EMC Proven Professional Spotlight - Haitham A. El-Ghareeb

Certifications Achieved:

• EMCISA (Information Storage and Management v. 2)

Education: BSc, MSc, PhD., Information Systems

Area of Expertise: Distributed Systems, Information Sciences

Employer: Faculty of Computers and Information Sciences, Mansoura University

Function/Role: Assistant Professor

Location: Mansoura, Egypt

Social Profiles:

• • ECN: Haitham A. El-Ghareeb
  • Twitter: @helghareeb
  • LinkedIn: Haitham El-Ghareeb
  • Blog/Website: http://www.helghareeb.me/

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Give us a brief overview of your Knowledge Sharing paper.

Adopting “Third Platform” by utilizing Social, Mobile, Analytics, and Cloud (SMAC) for e-Learning ecosystems helped Learning Management Systems (LMS) turn into Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Remote and Virtual Labs have become available also through third platform. This is just the beginning.  Universities and learning institutions that ignore the importance of third platform in the e-Learning ecosystem will face tough sustainability challenges. Third platform will certainly introduce new aspects to the e-Learning ecosystem, by exploring new opportunities, and presenting significant challenges to the learning institutions at the same time. The article presents a personal experience that highlights some of the research and development activities of building an online virtual lab for computer science courses.

What was your chief motivation for writing on this topic? Is it related to your work, or a personal interest?

Being part of a professional community like EMC Proven Professional Community Network (ECN) is spiritual enough. Last year I closely followed ECN and was fascinated by the knowledge sharing concept. This has encouraged me to consider myself part of the community and motivated me to share my knowledge. My Knowledge Sharing paper is a by-product of my technological research and development adventures. Being a staff member in the Faculty of Computers and Information Sciences, Mansoura University, Egypt, allows me design, develop, implement, and deploy different e-Learning systems that cope with the modern technologies. I believe the Third Platform era we find ourselves in has changed everything around us. I have witnessed this change in the e-Learning field and believe that others interested in e-Learning will be interested in reading my Knowledge Sharing article.

Did you write this paper with the idea of providing material for others to implement your ideas? How do you see other people using the knowledge that you’ve shared?

I certainly intended for myself and others to implement the ideas presented in the article. People can make use of the shared information in different ways. Readers with a technical background will be interested in the details and the features of the presented LMS, technical specifications, and implementation methodologies suggestions available there. As well, readers having an educational background will be interested in the e-Learning concepts and how they are related to Third Platform, which is described in the article. Those with a managerial background will be interested in the e-Learning ecosystem concept, especially that the e-learning ecosystem concept is a relatively new concept in this era. /p>

Describe the process of writing the paper. What was most challenging? What did you enjoy the most?

I followed the scientific writing model in writing this Knowledge Sharing paper. I mixed between the literature review, and journal papers and practical reports. I utilized literature review methodology in parts that present ideas, concepts. I used journal papers and practical report methodology in the other parts that focused on technical details and implementation specifications.

From following the EMC Proven Professional community, and the past year’s competition, I noticed the high quality of the previously shared articles, and the beauty of sharing updated and novel ideas. The most challenging part in writing the paper was defining the idea on which the Knowledge Sharing paper was based. Defining the real outcome for those who will invest the time to read my paper is important. Furthermore, I found presenting the ideas in a way that would keep the reader interested and involved throughout was another major challenge. Actually, the whole process was very challenging. I was so happy to have my article abstract accepted, followed later by the news that my Knowledge Sharing paper would be published.

The most enjoyable part to me was the knowledge I acquired during the writing process. It was priceless to go through cooperative thoughts and competitive ideas to formalize this Knowledge Sharing paper.

Briefly describe your background. How did you first become interested in IT? What training did you undertake to start your career?

How I became interested in IT is a life story to me. When I first joined university, I was a medical school student. I spent two years studying at Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt. However, every time I used my computer, I would wonder: How does this box work? Whenever I connected to the Internet, I’d ask myself: Where are these web pages coming from? Where is my information? What is the language used between computers? After two years of studying medicine, I decided to pursue what I have always enjoyed and change courses to Computer Science and Information Systems. It was not an easy decision, but all the support and encouragement I got from my family and friends helped me through that tough situation. I graduated from the Faculty of Computers and Information Sciences with high ranks, and I immediately started my academic career. When you tend to know how things work, and try to innovate new ideas and solutions, you certainly will find the university is the right place for you.

