NIZWA: It is ten to eight in the morning. Mohammed Tariq sits in the corner of a computer lab at the left wing of the Information Technology and the Business building in University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS) Nizwa.
Before the students arrive for the morning lecture, he finalises the next set of attack sequences and security misconfigurations for the Ethical Hacking course. However, it is not just any lab. The state-of-the-art cyber-security lab inaugurated in 2021 after a generous sponsorship by Daleel Petroleum comprises 31 high-specification machines that host not one but three operating systems (each). The independent lab provides students with an environment for conducting potentially risky experiments, like the ones Mohammed Tariq is preparing for.
The lab is also equipped with high-performance servers, a plethora of wireless networking, and security appliances for teaching more than 20 networking and information security courses.
"The rising cybersecurity threats has resulted in a massive surge in demand for technically skilled information security professionals," says Tariq. "Given the importance of cybersecurity, UTAS offers a hands-on, highly specialised program that aims to enhance the knowledge and skills of graduates in this field."
Ten metres away from the cyber-security lab sits the Course Project lab. Besides being a laboratory for students doing their final year project, it hosts some high-tech gear supporting the department's virtual reality (VR) research. Being in this lab gives you a strong sense of place that values ideas and scientific debate. The Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation funds the VR research at UTAS-Nizwa. A project led by Rolando Lontok investigates the impact of experiential learning and immersive multimedia in higher education.
"Understanding that virtual reality (VR) has been one of the most disruptive technologies during the past several years. It just fits the department to start exploring this area and look for ways to implement it in different aspects of the unit's operations," says Dr Lontok. "As stakeholders' interest grows, embracing this technology increases. The department is now trying to expand the VR Laboratory by finding additional funding for VR gadgets such as VR headsets, backpack PCs and leap motion trackers."
"One of the objectives at the IT department is to achieve and sustain excellence, not only in teaching and learning methodologies, but also producing readily employable graduates," said Duhai Alshukaili, the head of the IT department. "We aim to help students improve their hard and soft skills, build the right attitude towards scientific inquiry and help them become contributors to the growth of the Sultanate."
UTAS-Nizwa is taking several initiatives to equip the labs with state-of-the-art facilities to help our students get a real-hands-on study. One of the plans is to provide a data science and artificial intelligence lab. By achieving this, they will be meeting the goals of academic programmes and enabling them to serve the community better.
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