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Recent Resume

Irfan Ahmed Ilyas

Management Information Systems Department,

1668 King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

Dhahran – 31261, Saudi Arabia

Phone(O) 966 3 8604041   Phone(R) 966 3 8605556

Mobile: 0509566991

    Downloadable Copies:    Word Format     Pdf Format                       

Career Objectives

o        Pursue a position of Senior Developer/ Consultant in the area of Software Development

o        Pursue a dynamic career as an Information Technology (IT) Professional utilizing a broad range of skills in System Planning, Analysis, Program Development, Database Administration, Network Administration, User Training and System Deployment

o        Peruse a position of Business IT Consultant utilizing a rich research background in resolving Change Management Challenges being faced by Businesses while adopting IT usage in Businesses

o        Pursue an Industry Education and Training Program Developer position using planning, organizing, coordinating, and communication skills in training IT end-users and other technology adopters

o        Pursue a dynamic and productive career as a Technical Writer utilizing creative writing and technical skills for technical documentation

 

Career Highlights

o        Specialized and professionally qualified with good amount of technical exposure in Web-based Application development and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Implementations.

o        Worked in Funded Research Projects in some hot areas of business research like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), E-learning , Collaborative Support Systems, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems.

o        Experienced as Information Technology Support Professional in Planning, Troubleshooting, Administration and Distributed Program Development for Computer Networks

o        Working as a developer (Dynamic Web/ Database development) and technical consultant in an ongoing implementation of Oracle based ERP platform for King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

o        Worked on off-shore (US clients) development projects

o        Academic Experience in Teaching, Research (applied and abstract), Supervising University-Industry Collaboration Projects, and Administrative duties (chairing committees/task force)

 

Skills in Information Technologies

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Platforms

§          Oracle EBusiness Suite (Oracle applications 11i – Release 11.5.10.2)

§          Oracle Applications Framework (OAF) for Oracle Applications

§          Systems Applications and Products (SAP) ERP

§          Install a complete 11i System (11.5.10.2) on Windows XP (SP2) on Intel platform (for details: http://irfanailyas.wordpress.com)

§          Worked recently as an in-house technical consultant in a real-life ERP implementation practice within King Fahd University, Dhahran, KSA

§          Worked in a team dealt with Oracle Applications 11i module extension (using Java Server Pages technology support provided in Oracle Applications Framework) and integrate it with a running 11i instance (using Oracle Apps workflows)

§          Usage exposure to a running SAP System within KFUPM’s System Engineering Department.

§          An active participant in online discussion forums related to Oracle Apps (OTN’s forums) with username drrubinai@gmail.com

Database Management Platforms

§          Oracle Database 10g

§          Oracle Database 9i

§          Oracle Database 10g - Express Edition

§          Oracle Berkley DB (for embedded systems)

§          Microsoft SQL Server 2000

§          Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition (MSDE)

§          Microsoft Access 2000/2002

§          MySQL version 5.0

 

§          Involved in installation, configuration and management of Oracle database servers in KFUPM’s network environment

§          Establishing (in process) a database Clustering Environment using Oracle’s Real Application Cluster (RAC) technology:

§          Use the following RAC configuration:

o         OS platforms: Two Virtual Machines running RHEL 4.4 (VMware Workstation Version 5)

o         Hardware: Intell Pentium IV – 2.4 GHz, 1 GigaByte RAM

o         Oracle Instances: Oracle Database 10g Release 2

§          Certified Administrator and PL/SQL Developer for Oracle Database 9i platform from Oracle Corporation, US

§          Taught relational technologies in Unviersity courses using Oracle, Microsoft, and Open-source technologies

§          Installation, configuration, Administration and troubleshooting experience (ongoing) of Oracle Database on Linux platform.

o         Linux: RHEL 4.4

o         Oracle: Oracle DBMS Release 9.2.0.2

§          Having a sufficient exposure (teaching, supervising and program development) with Microsoft Database Technologies (SQL Server, Microsoft Acess, ADO.NET Libraries etc) as well

