Sunday, June 26, 2011 , by
Owen Casha
ICT solutions to real challenges
Artificial intelligence is one of the topics researched at the University’s ICT Faculty.
An intelligent campus parking system, the implementation of a car driver fatigue monitoring system and a system to prevent identity theft in an ecommerce environment are just some of the projects being demonstrated at this year’s edition of the University’s ICT Final Year Projects
Exhibition.
A number of projects being exhibited this year demonstrate direct applicability and offer concrete solutions to the problems and challenges
encountered in the ICT and related markets.
The exhibition will be open to the public on July 7 from 5 to 8 p.m. It will be housed in both the Computing Building and the Engineering Building,
which are accessible from Car Park 2, between the campus main library and the Faculty of Science Building.
During the opening ceremony, which will be presided over by Communications Minister Austin Gatt, students who achieved the various stringent
criteria of excellence during the past academic year will be awarded and recognised by being included in the Dean’s List Award Ceremony.
When the Faculty of ICT was established four years ago, the University joined other international universities in recognising and addressing the
development requirements of modern technological solutions and infrastructure.
The five respective departments within the faculty are responsible for guiding students in ICT-related fields, spanning from computer and
communications engineering, integrated circuit design to computer science, artificial intelligence and information systems.
All these areas have experienced major growth in recent years, particularly with the emergence of such areas as game development, mobile
applications and services, and embedded systems development.
Malta has also seen investment in these areas with some companies even starting, or planning to start, their own research and design activities
locally.
In addition, various companies are also promoting and investing in research and development, through the faculty, by offering sponsorships or
support to motivate and assist students who seek to further their studies at postgraduate levels.
Throughout the academic year the faculty frequently hosts and organises seminars and talks, as well as conferences, in collaboration with other
institutions.
The faculty is constantly changing and adapting to the dynamic needs of the ICT sector. Restructuring exercises together with the formulation
and launching of new degree programmes are signs of a healthy environment among both students and staff, as well as collaboration with
stakeholders in industry.
In the next academic year the Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics will be launching its own undergraduate three-year degree
course in microelectronics and embedded systems, which can be followed by a two-year masters taught course in the field of microelectronics
and microsystems.
This stemmed from the growth of the local and global integrated circuit industry together with the propagation of embedded systems, which have
become an integral part of our lives over the past decade.
Apart from the academic aspect, the Faculty of ICT is also significantly involved in numerous European and international projects, local
consortiums and initiatives, as well as internal university-funded research initiatives.
Dr Casha is a lecturer at the University's Faculty of Information and Communication Technology.