Ahmadz Village

By: Bruno Silva
[Hello from the World series]

My name is Bruno Silva. I am from Portugal and I was glad to accept the Ahmad’s challenge to talk about my country and my experience as a college student and Microsoft Student Partner. I’m 21 years old, I live in Sintra (you can see a local monument in the photograph) near Lisbon (the Portuguese capital city).

I’m in the first year of the Information Systems and Computer Engineering Master. I am passionate about technology, and love to watch TV series (doing weekend marathons where I see an entire season! ). I like summer holidays to put my reading up-to-date and almost forget that college exists. Because a student’s life isn’t easy (or cheap) I’m also a part-time PHP programmer.

About Portugal

Portugal is a nice country to live. Tourism is a rising industry and there is people coming from all over the world to visit places like Algarve, Madeira and Azores well known about the landscape and night life.

Our culture is pretty well known all over the world. Names like Amália and Mariza made our traditional music genre Fado very popular. Our football players have a good reputation too, but I must admit that I am not a football fan. Shame on me :-)

Portugal has played a major role in the European context during the last semester of 2007. Portugal hold the Presidency of the European Union Council, during which was signed The Treaty of Lisbon, which is a huge step in the European project. Some Microsoft Student Partners helped the meetings related to the presidency with IT-infrastructure and Help Desk tasks :-)

About my University (and others)

I study in Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). The IST, created in 1911, is one of the largest and most reputed schools of engineering, science and technology in Portugal. With two conveniently located campuses, (Alameda in Lisbon and Taguspark in Oeiras), IST consists of ten Departments and one Autonomous Section that are responsible for teaching Undergraduate and Postgraduate programs.

I think that life in my university is pretty similar with life in other universities. We work a lot! But we manage to have some spare time too. There are a lot of gamers that love to take a break from work to play (Pro Evolution Soccer is a hit). We in technology universities are not geeks disconnected from the world. Cultural and sportive activities are part of our interests. As you can see in the photograph, people love to join and spend time together.

Even the academic curricular plan reflects this concern. I have 4 courses called Personal Portfolio (I,II,III and IV) where students are supposed to do extra-curricular activities that improve their soft skills and think seriously about the learning by writing a report. (e.g. of activities: volunteering, internships, academic activities, Erasmus, etc.)

About Microsoft Student Partners

I’m a Microsoft Student Partner since October of last year. In Portugal a Microsoft Student Partner stays at most for 2 years in the programme, but the majority of us stays just for one year. This way more Portuguese college students get a chance to learn and improve them in this Microsoft’s initiative.

In Portugal MSP’s activities are not only technical events organized for students in different colleges, we are also active in social causes. This Christmas, the program, for initiative of a fellow MSP gave an X-Box 360 to an orphanage, as a starting step of the interaction with this institution, which next step will be to give a chance for these children to learn how to use a computer (including some basic tools) and the Internet with us. We hope to give them some computers, to give continuity to this initiative.

Take a look at a automated translated page of my blog where I talk about some MSP-related activities. (I usually blog in English, but Portuguese related stuff I write in Portuguese, now I regret it ) You can also take a look at some senior MSP’s blogs of my country like Gonçalo Chaves.

Bruno Silva
Portuguese Microsoft Student Partner
http://www.brunosilva.net

 
By: Claude-Olivier Fontaine
[Hello from the World series]

First of all, I would like to thank my friend Ahmad Fathy who offered me the opportunity to write this article upon his blog, as a french Microsoft Student Partner

My name is Claude-Olivier Fontaine, I am graduated in Maths (3 years) and Information Systems (1 year), and I am currently following a Master’s in Management and Information Technologies (1 year) at the IAE Aix-en-Provence Graduate School of Management. Three years ago, I became Microsoft Student Partners both for my involvement around the .NET development platform and for my project of club in my former university.

Before, towards the age of thirteen years old, my only dream was to make a successful career of professional sportsman (cycling). But some problems of health stopped my evolution and I discovered about early 2001, by the merest chance, the world of the computers. I started to code in C, C++, Java, and I discovered the C# / NET Framework 1.1 about 2002. I carried out a lot of personal .NET projects (Windows Forms and ASP .NET), relatively simple but really formative, between 2002 and 2004. Then, I began to explore the wide field of the information systems architectures (Enterprise Architecture, SOA) with its business aspects (Business Processes, BPM, business needs analysis). These subjects are extremely fascinating since they give you an interesting general view on the computer world and you learn every day a lot of things.

Although I no longer develop a lot, the C# remains my favorite language because of its pleasant aspect and of the highly integrated applications with the Microsoft platform (.NET 3.5, SQL Server 2008, Office 2007, etc.) that it allows to build.

France and Information Technologies

Still today, thanks to our excellent training courses, the french developers stay undoubtless among the best world software developers. The french university training in computing are strongly focalized on the following topics during the first three / four years : maths, algorithms, low-level programming languages, computing formal theories and other scientific theories. With such a program, the students have the possibility to acquire a very good fundamental technical skills. The last university year is dedicated to some technological projects (most of the time over Java EE, Web development, sometimes over .NET, etc.) and to very few business-oriented topics such as management, project management, communication, computer and business.

Despite our excellence in the fundamental skills, we suffer from important weaknesses in the new information technologies and business field. We have the potential but our universities and our schools (in France, we make the difference between a school and a university) are very anchored on their Cartesian values. I mean that most of computing curricula propose a lot of advanced mathematics subjects and theoretical concepts whereas the business-oriented subjects are almost non-existent or insufficient. In other words, the theory we learn is rarely linked to an industrial or technological application. Our computing curricula must keep their qualities but they should be able to adapt to the new market needs.