§          An active participant in OTN discussion forums related to databases with username drrubinai@gmail.com

Database Tools

§          SQL*Plus (Release 9.2.0.1.0)

§          SQLPlus WorkSheet

§          Oracle SQL Developer (1.1.0)

§          iSQL* Plus

§          Enterprise Management Server (9.2.0.1.0)      

§          SQL Server Enterprise Manager

§          TOAD 7.5.2.0 FROM QuestSoft

 

§          Made an extensive use of these tools during development and teaching assignments

§          Feel confident in the areas like installation, configuration and troubleshooting of such tools

Database Scripts

§          PL/SQL

§          Oracle 9i SQL

§          Transact-SQL           

 

§          Certified PL/SQL and SQL Developer on Oracle 9i Platform

§          T-SQL exposure in real life and test environments (industry-university collaboration projects)

Web Development Platforms/ Tools/ Scripts

 

§          .NET/ J2EE Development

§          Oracle JDeveloper 10g/ 9i

§          Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF) for Web Developement

§          Oracle Application Express (HTML DB)

§          Visual Basic Script

§          Java Script

§          ASP/ ASPX   

§          Dream-weaver MX

§          Microsoft Front Page 2002

§          Got an extensive development exposure with J2EE RAD Techniques using Oracle’s JDeveloper 10g IDE while working on Oracle Apps 11i JSP extensions

§          Develop and troubleshoot .NET codes in real-life (supervising projects/ teaching courses) and test environments

§          Made use of Oracle’s ADF code libraries during Oracle’s EBusiness related development

§          Made use of Web authoring tools (FrontPage, Dreamweaver) both for personal and professional site development

§          Sufficient exposure with popular Web scripting technologies (VB & Java Script, AJAX)

Software Development Platforms

§          Java

§          C,C++

§          Fortran

§          Pascal

§          Quick Basic

§          80286/ 386 Assembly Language

§          Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for Microsoft Office Apps

§          Visual Basic .NET / C# .NET

§          Visual Basic Window’s Script

§          Python

 

§          Built a full-fledge bulletin board system as a Final year project requirement for Undergraduate degree using C++ platform

§          Developed a system for demonstrating load balancing issues in distributed programs using Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) class libraries as a requirement for Master degree (Compute Science Dept. KFUPM)

§          Received recognition in Pakistan’s National level exhibitions on development projects

§          Taught different language platforms in a number of University courses (Fortran, C/C++, Java, VB etc)

§          Wrote scripts for automating regular Network administration activities using Windows scripting support (backup management etc.)

System Modeling Tools

§          Oracle Designer 9i

§          Oracle JDeveloper 10g     

§          Microsoft Visio 2002  

§          Visible Analyst 7.0

§          Rational Rose 2000

 

§          Made use of Visible Analyst 7.0 during my course teaching

§          Install and configure a complete setup for supporting development activities using Oracle Designer (for details: http://irfanailyas.wordpress.com)

Front End Development Tools

§          Oracle Forms 9i / 6i

§          VB.NET Web Forms

§          Power Builder 5.0

§          Microsoft Access Forms

§          VBA Forms for Microsoft Office Applications

§          Oracle Reports 10g   

§          Microsoft Access Reports

§          Worked on front-end system development in real-life projects using Oracle, PowerBuilder  and Microsoft technologies

§          Supervise and troubleshoot projects using .NET technologies

§           Taught front end development methodologies and techniques in a number of teaching assignments

System (Network) Administration Environments

§          Windows 2003/ 2000/ XP/ Vista/ ME/ 98 (TCP/IP,   Active Directory Configuration)

§          Linux administration (NFS, NIS, Samba configurations etc.)

