By Derek Chan Mun Hoe
Master of Computer Science
August 2008

Three years have passed since my Bachelor's Degree Convocation in August 2006. Yet, I have not forgotten those who have played a part in my destiny and who have made me who I am today. Six years ago, I decided to join UTAR because of it had the potential to groom its students into successful individuals. Looking back, the University lived up to my expectations in many ways. It even motivated me pursue my Masters degree! Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman has trained and provided me with all the relevant skills required to become a successful System Developer which I have always aspired to be.

When I was at UTAR, I took up the Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours) degree course. I was initially afraid that I would have a hard time communicating with people as I have zero fluency in Mandarin. I even resorted to asking the counselor whether I would be able to survive in UTAR's environment during the University's Open Day! After strong assurance from the counselor, I quickly filled in the registration form and started my life in UTAR. Of course, during my course of study, I was known as the "Banana man", but after a while, I got acclimated and even learned how to listen and speak simple Mandarin! Communication in English was not a problem. As a student at UTAR, the lecturers were excellent and were very helpful in getting us through our studies.I was exposed to not only the theory and concepts of system development but also to various hands-on technologies which were relevant during the day.

With UTAR's industrial collaborations with MNCs and NGOs such as Microsoft, Java and MDEC, we were presented with a sea of opportunities to attend talks and seminars from these industrial giants. I was also lucky enough to be presented the opportunity to be a Microsoft Student Ambassador and won the Best Student Ambassador Award 2005.

I also recall joining various competitions and organizing various events during my course of study. I realized that my faculty was always encouraging us to participate in such events and to go for glory! This has allowed me to win various awards, one of them being a trip to Hong Kong for HSBC's Young IT Entrepreneurs competition. This would not have been possible without the help and support of FICT's highly dedicated lecturers and staff who have been so supportive of me and my team. My life in UTAR was further enhanced as I made many good friends whom I am still in contact with now.

Today, I am a system developer working at iTrain, a Gold-Certified Microsoft IT based training company cum software house which is based in Kuala Lumpur. Some of our clients and partners include Microsoft, the Ministry of Health, MiRC and IASA just to name a few. What I do is to create web-based and mobile-based systems for our clients so that their businesses and workflows can be done online as well as through their mobile devices. Software developers are currently highly sought after and, with my achievements at UTAR, I have no worries about securing a job at all. Now that I am an Alumni of the University, I would like to wish the University well and hope that they will grow in stature and create more successful individuals in the future. Simply speaking... UTAR ROCKS!

Derek Chan Mun Hoe, a graduate from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman is a passionate system developer who is into everything which relates to technology and IT. Latest gadgets, video games and football are among some of his interests. Visit his blog at http://derekchan84.wordpress.com regarding all things tech.