The consequences of this vision are far from to be negligible on the french market.

The direct consequence, it is worldwide trend, is the IT skills shortage. It concerns not only the technological skills but also the communication skills, the interpersonal skills (ability to work with people who don’t share the same experience), the ability to apply technical skills to business challenges and the ability to understand the customers’ needs.

A more local consequence is the importance that the french companies attach to the diploma. Firstly, as regards the young graduates, the first salary will depend on the diploma (of course, with a same given level) and not on the abilities. Secondly, the hierarchical progression of the experimented IT professionals will depend on the diploma’s level and not on the experience. I have the perfect example of a colleague who is currently following a Master’s degree because he would like to evolve. What is his profile ? He just has a graduate (four years after high school) of information systems, more than 15 years of significant experiences (with 10 years on the international stage) in a famous softwares company and he has very good management skills. This kind of situation is more than ridiculous but I think the things will change necessarily in the next years.

The french Microsoft Student Partners program

I would like to conclude this article simply by thanking some actors without whom I would not know Ahmad, Fabrizio, Omar and my other MSP colleagues crazy about new technologies :-) So, thank you to Jennifer Perret, the global manager of the MSP program. Thank you to Ségolène Hémar, our french Manager, for her dynamism and her great work !

@Omar : many congratulations for your presentation !

(The Eiffel Tower in Paris)

By: Lapiello Fabrizio
[Hello from the World series]

As agreements with Ahmad write this post to write something from Italy.I am a student of the second year of computer science engineering, I am enrolled at the University of Study of Naples "Federico II". I became Microsoft Student Partners during my first year of university and I must say that was a fantastic experience, which I met fabulous people like Ahmad. I met Ahmad this year thanks to the web site of Student Partners, Ahmad, Thanks you for giving me the opportunity to write on your blog!In 2006 I became msp and  I became member of Academic Club, an Italian university forum composed by researchers, PhDs and students with a common passion for computer science and an aim to share and increase their know-how.Reading the post  of my colleague from Jordan, I can say that I believe that the university was easier, but then I found myself in front exams such as mathematics and calculus which are very difficult.I am a developer, I prefer programming with .Net languages,I love C# and VB.net, on my web site you can found my profile and my best projects.

Something of story of my University…

The foundation of the University of Naples, that since 1987 bears the name of its first promoter, was made public by a generalis lictera issued by Frederick II Hohenstaufen, King of Sicily and Head of the Roman Empire, a document written in Siracusa on June 5th 1224. Frederick II wished to subtract the education of the administrative personnel of his own state to the monopoly de factu of the northern Universities, especially that in Bologna, since these were virtually autonomous or subject to the Pope’s influence. He is thus one of the first sovereigns to create a state university (in fact the first to be successful in doing this), a university whose teachers he could select and whose regulations he could deliberate on, in contrast with the totally free and spontaneous process, initiated by both teachers and students, which had presided to the formation of the first European universities in the previous decades. This contrast is further shown by the fact that the Emperor forbadehis subjects to go and study anywhere else, and reserved to himself the right to confer academic titles.[Read more]

Thank you Ahmad for inviting me to contribute to your blog!

Best Regards

Microsoft Student Partners from Italy
Student of Computer Science Engineering
Web:  http://www.fabriziolapiello.it
E-Mail: fabrizio.lapiello@student-partners.com
IM: fabrizio.lapiello@hotmail.it

(Colosseum Picture -Rome, Italy)

By: Muhanad Omar
[Hello from the World! series]

Well, I promised Ahmad I’d write this post over 3 weeks ago, and even though I’m extremely late, I’ve always believed in the saying "Better late than never!"

So let me introduce myself. My name is Muhanad Omar, and from the title of this post you should’ve probably already figured out that I’m from Jordan I had the great pleasure of meeting Ahmad through the Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) Program, and even though I’m considered as a "MSP Alumni" since I graduated from university earlier this year, I still remember my student life like it was just yesterday.

Like many MSP’s, I studied Computer Science in university. It was my first choice when I enrolled into university, but to my surprise, it was a lot harder than I expected

I started programming at the age of 11, so the programming courses weren’t that hard. What was hard were the MATH courses! Calculus I, Calculus II, Discrete Math, and Statistics. I HATED those clasess, and I’m pretty sure that every student that studied Computer Science with me hated them as well!

Other than those difficult courses that gave every IT student nightmares, student life in Jordan is pretty laid back and fun. During my first year, Microsoft launched the ".NET Club" initiative within selected universities in Jordan, and through the .NET Club, students like myself were able to excel at what they loved to do– be geeks! LOL. We formed a community that loved to talk about Microsoft technologies, and that by itself made the life of any IT student that much more fun.

In 2005, Microsoft launched an event called "Microsoft Academic Day" aka M@D. This event was probably the best thing Microsoft did for students within the country. Basically, it was an event for Students by Students. I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the students to present in 2006. Not only did they give me the chance to present, but they gave me the chance to present Windows Vista for the first time in Jordan It was my first time to ever speak in front of a crowd of people (300 to be exact) so you can imagine how nervous I was, but it was definitely an experience of a life time!

So back to the subject– Student Life in Jordan. Well, there’s not much to say other than it’s a whole lot of fun! Thanks to the efforts of our great universities and Microsoft’s envolvement in academic relations, going to university in the morning is something to look forward to! Add the MSP Program into the mix, and every IT/Computer Engineering student has a reason to be passionate about technology.

Well, that’s all for me folks. Thank you Ahmad for inviting me to contribute to your blog. I’ll be glad to do it again anytime

Best Regards,

Muhanad Omar

(Petra, ancient city in Jordan)