Mdx Dubai participates in Cisco Hackathlon

On the occasion of IoT (Internet of Things) World Forum , held on December 04-05, 2015 a team of 6 Middlesex University Dubai students took part in the IoT hackathon organized by Cisco at its office in Dubai. The event held over 2 days (4^th and 5^th of December) provided students an opportunity to explore a range of technologies in the emerging field of IoT, such as IOx, Data in Motion (DMo), Enterprise IoT (eIOT), Cisco Mobility eXperience APIs (CMX), Cisco Instant Connect. The team comprising of Allen Raju Mathew, Amar Rajoo Suchak, Gerald Ochaya, Leanne D’Souza, Tarun Gupta and Zarif Bin Mohd Yahya pitched in with an idea dubbed as ‘Cold Store’. The idea envisaged the use of sensors to remotely monitor and log temperature and other related information of food storage environments, such as refrigerators at supermarkets or refrigerated trucks.

As the competition was open to both students and working professionals, it provided the team a rare opportunity to experience a real world environment of competition and collaboration whilst working with cutting edge technology. Even though the team did not end up being among the top 3 winning teams, all the members cherished the experience as a wonderful learning opportunity. Mr.Santhosh Menon, lecturer with Department of Computer Engineering and Informatics (DCEI), mentored the team and was instrumental in getting together a team that comprised of students from all 3 years of the study programs ranging from Engineering to IT and IS. Mr. Menon who attended the event over the two days to support the team, commented “this was an excellent opportunity for students to learn about developing a solution using the latest technology under time pressure but more importantly an opportunity for them to take home a real important message, which is the role of soft skills. Students learnt the importance of brainstorming ideas, the ability to communicate or present these ideas in the right manner and to work as a team. These are skills that are critical alongside the knowledge of technology to succeed in the real world”.

All student completions under the department of Computer Engineering and Informatics(DCEI) are facilitated and mentored by Mr. Jaspreet Sethi.