 

§          Almost two years of Network Administration experience as System & Network Professional for College of Industrial Management’s Network  in KFUPM

§          Good idea of working in heterogeneous networked environments having a mix of platforms (Windows, Linux boxes)

§          Familiar with centralized network management technologies like Microsoft active directory environments

Operating System Platforms

§          Windows Platform (2003/ 2000/ XP/ ME/ 98/ 95)

§          Unix/ Solaris

§          Fedora Linux (Kernel version 2.4.22.2115.nptl on i386 )

§          SuSe Linux (version 5.0)

§          RedHat Linux 3.3.2-1

§          Xandrox Linux for Desktops

 

§          Develop and deploy the JAVA based distributed system as a part of Master degree’s requirement on Linux platform (Computer Science Department, KFUPM)

§          An in-depth familiarity with the procedures of system administration on Linux and windows platforms

§          Familiar with bridge technologies enabling the use of Windows applications on Linux platforms (Xandrox Linux)

§          An active participant in different Linux online forums on the net.

Workflow Management

§          Oracle WorkFlow Builder 2.6

§          Oracle Standalone WorkFlow Engine      

§          Setup, configure and test a complete workflow environment using Oracle DBMS and Oracle’s standalone workflow engine support (for details: http://irfanailyas.wordpress.com)

§          Got exposure with workflow design using Oracle’s workflow builder

J2EE Development Technologies

§          Java Server Pages (JSP)

§          Java Servlets

§          Java Script,

§          Enterprise Java Beans,

§          HTML/ XHTML

§          Cascading Style Sheets

§          Remote Method Invocation     

§          Made an extensive use of J2EE technologies during Master’s thesis development project

§          Taught Java in University courses

§          Made an extensive use of JSP and Servlet technologies during Oracle Apps 11i extension project

XML Technologies

§          Oracle XQuery

§          Oracle XML DB

§          Oracle Portal

§          Going through a variety of testing procedures on XML related technologies (for details: http://irfanailyas.wordpress.com)

Tools for Data Analysis

§          Microsoft Excel

§          SPSS

§          Statistica

 

§          Taught data analysis with Excel in teaching assignments

§          Used analysis tools in different research projects with renowned researchers of KFUPM

Hardware Platforms

§          Pentium Deskops

§          SUN SPARC Servers

§          NeXt Workstations

 

§          Dealt with a mix of hardware platforms during network administration duties

Middle Tier Technologies

§          Oracle Application Server SOA Suite 10.1.3.1.0

§          Oracle Application Server 9i     

§          Internet Information Server

§          Personal Web Sever  

§          Apache Web Server

§          Tom Cat (Servlet Container)

 

§          Install, configure and troubleshoot middle tier servers during development assignments (in KFUPM’s ERP implementation project)

Miscellaneous Tools

§          VMWare Workstation 5.5.3

§          Microsoft Virtual PC

§          Install and configure a number of Virtual machines setups using VMWare

 

 

 

IT Certifications

 

June, 2005

Oracle Certified Database Developer  (Professional Certification from Oracle Corporation, USA)

Nov, 2004

Oracle Certified Database Administrator  (Professional Certification from Oracle Corporation, USA)

 

 

Major Projects & Technical Reports

 

2006

·         Working on an Organization-wide implementation of Oracle Applications 11i (ERP)

·         Working on customized web-based applications with integration and deployment issues

·         Working  in collaboration with world-class external consultants from Asia’s biggest IT contractor company (Zamil Tata Consultation Services)

2005

Working as an active Team Member (Content Designer/ Media Specialist) on online-course development (web-based interactive multimedia content development) projects for the courses, titled  ‘Business Data Management’

2005

Worked as a Development Team Member (Database Designer & Developer) in the design and implementation of a Hospital Management System, developed for the local clinical setup of Kind Fahd University Medical Center.

2004

Worked as a Team Leader (Content Designer/ Media Specialist) on online-course (web-based interactive multimedia content development) development projects for the courses, titled ‘Introduction to Computer Applications in Business’.

2002

Developed a data backup utility for supporting an automated data backup mechanism on a centralized networked server machine for the  users of College of Industrial Management, King Fahd University.

2001

Developed a ‘Course Administration System‘(web-integrated database) for serving faculty and students of College of Industrial Management in different course administration activities. These include student performance tracking like attendance, exam scores etc., automated grade assignment generation etc.  

