From Code to Confidence: GitHub and Public Speaking for Career Readiness
[Kuching, 27th February 2025] – A peer led clinic focusing on equipping final year software engineering students with GitHub essentials, resume preparation and public speaking was conducted on 20 February 2025 at SE 1 Lab Level 3A. The clinic, entitled From Code to Confidence: GitHub and Public Speaking, was conducted by Ronan Kuek Joo Pern and Esmat Danyal Bin Es Zulkarnaen. Both of them have graduated from Diploma in Software Engineering and now pursing their study in Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours). Ronan shared with 22 final year students on the importance of GitHub, which is widely used by the IT industry for maintaining collaborative online repository for source code and other configuration management tasks. Based on his personal experience during his internship in diploma, Ronan hoped that his sharing would help his juniors to be better prepared in meeting employers’ expectations. On the same note, Esmat, a champion in various public speaking contests last year, shared tips on pitching ideas and how to properly converse with employers as well as other stakeholders in the workplace. It is hoped that the clinic would afford the prospective interns a competitive edge when they join the workforce later.
The Faculty of Computing and Software Engineering hopes that the peer-led clinic will promote leadership and lifelong learning culture among students. As such, this clinic will be made a regular feature in the Faculty’s student activities.
Prepared by Tay Chung Ang
Faculty of Computing and Software Engineering
NASA SPACE APPS SARAWAK ROADSHOW
NASA SPACE APPS SARAWAK gave a talk cum activities to promote its 48-hour global hackathon event from 7-8 October. The speaker highlighted past Sarawak team, Change Maker from SMK Bintulu. It is a part of a group of winners who visited Washing DC, USA in March this year as part of their reward for winning 2021 NASA Space Apps Challenge. Cash prizes, NASA Space Apps Sarawak Merchandise, ipad mini airpods and others, await participants who earn points by joining workshops, completing surveys to submitting the hackathon project.( https://spaceappssarawak.com/win-merch/).
Murni No. 427, Lot 6459, Lorong Kepayang 9A, Taman Lian Kwong, last Saturday. The
children at the centre were treated to aerobics session, small groups origami activity (named
“paper plane activity’) and light refreshment. The activities were organized by faculty
members comprising of academic staff, non-academic staff and software engineering
students. Several Diploma of Early Childhood Care and Education (DEC) students were also
invited to be part of the i-CATS University College’s entourage in this CSR event. The
climax of the event was handing over of RM 2000 cash to Pusat Jagaan Nur Murni for the
upkeep of its activities and welfare of those under its care. Asst. Prof. Dr Ting Kung Chuang,
the Dean of FCSE, in his speech thanked Pusat Jagaan Nur Murni for welcoming the
university and explained such event, was the manifestation of the university’s community and sustainability conscious vision. The cash contribution was made possible through
sponsorship by Kelab Rekreasi Pusaka of Sarawak Timber Industry Corporation. The
participating students from DEC are: 1) Nur Amira Maisara Binti Wahab 2) Shyamina Sara
CSR AT PUSAT JAGAAN NUR MURNI
i-CATS University College through the Faculty of Computing and Software Engineering (FCSE), called upon the residents of Pusat Jagaan Nur
Murni No. 427, Lot 6459, Lorong Kepayang 9A, Taman Lian Kwong, last Saturday. The
children at the centre were treated to aerobics session, small groups origami activity (named
“paper plane activity’) and light refreshment. The activities were organized by faculty
members comprising of academic staff, non-academic staff and software engineering
students. Several Diploma of Early Childhood Care and Education (DEC) students were also
invited to be part of the i-CATS University College’s entourage in this CSR event. The
climax of the event was handing over of RM 2000 cash to Pusat Jagaan Nur Murni for the
upkeep of its activities and welfare of those under its care. Asst. Prof. Dr Ting Kung Chuang,
the Dean of FCSE, in his speech thanked Pusat Jagaan Nur Murni for welcoming the
university and explained such event, was the manifestation of the university’s community and sustainability conscious vision. The cash contribution was made possible through
sponsorship by Kelab Rekreasi Pusaka of Sarawak Timber Industry Corporation. The
participating students from DEC are: 1) Nur Amira Maisara Binti Wahab 2) Shyamina Sara
INDUSTRIAL VISIT TO LINX PET HOTEL
On 14 July 2023, a group of students (Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours)) and lecturers of Faculty of Computing and Software Engineering, led by Md. Norahima Annuar, the Industry and Community Engagement Coordinator, had called on Linxpet, a luxurious pet hotel situated at LOT 374, BLOCK, 10, Lorong Palm, 93400 Kuching, Sarawak. The purpose of the industrial visit was to enable students and lecturers to observe closely the application of Internet of Things (IoT) in this unique hotel designed primarily for cats. Usually associated with smart home or factory applications, Mr Raymond, the owner of Linxpet, awed the faculty members with interesting use cases like: allowing pet owners to video call their beloved cats residing in their private rooms equipped with web cams, smart lighting and temperature control to ensure utmost comfort for the cats, as well as a paperless registration, check-in and other administrative tasks like securing entrance and round the hour monitoring, all available at the ease of a tap on the mobile phone. As a result, Linxpet has earned the trust of pet lovers in Kuching and it is franchising its business with its ingenious application of IoT.
