Campus News: Workshops That Bridge The Gap

An introduction to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Skill Transfer Workshops for SMEs was launched by the School of Computer Technology of Sunway University College recently.

The objective of these workshops is to foster better and closer ties between institutions of higher learning such as Sunway University College and commercial companies. The workshops, an initiative of the School, will enable companies to familiarize themselves with the School’s new development of ICT technologies and new ICT products available for application. Invited speakers from the industry could also share their approaches of successful implementation of ICT projects, their needs and strengths to the students. By doing so, the workshops become a platform for Sunway students to understand the requirements of the real world.

At this introductory session recently, Mr Loke Sim Fatt, Chief Operating Officer of the England Optical Group Sdn Bhd spoke about “Benefits of Interns to SME and IT Collaboration with Universities” and Ms Lee Yin Jye of Solution Architect, SAP Malaysia gave a talk about “Emerging Technologies & Solutions for SME from SAP”.

The School took the opportunity to unveil its Consulting, Collaboration and Commercialization (CCC) Lab and also introduced the SCTNET portal which showed companies the benefits of using this portal. The CCC Lab supports the strong research focus of the School and showcased its research initiatives in the areas of Network and Ubiquitous Computing, Multimedia and Information Systems, Intelligent System and Robotics Engineering as well as Database Technologies and Software Engineering. The School has begun offering the MSc in Computer Science (by research) and the MSc in Mobile Systems for about a year now.

These workshops in general serve as a platform for companies to collaborate with the School. Collaboration opportunities include bridging the skills gap between the School’s curriculum and market needs and access of companies to a pool of student interns which is helpful for them to identify good potential employees.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lim Tong Ming, Head of the School of Computer Technology said “These workshops are a win-win situation for both companies and students. The interaction serves to enhance product and knowledge dissemination for students and in return we can fine tune the practical skills of our students to match the requirements of the industry. Furthermore any newly developed technologies and products will be introduced to the participating companies who will have the first opportunity to further develop them”.