2001

Developed a database-driven web-site for serving the departmental community related to their IT support needs. The site utilized up-to-date web technologies for providing a better servicing environment .  

2001 – to date

Provided supervision and technical consultancy in department’s industry-based cooperative programs (seven month mandatory industry training for students).

2000

Design & Implementation of a Java Based Load Balancing Software Framework for parallel/distributed applications on a Local Area Network.

1999

A Graphical Research tool for contrasting the working of different vector graphic algorithms and demonstrating their relative effectiveness.

1998

A model simulator for validating Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) working.

1997

A Network clock synchronization tool for avoiding clock synchronization problems among machines in a networked environment .  

1996

‘An automated billing system module for Time Warner Comm., USA.

1994-    1995

Software development and maintenance for private automated branch exchange (PABX) units of Digital Communications Pvt. Ltd, Karachi, Pakistan.

  • Developed a data compression utility (using popular compression methods) for an automated compression of monitoring/ billing logs.
  • Troubleshooting and reloading of  micro-controller based software modules in erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) chips.

1994

Design, implementation and deployment of a Bulletin Board System (BBS) for NED University of Engineering & Technology , Pakistan.

1992

Design and development of a Gaming software, named ‘Labyrinth Challenge’, for demonstrating the creation and path-searching  (using Artificial Intelligence based techniques)of complex labyrinth structures (path-searching puzzles) .    

 

 

Education

o        Masters in Computer Science, King Fahd University, Saudi Arabia (GPA: 3.5 out of 4.0)

o        Bachelors in Computer Systems, NED University of Engineering & Technology, Pakistan (Secured 9th position in a class of about 100 students)

 

Working Experience

 

Web-Application Developer  /

ERP Consultant

 

King Fahd University, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Mar,’06 to date

 

·         Worked as a Technical Consultant in an enterprise-wide implementation of ERP Software (Oracle Applications 11i) in KFUPM.

·         Worked heavily during vendor selection phase in the Business Intelligence deployment, where optimized selection criteria matrices were devised and used for a detailed scrutiny of available options.

·         Worked as a Developer on different module implementations. The details of the modules and development tools are as follows:

o        Workflow development for automating certain business processes for ‘Servicing and Maintenance Department’ using Oracle Wrok-Flow Builder.

o        Report development for ‘Security and Safety Department’ using Oracle Report Builder.

o       Form Design and code generation using Oracle Designer.

o        Worked upon JSP based Web-application using Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF) for ‘Housing & Office Services’ Module using JDeveloper.

·        Handled various configuration and installation issues in the area of Web Application Development (troubleshooting installation, configuration and deployment of Web server/ Database server/ Application Server)

§         Involved in Requirement Analysis and System Planning Phase

o        Coordinated & managed group meetings during the project development period.

o        Conducting requirements analysis sessions with users to obtain data requirements

§         Supporting the Technical Lead in technical design and development

§         Participating in installation and post-installation reviews

·        Managing the resolution of production support issues

 

Network Administrator / IT Support Specialist

College of Industrial Management

King Fahd University, Saudi Arabia

Sep’00 to Sep’02

 

§         Planned, managed & troubleshoot different IT related services on the college’s Local Area Network consisting of over 200+ PC running on Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Linux platforms.

§         Supervised and monitored different software/ hardware system deployments.

§         Looked after procuring of computer hardware/ software equipments for building better infrastructures for college computing facilities.

§         Supervising IT support staff for the college of Industrial Management.

§         Development and deployment of custom-made IT solutions (software programs) for serving the college community.

§         Administer and conduct seminars, open discussions, and public demonstrations for promoting user trainings for newly installed/ in-demand IT applications.

§         Evaluate the annual performance of the IT staff and propose opportunities for improvements.

       

 

Software Engineer

 

Crescent Software  (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan.

Jan,’96 -Nov’96

 

§         Worked on team-based projects for design & implementation of local/off-shore software.

§         Planned, organized, directed, controlled, and evaluated the activities and operations of the working team.

