The School of Arts and Science in Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) is committed to exposing its students to the latest ICT information and communication technologies through organizing the ICT Showcase on an annual basis since 2006.

The 2009 ICT Showcase, held on 18 -19 November was on a bigger and better scale in terms of the duration (it is now a two day event compared to one day for last year), increase in the numbers of competitions from one competition last year to three for this year and introducing technopreneurship through business plan competition.

Dr Tan Chik Heok, Principal of TAR College in his welcome speech at the ICT Showcase said ” This event provides a very good platform for student and staff to learn about the latest ICT technologies from participating companies and also as a platform to foster closer collaborations and to strengthen our friendship with leading ICT organizations”

During the event, more than 2000 students thronged the College Hall at the Main campus in Kuala Lumpur to check out the 11 technology booths on Information technology Security, Games technology, Business Intelligence, Mobile Technology, Software Development and many more. The students were spoilt for choice as there were many types of ICT gizmos, pendrive, printers and related gadgets being offered at promotional rates by the sales booths located at the entrance to the exhibition event. Adding to the carnival like of the event were the entertaining dance shows by the students, Treasure Hunt & Games, lucky draws and selection for the Best Booth in the hall.

The highlight was the presentations of the finalists’ entries in the TARC Imagine Cup 2009/10 categories of Games design, Photography & Software design and announcements f the winning entries. The three competitions were the TARC Imagine Competition, TARC Networking Skills Competitions and the TARC Business idea Competition. The champion team in the software category, Team Beginner came up with an ICT solution to stop world hunger. Lim Shun Jie, representing his team members quipped: “It is our mission to help the poor and needy who faced hunger. Therefore, we made a research on the core problems in the agriculture industry and propose a system of ideas that can help reduce these problems.”

All these internal competitions are to prepare students later for the national level competitions, which are the Microsoft Imagine Cup, Cisco National Networking Skills Competition and also the upcoming MSC IHL Business Plan Competition where TAR College students will participate for the first time in the year 2010.

The ICT Showcase 2009 was a big success judging from the entries in the competitions, the large turnout of enthusiastic students and the strong support of the many industry partners. This reflects the good efforts of the College and staff in providing experiential and participative learning which is part of TAR College holistic and affordable education.