About HCT • The largest higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates • Total of 16 Men’s and Women’s Colleges located in the cities of Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Fujairah, and the western region of Madinat Zayed and Ruwais.

25. HCT Academic Programs • Offers disciplines in Applied Communications, Business, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, and Information Technology • Offers an impressive range of programs - more than 80 programs at four different credential levels – Diploma, Higher Diploma, Bachelors and Masters • All courses are delivered in English

26. IT Programs at HCT • Diploma in Information Technology • Produce entry-level technicians who have basic technical skills in information management, networking, and web technologies. Concentrations: Networking Office Administration PC Support Web Development

27. IT Programs at HCT • Higher Diploma in Information Technology • Prepare students for further studies at the Bachelors level or to be information technologies with breadth in the core information technologies of programming, networking, database, and web development. Concentrations: Business  Networking • Database  ProgrammingInformation Administration  Web Development • Software Engineering

28. IT Programs at HCT • Bachelors Program • Prepare students as IT Specialists with a focus on business applications. Concentrations:Business Information Technology (BITE) Computer Network Technology (CNET) Information Management Software Engineering Technology

29. Different Microsoft Technologies within the IT Programs

30. Current Technologies used in the IT Programs • Visual Studio .Net 2005 is used to develop application with the following technologies: • ASP. NET 2.0 (Active Server Pages) – To develop dynamic, data-driven web sites using scripting languages like VB.NET, C#, etc. • ADO.NET (Active Data Objects)– Data access technologies used to manipulate databases • AJAX 1.1 (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)– To create web applications using customizable drag-and-drop objects instead of JavaScript. • XML (Extensible Markup Language) – Language used for cross-platform integration • XML Web Services – Support distributed computing on the Internet.

31. Current Technologies used in the IT Programs • SharePoint • Used to facilitate and manage department business operations and processes • Used to facilitate student-teacher communication • Used to facilitate student-student communication

32. Integration of New Technologies • Plans have been placed to introduce programs that will cover the following technologies : • Visual Studio.Net 2008 • LINQ (Language Integrated Query) – Set of standards operators for accessing data using OOP approach instead of SQL, regardless of the data source • Expression Web – Professional design tool for creating modern, standards-based sites that deliver superior quality on the Web. • Silverlight– Graphic design tools for applications with features like animation, vector graphics, and audio-video • Windows 2008 – Students will be learning the latest technology in Windows OS

33. Microsoft Certificates • Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) • Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) • Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) Students are encouraged to do Microsoft certifications after completing the relevant courses. Currently, 10% - 20% of students do so. There is a move in the IT Division to consider integrating Microsoft official examinations within the IT Program assessment strategies.

34. HCT is a vocational college Teaches the required skills in the industry • Microsoft IT Academy

35. Partnerships with Microsoft • Academic Alliances between Microsoft and HCT Colleges • Dynamics • MSDN • Designer • Intaleq Program paid work placement for IT students at Microsoft offices • MACH (Microsoft Academy for College Hires) Employment opportunities at Microsoft for IT graduates • Dreamspark – Web portal providing free software to students

36. Microsoft and HCT Student Activities • .NET Club –May 2006 • Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 Academic Launch –February 2007 • The Geeks Event –March 2007 • Imagine Cup – May 2007 • Clean up the World –November 2007 • Heroes Happen Here – The Microsoft Launch – March 2008 • Microsoft Technology Day – April 2008

37. International Trips • Microsoft Local Design Champion Training Istanbul, Turkey January 2007 • Microsoft TechEd Developer Conference Barcelona, SpainNovember 2006

38. Thank You!

39. CIT/UAEU Collaborative Efforts With Microsoft Noura Al Dhaheri

40. Outlines: Student Activities (.NetClub and MSPs) Dynamics Academic Alliance Research Grants Curriculum Development New Initiatives

41. Student Activities (.NetClub and MSPs) • Participating in Imagine Cup competition (Finalist 2007 Seoul-Korea) • Participating in summer training and internships with Microsoft and its partners • Organizing training sessions for students • Inviting guest speakers from the IT industry for university seminars and events. • Participating in the college outreaching activities to promote IT in the local community

42. 2 Great stories after the finals • KBC first time in UAE

43. Bill Gates recommendation letters.

44. Dynamics Academic Alliance • Developed a new Business Integration Lab.  • Completed a training session (for 7 days). • Incorporating Dynamics GP in our curriculum… (Work in progress)

45. Research Grants FaceBots: Robots utilizing and publishing social information in FaceBook • Investigators: Dr. N. Mavridis and Dr. T. Rabie • Amount of Funding: $50K  • That was a very competitive program on an international scale. • A total of 74 proposals were submitted worldwide and only 8 funded.

46. Curriculum Development

47. Other Tools and Technologies Used on Campus

48. New Initiatives Coming Soon…

49. Student Activities (.NetClub and MSPs) • Curriculum Development • Other Tools and Technologies Used on Campus • Dynamics Academic Alliance • Research Grants • New Initiatives Thank You