§         Platforms used: PowerBuilder 5.0, Visual C++

§         Coordinated & managed group meetings during the project development period.

 

Systems Engineer

 

Digital Communications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan.

Apr’95 –Jan’96

 

Responsible for design, development and maintenance of a 200+ lines Private Automated Branch eXchange (PABX) unit.

Involved in software development/ troubleshooting for the said PABX unit.

Provided Technical Support to clients.

 

Teaching Experience

 

Lecturer

 

Management & Information Systems

College of Industrial Management

King Fahd University, Saudi Arabia

Feb‘00 to date

Courses Taught

§         Introduction to Computer Programming

§         Introduction to Computer Applications in Business & Management

§         Introduction to Management Information Systems

§         Business Information System Analysis & Design

       

 

Lab Instructor

Information and Computer Science

College of Computer Sciences & Engineering

King Fahd University, Saudi Arabia

1997 -1999

Courses Taught:

§         Computer Programming (Fortran Language Constructs)

§         Introduction to Computing (C/C++ Language Constructs)

       

 

 

Research Experience

 

Lecturer

 

Management & Information Systems

College of Industrial Management

King Fahd University, Saudi Arabia

Feb’00 to date

 

§         Involved in an ongoing university funded research project in the area of Use of IT for enhancing Human Collaboration, titled ‘Modeling Collaborations in Scientific Research Environment for designing and Implementing a collaboration-support system using different Computing & Communication Technologies’

§         Involved in an ongoing university funded research project in the area of Customer Relationship Management , titled ‘An Empirical Examination of Adoption and Maturity Level of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Practices in Saudi Arabian Companies’.

§         Involved in an ongoing university funded research in the area of E-Learning, titled ‘A Conceptual Model For A Better Understanding Of Key Stake-Holder’s Concerns Related To The Success Of An Online Learning Environment’

§         Involved in a research project in the area of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, titled ‘Examination Of Public Sector ERP Implementation Issues – A Case Study Of An Higher Education ERP Implementation In Saudi Arabia’

§         Involved in an ongoing university funded research project in the area of High Speed Networks, titled ‘Design Of An Efficient Algorithm For Reducing Interrupt Handling Overhead In Gigabit Ethernet Networks’

§         Assisted different professors in compiling research proposals, literature surveys in different business research areas, and preparing presentations.

§         Research encompassed areas such as E-Commerce, Process/ Data Modeling, CRM Systems etc.

       

 

Research Assistant

Information and Computer Science

College of Computer Sciences & Engineering

King Fahd University, Saudi Arabia

1997 to 1999

 

§         Researched with Dr. Muslim Bozyigit (MS Thesis Supervisor) on master thesis problem, titled ‘Design & Implementation of  a Java Based Load Balancing Framework (for parallel/distributed applications on a Local Area Network’.

§         Researched with Dr. Subaro Ghanta in the area of ‘Data-Mining Applications in Business’.

§         Researched with Dr. Muhammad Sarfraz in the area of ‘Computer Graphics’, specifically on curve designing algorithms.

       

 

Awards & Honors

2004

Official acknowledgement from Scientific Research Administration, King Fahd University on prominent contributions in the committee for planning, designing, and organizing the electronic conference proceedings for Second conference on Administrative Sciences, “Meeting the Challenges of the Globalization Age” (Apr, 2004)

2004

Rated as ‘Excellent Teacher’ in the Peer Consultation Teaching Program of the Deanship of Academic Development, King Fahd University (more details at http://www.kfupm.edu.sa/dad/tlcenter/services/peer.htm).

2001

Excellence in Teaching (Department of MIS, King Fahd University).

1997-2000

Graduate Studies Award – King Fahd University

1997

Best Lab Instructor (Information & Computer Science, King Fahd University).

1995

Certificate of Merit – NED University

1993

Compete among 100+ Computer Science University Students by getting selected for participation in 1st All Pakistan Software Competition & Exhibition at Mehran University of Engineering. & Technology, Pakistan (Artificial Intelligence based gaming software was demonstrated).

