HCT-Dubai College IT students showcase learning by doing skills with project for Al Noor Special Needs Training Centre

A group of The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) Dubai Computer Information Science (CIS) students, Sutton International and Enterprise Systems have collaborated to install a wireless network at Al Noor Training Centre for Children with Special Needs. The Al Noor Training Centre has several rooms on two levels, with about 120 networked computers and only three wireless access points. To assist students and staff at the Centre, HCT-Dubai  CIS students engaged on an ambitious, hands-on student project to install a wireless network across the large Dubai campus.

This project required the involvement of industry stakeholders, as well as the injection of additional funds to cover the cost of materials. The goal of the project was to create a ‘Learning by Doing’ experience for the colleges’ CIS Networking students.

Not only did the project provide an  important community service by extending the wireless network to all areas of Al Noor School, it also gave the students at HCT a crucial real-world experience in their professional course. The training for the students on the new equipment (Huawei Access Points, Wireless Controllers and Switches and a state-of-the-art Adyton firewall)was provided by Enterprise Systems.

Isphana Al Khatib, Director of Al Noor Training Centre, said: “We are thrilled with this new development at our Training Centre. It was long overdue and thanks to the support of all the involved parties we now have a cutting edge wireless network at the institute. This is to allow our assistive Technology programme to be taken to the next level. A huge difference to what we can offer our students”

“We were happy to support the Al Noor Training Centre. It is imperative that our students learn how things work in the real world and the ‘learning by doing’ project gave them that opportunity. Crucially, it was also an important service to the community, it’s win-win,” Dr. Saoud Al Mulla, Director of HCT-Dubai Colleges, said.

 Initially, the HCT was going to donate their used networking equipment to the school but then Enterprise Systems, a partner of Al Noor Training Centre, heard of the project and became involved.  "The Al Noor Training Centre provides a wonderful community service.  When we learned of the wireless project, we wanted to use our expertise to give the school a state-of-the-art network and train the students on the latest equipment,"  stated Pouya Parsafar, Managing Director, Enterprise Systems. In addition to the wireless equipment, Enterprise Systems ensured the school had a next-generation Adyton firewall to make certain that the network was well secured.

"When we were approached by the HCT to assist with the cabling needed for the project, we were excited for the opportunity to be of service in the community and gave them our full cooperation," said Zia Ul Qadir, Managing Director, Sutton International.

The Al Noor Training Centre is a non-profit organisation that provides professional training and care to children with special needs from all backgrounds.  The training centre currently has 270 students and 250 staff.  Due to the care needed for each child, the student-teacher ratio is almost two to one.