Fall 2017 | The American University of Iraq Sulaimani

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Fall 2017

Roundtable on the State of the IT Industry

Did you miss it? A very interesting and useful IT event took place on October 24, 2017, at The American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS), discussing the state of the IT industry, both locally and globally. Many topics were shared and discussed including the demand for IT jobs, new IT trends, and reviews on digital transformation. The speakers included Mr. Yad Kamal, CEO of Avesta Group, and Mr. Raed Bou Hamdan, co-founder of Click Iraq. The event was introduced by Dr. Hemin Latif, chair of the IT department at AUIS. He emphasized the importance of these events and how they can bring insight and knowledge for students. Hearing from IT experts with industry experience, students can be better informed on the IT job market and its changing dynamics. Dr. Latif announced that the IT department has established a board of advisers with professionals from the local industry. Mr. Yad Kamal discussed the state of the IT market in Kurdistan Region of Iraq, both public and private. He said that the government organizations are using simple IT techniques and tools, therefore it’s a good opportunity for new graduates. Mr. Yad then gave a presentation on the jobs with the highest demand in the IT market. He mentioned that the standard jobs in the market include network administrators and help desk support. The jobs in high demand are web and mobile development. He also encouraged and concentrated on technical sales as it is in high demand. Professionals should have a technical background, product information, and good marketing skills: “Avesta Group and many others pay very good salary for people with this skill and experience, and they are rarely found in the market,” he said. Our other speaker, Mr. Raed, showed clear statistical information on how the digital transformation has progressed so rapidly in a short period of time.  He stated that the digital transformation allows connecting people, access to information, and most importantly, creating new jobs. Mr. Raed discussed how data analysis has become something that many IT companies invest in and there are many careers for anyone interested in that field. He also discussed how people are using and reacting to digital technology according to their ages, “The younger generation is more into product and visualization, while the older generation wants the experience. Most of the new products that are released match the desires and mentality of the new generation,” said Mr. Raed. This was the first IT roundtable discussion in Fall 2017. There was a good turnout of IT faculty, students, and alumni. Attending the event, Professor Katongo Lukwesa commented, “I believe this is a great opportunity for the AUIS community to interact with employers and innovators who will give meaning to a lot of things that are studied in the classroom.” Article by IT Department communications intern, Mr. Aran Kamaran.

AUIS Faculty Attends Seminar on Research Methods

On October 14, 2017, Dr. Atheer Matroud, assistant professor of Information Technology at AUIS, along with some faculty members of other Iraqi universities, conducted a seminar titled “Sober Scientific Research and Publication in International Journals” organized by The House of Wisdom, in Baghdad. The House of Wisdom is an intellectual and scientific establishment that deals with scholarly research and academic studies. The purpose of the seminar was to establish the best method for writing effective research papers. The audience was introduced to software tools for writing, referencing, and checking for plagiarism. They also addressed problems concerning academic writing in Iraq. During the seminar, Dr. Matroud prioritized the impact of plagiarism, whether done intentionally or unintentionally, citing examples. Unintentional plagiarism is when you accidentally fail to cite your sources correctly, which is still counted as plagiarism and is not acceptable. Dr. Matroud stressed that any form of plagiarism can lead to serious legal implications as well as destroyed reputation or even the loss of a career. The seminar was well attended and organized, with representation from many universities in Iraq. The audience also enjoyed listening to new methods and approaches for writing academic research papers. Some members of public universities also requested to host similar seminars at their institutions. Commenting on the seminar, Dr. Hemin Latif, chair of the IT department at AUIS, said, “Our faculty members at AUIS bring a lot of international expertise that the higher education sector in the country can, and must, benefit from. Dr. Matroud’s seminar is a very good step toward bridging the expertise gap between AUIS and other national institutions.”  Commenting on the quality of research and academic writing at AUIS, Dr. Matroud said: “I have found that at AUIS we are way ahead in training our students, especially, on the topic of writing and plagiarism.” Article by IT Department Communications Intern, Mr. Aran Kamaran.

Creative Coding and Computing: A Course that Surprises Students and Teachers

On October 4, 2017, Dr. Hemin Latif, assistant professor and chair of the Information Technology Department at AUIS, gave a workshop and guest lecture on Creative Coding and Computing to the participants of an Android bootcamp organized by Re: coded, a non-governmental organization in Erbil. The purpose of the workshop was to show how the Creative Coding and Computing course offered at AUIS differs from traditional programming courses in its design, delivery, and impact. Dr. Latif shared the reasons why introductory programming courses fail to give a strong education in coding and computing to a generic audience. He mentioned how this course resolves major problems of traditional programming courses and the problems that cause most students to drop out from these courses. He also discussed creativity as a concept that is required for everyone, and especially for programmers. At the end of the workshop, many participants were inspired by the benefits that the course could bring. Mr. Allan Saleh, a participant, said, “Dr. Hemin's speech reminded me of how creativity has a huge impact on what I want to achieve. Definitely a wake-up call to innovation.” Mr. Mustafa Alfaisal, another attendant, commented, “I hope every college includes this creative course in their curriculum.” Currently, AUIS is the only university in the region that offers this course and there is great student demand for it. Hopefully, more unique courses like Creative Coding and Computing will be offered in AUIS that could become supportive for learning and developing the ideas about, and beyond, the main regular courses and curriculum. Article by IT Department Communications Intern, Mr. Aran Kamaran
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