1992

Compete among 200+ Computer Science University Students by getting selected for participation in 3rd All Pakistan Software Competition & Exhibition, Organized by:  Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, Pakistan (Artificial Intelligence based gaming software was demonstrated).

1989

Distinguished Student Award – Board of Intermediate Education, Pakistan (secured a position in first 20 ranks among 25,000+ candidates)

1987

Distinguished Student Award – Board of Secondary Education, Pakistan (secured a position in first 15 ranks among 40,000+ candidates)

 

Professional Affiliations

§         Academic Member, Association Computing Machinery (ACM)

§         Academic Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)

§         Member, Association for Information Systems (AIS)

§         Member, Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC)

§         KFUPM Faculty Association

 

Publications (Working Papers)

§         Irfan A. Ilyas, Dr. Eid Mustafa, ‘Design and Implementation issues in the development of a collaboration-support system for collaborative research environments’, will be submitted in top-ranking journals of MIS, including: INFORMATION & MANAGEMENT , and INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH.

 

§         Irfan A. Ilyas, Hasan Al Muhmin , ‘An Empirical Examination of Adoption and Maturity Level of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Practices In Saudi Arabian Companies’ , will be submitted in top ranking journals of Business, including: BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

 

 

Contributed Talks

·         Irfan A. Ilyas, Dr. Haidar Fraihat, ‘Modeling Collaborations in Scientific Research Environment for designing and Implementing a collaboration-support system using different Computing & Communication Technologies’, presented in a University wide Research Seminar in King Fahd University on April 19,2005

§         Irfan A. Ilyas, “Design & Implementation of  a Java Based Load Balancing Framework”, presented while defending the master’s thesis, April 2000.

§         Demonstrated and presented a seminar related to a software development project in a software exhibition arranged by NED University, Pakistan (1992).

 

 

Other Information

Linguistic Abilities

§         Excellent communication skills in English and Urdu (native language).

§         Familiarity with Arabic, Persian, Punjabi & Sindhi.

 

Volunteer Jobs

Jan 97 – Dec 99

Worked a number of times as a registration staff member to help KFUPM Registration Department during semester registration weeks, during Research Assistantship.

1999 - present

Trying to be an active part of many Internet Technical Forums (e.g., Oracle forums at Oracle Technology Network web site) to serve international IT community

 

Hobbies

·         Playing Cricket, Squash and Tennis

·         Internet Surfing/ Technical Forum Participation

·         Reading Books/Magazines/News

 

CyberContacts

Email

 irfan@kfupm.edu.sa

Personal Web

  http://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/misac/saraza

Personal Blog

 http://irfanailyas.wordpress.com/

Skype

 irfan.in.dhahran

IM

 irfan_in_dhahran@yahoo.com  

 

 

References

1. Dr. Alhassan G. Abdul-Muhmin,
Associate Professor,
Department of Management & Marketing,
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, KSA

Phone: (966)3 860 4265

Email: alhassan@kfupm.edu.sa

3. Dr.  Dr. Muhammed A.M. Al-Khaldi, Assistant Professor,
Department of Accounting & MIS,
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, KSA

Phone: (966) 3 860 1800

Email: makhaldi@kfupm.edu.sa

2. Dr. Salem Al Ghamdi,

Associate Professor/ Asst. Dean EMBA Program,
Department of Management & Marketing,
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, KSA

Phone: (966)3 860 1143

Email: sghamdi@kfupm.edu.sa

4. Dr. Sahalu, Junaidu

Assistant Professor,
Information & Computer Science Department,
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, KSA

Phone: (966)3 860 4698

Email: sahalu@ccse.kfupm.edu.sa

5. Dr. Hafid Agourram,

Associate Professor,

Department of Business,

Bishop University, Canada

Phone: (819) 822-9600 Ext  : 2715

E-Mail: hagourra@ubishops.ca

6. Dr Mohammad Yousef,
 Professor,
Department of Management & Marketing,
King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, KSA

Phone: (966) 3 860 4664

Email: mayousef@kfupm.edu.sa