Describe your current position/role. What most interests you about your work?

I am an assistant professor at the Faculty of Computers and Information Sciences in Mansoura University, Egypt. To me, any professor has three roles that must be balanced to achieve a successful career. The three roles are: Teaching, Building Curriculum, and carrying out resourceful Research. The most interesting part for me is research. I love tackling new challenges, understanding how things work, and trying to present innovative solutions for new and daily challenges.

Give us briefly some highlights of your research.

My Master thesis was entitled “Evaluation of Service Oriented Architecture in e-Learning”. It discusses closely the challenges, limitations, and opportunities in utilizing Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) in integrating different e-Learning and University Management Information Systems' Components; while maintaining adequate pedagogical effects and capabilities of e-Learning systems. This thesis has been published as an international book under the same title. My PhD. dissertation was entitled "Optimizing Service Oriented Architecture to Support e-Learning with Adaptive and Intelligent Features". In this research, I address new ways of involving Adaptivity and Intelligence to present more personalized e-Learning environment and e-Learning processes to students while maintaining optimized system performance is addressed. My PhD. dissertation was highly recognized and has been published as an international book under the title, “Optimizing Service Oriented Architecture to Support e-Learning”. Lately, I have authored the book, “Enterprise Integration: Opportunities and Challenges”. Currently, I am working on Post Doctor Research in topics related to Software Engineering, Distributed Systems, and Cloud Computing.

You are a faculty member in our EMC Academic Alliance program. What has your experience with the EAA been like?

EAA is one of the most challenging and enjoyable experiences I have faced lately. I have shared my experience with the EAA in two blog posts on the EMC Community Network (ECN):

• https://community.emc.com/people/helghareeb/blog/2014/10/29/academic-alliance--part-one
• https://community.emc.com/people/helghareeb/blog/2015/03/09/emc-academic-alliance

Briefly, I find the EAA experience amazing thanks to the EAA colleagues who are very cooperative, and willing to do their best to make EAA a successful program. EMC presents useful information, knowledge, and developed labs. Moreover, technical experts are available to help the universities present the highest educational quality. EAA helps me with my university roles in teaching and building curriculum. EAA presents world-class courses, with updated and accurate information, that are supported with well-developed technical labs.

What projects/technology are you planning on implementing in the future? Are you planning on more training or learning a new skill?

I am planning on adopting Big Data Analytics in my educational institution, pass the knowledge to my university students, and apply them in my research. EMC provides a solid foundation in Big Data Analytics through Data Lakes. I have successfully attended EMC’s “Data Lakes for Big Data” course, enabling me to gain new information. I highly encourage everyone to attend this Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

Name a major achievement in your career or any awards that you have won. What accomplishments are you most proud of?

I have received two awards this year related to my e-Learning and EAA activities. The first award I got for providing one of my curriculums as an online version for the Computer Science Department, College of Sciences, Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia. The second award was related to my activities at establishing Academic Alliances in the same department. EAA is a major player in such academic alliances that widely benefit students. Being part of an ongoing benefit to students is wonderful, and something I am really proud of.

Are you active in the EMC Proven Professional Community? If so, what part of the Community do you most enjoy?

The most interesting thing about EMC Proven Professional Community is the activity rate that keeps members involved throughout the year. I consider myself an active member, where I enjoy sharing blog content about my personal experience. Furthermore, I find it very useful to connect with others and gain knowledge by following their interesting topics.

Briefly, how has the EMC Proven Professional Program benefited you personally and professionally?

EMC Proven Professional Program has benefited me professionally by connecting me to the technologies I love and keeping me updated with new technologies. I find it amazing to connect to the experts behind those technologies, and to the outstanding EMC affiliates. It is extraordinary to get the answers from the experts behind the technology themselves.

What advice would you give to someone entering the EMC Proven Professional Program?

I would encourage new members to be very active, to share without fear, to ask without hesitation, to enjoy the competitions, and to learn as much as possible because EMC Proven Professional community is really a wonderful community to be part of.

Read other EMC Proven Professional Spotlight interviews in the Proven Professional Spotlight Archive