TAR University College Claims Fourth Championship Title in Cisco Netriders Competition

Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (‘TAR University College’) via its Faculty of Applied Sciences and Computing (‘FASC’) registers yet another record breaking feat when its student, Lian Wen Jie, emerged as Champion in the Cisco Networking Academy Netriders Competition 2015 held on 1 October 2015, whilst another student, Wong Guan Yuan, took the 2^nd Runner-Up position. The achievement in this year’s competition marks the fourth successful win by TAR University College students. 

The national level competition which was organised by Cisco Networking Academy Malaysia and Multimedia Development Corporation (‘MDeC’) provides a great opportunity for students in Asia Pacific and Japan to showcase their networking abilities, learn valuable new IT skills, and gain visibility among talent recruiters in the growing ICT and networking field.

The competition attracted 57 participants for three categories namely Cisco Certified Network Associate (‘CCNA’), Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (‘CCENT’) and IT Essentials. These participants hailed from 11 private and public local educational institutions. A total of 5 student participants represented TAR University College in the CCNA category competing against 23 other participants in the said category. The students were Lian Wen Jie, Wong Guan Yuan, Chin Jun Wei, Tan Cha Yong and Lee Yik Soon with Wen Jie and Guan Yuan successfully clinched the champion and 2^nd Runner-up prizes respectively.

Both the Champion and 2^nd Runner-Up winners were over the moon with their win. Wen Jie felt very proud to have won the top prize that he had been aiming at for years. “This competition indeed took me many hours of hard work since March last year, to ensure that I was well-prepared for it. My effort and dedication to win shifted to a new level after I learnt that my seniors won the Champion prize in 2014.”

Wen Jie, a Bachelor of Information Technology (Hons) in Information Security student at TAR University College, spoke at length about his preparation for the competition. “I did a lot of preparation before the competition, such as studying lab manuals for simulated topologies, studying ICND1&2 e-books, as well as, CCNA Exploration slides given by lecturers. Besides that, I enrolled myself on several free online courses available on NetAcad.com. I visited a lot of networking forums to study various forms of solutions and downloaded the Packet Tracer Activity files to study how to troubleshoot a problem.” He was also grateful to his mentors, Ms Chok Len Mooi, Ms Ting Hie Choon and Ms Jessie Teoh Poh Lin for teaching and guiding him in lectures and tutorials and explaining in great detail for questions that he had. 

In terms of TAR University College providing the right syllabus and facilities, Wen Jie was extremely positive about it. “Through TAR University College’s collaboration with Cisco, students can access and gain knowledge on the networking field by enrolling online in the Networking Academy which will allow students to study online courses covering areas beyond the scope of CCNA Routing & Switching”, said Wen Jie. “Moreover, TAR University College houses state-of-the-art equipment in its Cisco computer laboratories to give us practical hands-on experience,” he added. 

As for Guan Yuan, the 2^nd Runner-Up winner, he was equally excited about his win. “I feel happy and grateful when I was announced as the 2^nd Runner-Up winner for the competition. All my hard work preparing for the competition has paid off. This competition really motivated us to learn and find out more about the field of computer networking.” 

Just like Wen Jie, Guan Yuan only has praises for the computing facilities at TAR University College. “TAR University College has provided us with a well-equipped computer lab that includes routers, switches and firewall. This is so that we have hands-on experience on real equipment. Theory alone is never sufficient. With all the equipment, one can learn how to troubleshoot when there is a problem.” 

Wen Jie represented Malaysia at Asia Pacific Level for the finals at the Cisco Office on 15 October 2015, competing with 19 other participants; one contestant each from 14 countries and 5 more with the next highest score, regardless of country. He eventually emerged as one of the top five at Asia Pacific Level. 

Datuk Dr Tan Chik Heok, President of TAR University College, was pleased with Wen Jie and Guan Yuan’s achievements and extolled the lecturers’ effort in guiding and teaching the students. He remarked: “This win truly signifies the enormous effort on the part of the students in producing excellent results, as well as, the lecturers in bringing out the best in them. Being Champion for the fourth time, credit should be given to the dedicated and qualified teaching faculty in TAR University College as well as the excellent quality of our ICT programmes which prepare our students to not only win in competitions but also equip them with strong technical knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the ICT sector”.