DTU students of IT and Electrical Engineering gain practical work experience at the university itself, bring back major awards from contests and develop unique and useful products for the community. They study online with simulators and specialized software and the university has completed a standardized curriculum documentation to guarantee the quality of an online education.
During the pandemic, DTU Technology & Engineering students worked online using myDTU, Sakai and Zoom. These systems allow signing up for subjects; paying tuition; class and exam scheduling; mentoring; creating and managing classes, study materials, tests and grading, meeting all the normal requirements. DTU has strongly invested in its portal, e-learning systems and P2P video conferencing for uninterrupted classes, without delays or restarts. Uploading and downloading documentation is also very straightforward.
DTU Technology & Engineering students sit examsand conveniently defend their projects online
The DTU Technology & Engineeringprogram includes a variety of majors, with a focus on technical experimentation, and lecturers apply the appropriate software for their online classes, using MS PowerPoint, Excel and ConceptDraw to convey specific informationin a coherent and easy-to-understand manner. Students employ manytypes of design and simulation software, such as Matlab, Simulink, Altium Designer and Proteus for online practice in electricity, electronics and telecommunications, or use automation practice software,such as TIA Portal +, Wincc Scada, Factory IO, Automation Studio and Universal Robot. At the same time, CDIO projects use the Thonny IDE software to develop programs for Raspberry mini-computers and students can perform practical experiments online with real-time devices to apply the theory they alreadylearned.
Final-year studentsdefend their theses and projects online using Zoom P2P video conferencingindividually or in groups, depending on the format and the thesis or project designated by their supervisor. Presentation and speaking skills can be thoroughly evaluated, together with their methods of promoting their productsonline to the jury. Although all lecturers and students now work online, the evaluation of results and actual products is exactly in strict accordance as in the previous face-to-face offline defenses.
IT students experiment with top-of-the-line computers
Wi-fi coverage is available throughout the university, IT students can usethe latest and most configurable computers and Network Engineering and Security students can broaden their network management and cyberwarfare skills in multifunctional Open Labs data centers, developed at a cost of $3m.
Highly configurable computers provide optimal support for IT students
Difference in IT skills at home and away
While computer scienceresearchers experiment with attack and defense models in cyberspace on in-house systems at DTU, they can also compete in a variety of local and international contests, and each competition tests different skills. The exciting DTU Innovation Cup focuses on game development and at the Hackathon App Studio contestants create mobile applications to win big prizes. Microsoft Vietnam and other companies, big and small, sponsor the contests to enhance the professionalism of the students and have recognized them for their unique products and beautiful graphics, which are then made available atthe mobile app store after the contest.
“The Hackathon App Studio contest held by the Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) is really different,” explained Do Minh Vuong, a DTU student who won first prize with a digital technology app. “We can unleash our design creativity to portray our understanding of Vietnam and its people. Competitors effectively combine the theory and practice like they did in the classroom and the contest tests our skills at developing unique mobile apps.”
DTU IT students reach for the limit
DTU IT students also take part in contests organized by the Ministry of Education & Training, the Vietnam Information Security Association, Viettel, BKAV, VNPT and VN Security and bring home major prizes. They also absorb very specialized information from experts in various fields.
IT students win prizes at important contests
International contests have helped increase DTU prestige in the IT community:
- The ISITDTU team has come first or second in Vietnam for several years and finished in the top ten, 8thout of 65 teams, in the finals of the 2019 Insomni’hack contest held in Switzerland
- A first prize in the 2019 Byte Bandits CTF held by the National Institute of Science & Technology of India
- A first at the ASEAN Student Information Security Contest of Central Vietnam and third at the national level, which raised the DTU Information Security ranking to 44thin the 2019 CTFTime list. CTFTime is the leading evaluator of information security institutions worldwide
- A first prize in the 2014 computerized fireworks display contest
- Many first, second and third prizes at Vietnamese Student Informatics Olympiads and the Asian ICPC
The DTU mechanics workshops are designed to exactly replicate the environment in electrical engineering companies, industrial robotics laboratories, high-end telecommunications, microcontrollers and biomedical electronics companies. Interdisciplinary training, integrating IT and Electrical Engineering, enables students to develop unique and practical products, not found elsewhere.
Electrical Engineering students in state-of-the-art labs
Three smart DTU robots with community requirements
DTU promotes the development of smart robots and teaches Artificial Intelligence integrated with a basic knowledge of electrical engineering, including:
1. iRobt, a bilingual Vietnamese and English airport passenger guidance robot, being tested at Danang International Airport to provide information on request through a friendly user interface
2. A robot that helps pedestrians cross the street, equipped with a siren to warn traffic
3. Robotic arms developed for disabled high school students in Quang Nam province
iRobt, (top left), robotic arms (top right) and the pedestrian crossing robot
Highly feasible Made-in-DTU products put to everyday use
DTU lecturers and students steadily realize their ideas with the machinery in the laboratories and workshops bringing happiness to the lives of ordinary people:
Products put to everyday use
- Electric wheelchairs designed for the disabled in Danang
- Smart condom dispensers, installed in several locations around Danang to prevent unwanted pregnancies and the transmission of STDs
- A weld-checking robot for use in shipbuilding
- The SmartBed, which gives warning of strokes and won second prize in the “Seeding Your Idea” technology startup contest and a third at the 2020 National Startup contest
Thu Ngan presents the SmartBed project
The 2020 National Startup Contest
“We all want to design a highly feasible product to market during our studies at DTU,” Thu Ngan explained. “The university has always supported and encouraged us and provided the ideal infrastructure. Our project won a major prize in the 2020 National Startup contest, and we are now eligible to compete in the Entrepreneurship World Cup, where we can meet international investors, which is important to us.”
(Media Center)