AUK Student Participates in Applied Computing Conference

In alignment with its mission to provide students with intensive hands-on experience, the AUK recently introduced Computer Engineering Program has added the first student contribution to the world of undergraduate research. Fatma Qatan, an AUK Computer Engineering Junior student, presented her project "Performance Analysis of Lightweight Block Ciphers" at the Annual Conference on Undergraduate Research on Applied Computing (URC'12), in Dubai, UAE. Under the supervision of Dr. Issam Damaj, Program Lead of Computer Engineering, Qatan's research focused on providing a performance profile for several ciphers running within different computing environments. The proposed performance analysis classifies the investigated algorithms according to a combination of several heterogeneous characteristics. The developed benchmark compares the profile findings with respect to reference implementations by producing performance ratios for each measurement. Accordingly, an overall Indicator is determined by the statistical combination of all the calculated ratios. The overall Indicator provides a quantitative classification criterion and an effective tool for benchmarking. Lightweight ciphers are employed for security in environments where resources are limited.

The URC conference, hosted annually by the College of Information Technology at Zayed University, aims to promote undergraduate research activity at educational institutions in the MENA region. The conference provides a forum for students to present their work and interact with other young researchers, faculty, and industrial leaders. AUK was the only representative of Kuwait in the conference this year. Other participants came from different countries including Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Iraq, Palestine, Bahrain, and Jordan.

Dr. Damaj commented on his student's achievement saying, "I'm delighted with Fatma's achievement. Fatma started her research under my supervision in the summer of her Junior year; which is two years ahead of her major's capstone. She has shown exemplary dedication and determination to complete the presented project. In addition, Fatma has put great effort in her development, measurements, and facts checking. I'm very pleased to see one of our students demonstrating lifelong learning and critical thinking skills, besides, showing a good understanding of contemporary scientific issues. I will not be surprised to see Fatma presenting an extension of her work in an international event. We will remember for a long time that Fatma was the first Computer Engineering student that made such a contribution."

The Computer Engineering (CE) program at AUK formally started in Fall 2008, with a focus on providing students with intensive high-quality hands-on experiences. Through this program, AUK aims to fulfill the requirement in Kuwait for a superior quality, technologically advanced and well-rounded educational program that can compete with high quality North American universities. The Computer Engineering program is centered on the key principles of liberal arts and science while providing students with exposure and access to contemporary technology and applications.

AUK is the only private university in Kuwait that offers an independent Computer Engineering undergraduate degree, modeled on unique pillars providing a well-rounded and wholesome approach to education.

Released by the Office of Public Affairs on the 3rd May 2012