First Megabyte IT Project Award winner named

Megabyte Ltd has presented B.Sc (Hons) ICT student Yanika Anne Cassar with an iPad 2 after selecting her final year project as the winner of the first edition of the Megabyte IT Project Award.

The award was recently launched by the company in association with the University of Malta.

Megabyte’s head of business development and marketing David Galea presented Ms Cassar with the tablet for her final year project entitled ‘Performance and Security Enhancement of a SCADA Radio Network’.

The project objective was to switch from a UHF Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to an internet-based system using third generation mobile telecommunications, allowing for improvement in performance and enhancement in security and requiring a Virtual Private Network to safeguard the transmission of data.

The initiative falls under Megabyte’s aspirations to encourage and nurture local talent in the ICT sphere. The award will be presented annually.

The University of Malta’s IT Faculty grades projects for their academic merits, which comprised 30 per cent of Megabyte’s scoring, with a further 30 per cent allotted for creativity and innovation and 40 per cent for commercial adaptability, emphasising the practicality and realistic application of project ideas.

Megabyte chief executive Rainer Van Beckum said: “These students are the future resources of all the IT companies in Malta and we feel it is only right to give something back. Megabyte would also like to encourage other local IT firms to also create their own awards for the educational institutes to further promote the industry as a whole and promoting the consideration of commercial application when project subject matter is being decided by students”.

Runners up for the 2011 Megabyte IT Project Award were Lara Agius, Raissa Marie Attard, Daniel Grech and Maverick Hili, all of whom deserve special mention for some very intriguing ideas and excellent quality of work, Megabyte said.