MASISWA 2024 (7-10 November 2024)
In the recent MASISWA (Majlis Sukan IPTS Malaysia organized by the Ministry of Higher Education) Sarawak Zone, hosted by i-CATS Universtity College and co-hosted by Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, as well as, SIDMA College Sarawak, saw the i-CATS University College’s contingent winning one Silver in eSports mixed team category and two Bronze in Chess for both men team and women team categories. The athletes from a total of 15 institutions competed from 7 to 9 November 2024 in a variety of sports.
FCSE participated STEM Exhibition at SMK St. Mary
[Kuching, 7th August 2024] –FCSE participated in SMK St Mary’s STEM exhibition, themed “Unleashing the Power of Technology,” in conjunction with the Marian Mini STEM Carnival recently. The exhibition served as a platform to showcase innovative STEM-related products and technologies. The faculty sent TWO (2) entries namely: The Artificial Intelligence Project called the Invisible Piano (by Kobe Chua Jin Loong, Alex Chong Hon Yong, Bong Zak Heng and Lee Bin Wei) and Smart Sneaker (by Elysian team featuring Jacky Jong Jun Ming, Ts Nurlaila Rosli, Sam Liu Wen Kai, Kenneth Fong Chong Sien and Liew Chien Siong). The features of Invisible Piana were as follows: 1) The laptop camera will capture the hand movements and mimic the fingers striking piano keys as visualized on the screen. 2) The relevant audio note would be played, depending on the key being pressed even though in reality the fingers were touching the air. Meanwhile, “ElectroSteps” was a smart sneaker, embedded with GPS tracking and fall detection, as smart features for protecting its users in event of mishaps. It was also equipped with self-charging capabilities. In this way, the faculty played its role in inspiring the young learners to be interested in Artificial Intelligence (through image recognition as used in Invisible Piano) and Internet of Things (through the use of embedded sensors in smart sneaker).
Smart Innovation Competition 2024: i-CATS UC winning Gold and Silver Awards
[Kuching, 29th September 2024] –The Faculty of Computing and Software Engineering (FCSE) in collaboration with Invention and Innovation Club (which advisors comprise of Ts. Nurlaila Binti Rosli, Nur Suryani Binti Rosli and Mohamad Faizal Mahsen), had sent two teams for this year’s Smart Innovation Competition 2024 (SIC 2024). Both teams won Gold and Silver awards under the Senior Innovator category, as announced during SIC 2024 closing ceremony. The STEM based competition spanned from 11 March 2024 to 28 September 2024.
Future Heroes: Journey into the world of AI @ SK Muhibbah
[Kuching, 29th September 2024] – The Faculty of Computing and Software Engineering (FCSE) in collaboration with Politeknik Negeri Padang, Indonesia and UNIMAS, recently embarked on an international community service and SULAM (Service Learning Malaysia University for Society) involving about 32 primary school students of SK Muhibbah, which was situated near Kampung Pinggan Jaya and Kampung Muhibbah, Pending. The community service event saw the participation of Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours) students as trainer and facilitators under the oversight of 5 FCSE lecturers in attendance. Entitled “Future Heroes: Journey Into The World of AI”, the students were exposed to concepts like machine learning through creating games using Scratch. Meanwhile lecturers from Politeknik Negeri Padang (PNP), who was the main sponsor, did the introduction to AI and AI games play using AI tools for kids. The team from PNP were lecturers, namely Alde Alanda, Hidra Amnur, Taufik Gusman, Aldo Erianda, Ardian Firosha and also a student, namely Firman Ardiansyah. The team from i-CATS University College (i-CATS UC), as a co-sponsor of this programme, was led by Norahima Annuar, the Industry and Community Engagement Coordinator (FCSE) and Ain Nazihah binti Pakas (FCSE lecturer) as the main project leader. There were also UNIMAS students assisting in this event.
TREE PLANTING AT RUMAH SRI KENANGA WITH SEB
[3/12/2022]- i-CATS University College (i-CATS UC) has collaborated with Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) in the Tree Planting
Programme in an effort to sustain the environment
and also to help beautify Rumah Seri Kenangan.
The corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme
was organised by i-CATS UC participated by 45 staff
members including its students who took the subject
of Global Ecology and Sustainable Development.
A spokesperson from i-CATS UC said that programme
was also in collaboration of SEB where 12 of the
group’s staff members have joined in at Rumah Seri Kenangan Batu 12, Siburan today (Dec 3).
Sharing Session by Alumni on GitHub
[Kuching, 10th January 2024] – Mr. Yek Nai Liang. FCSE
alumnus and founder of Rainty Square IT solutions based
in Miri, recently conducted a GitHub sharing via Gmeet
(you can follow the recorded session here:
https://youtu.be/f19csfKhHa4. He stressed the
importance for software engineering students to
familiarize themselves with the code sharing platform as
it is widely used in the industry for collaborative
development and to some extent as a profile or digital
resume of one’s work. Mr. Yek is an active alumnus who
frequently feature as a judge in FCSE organized final year
project showcases, panellists in such showcases, alumni
engagement meetings, talks and also accepting interns in
his own company. During the sharing, he highlighted the
basics of GitHub commands like clone, branch, status,
add, commit, merge, push and pull. He also advocated
installing Git at developers’ clients, although alternative
GUI based GitHub desktop was also available. The session
was attended by FCSE lecturers and students.