My Education
Master of Computer Science (May 2003)
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (CGPA: 3.496/4.00)
Major Courses: Object Oriented Analysis and Design, Advanced Software Engineering, Software Architecture
Bachelors of Computer Science (December 1996)
FAST Institute of Computer Science, University of Karachi (CGPA: 3.47/4.00)
My Experience
AT&T Research Labs, Middle Town, NJ USA 06/99 - 12/01
Technical Staff Member
·Worked as part of Development team to design and develop automation features of AT&T Trouble Ticketing System in C++ on UNIX based on Client/Server architecture.
Auto Progress Feature
·Communicated with System Engineers to gather the customer requirements for automating the Customer Progress feature of AT&T Trouble Ticketing System.
·Participated in the Brainstorming Sessions for deciding the flow of information between different components of the system. This involved communication between various development teams working on different components of the system.
·Translated the Customer requirements into software artifacts by performing Object Oriented Analysis and design of Auto Progress feature of AT&T Trouble Ticketing System.
·Designed and implemented the interfaces of Auto Progress Engine with the backend server, the IVR Manager, the Scheduler and the Work Flow Manager.
·Designed and implemented the "Auto Progress" core engine in C++ to notice and store all activities taking place on the ticket.
·Designed and implemented the message construction algorithm in C++ to prioritize and send the activity report, to the customer, through the IVR server.
·Designed and implemented the Exception handling mechanism inside the Auto Progress class for the scenario when IVR fails to drop the automated the message to the customer.
·Involved in troubleshooting the problems identified by the testing team.
Auto Diagnose and Auto Verify Feature
·Reverse-Engineered the code of Auto Diagnose Feature of AT&T Trouble Ticketing System, written in C++ on Unix, for which no documentation was available.
·Redesigned and developed the Auto Diagnose feature of AT&T Trouble Ticketing System in C++ on Unix. This feature triggers the automated testing of problems reported by the customer. Depending on Test Server results, this feature helps the agent or the customer to take further actions.
·Performed the code enhancements to Auto Verify feature of the AT&T Trouble Ticketing system. This feature verifies if the customer reported problem is now resolved and reports the customer accordingly.
·Performed the end-to-end testing of Auto Diagnose and Auto Verify feature.
·Communicated with the customers and involved in troubleshooting the problems identified by them.
Auto Clear/Close Feature
·Performed the code enhancements for Auto Clear/Close feature of AT&T Trouble Ticketing System in C++ on Unix. This feature is used to automatically close the tickets generated for problems already resolved.
·Involved in troubleshooting the problems identified by the testing team.
Clear Close Feature
·Communicated with the system engineers to gather the customer requirements for implementing the web interface of Clear/Close Feature of AT&T trouble ticketing system.
·Web enabled the Clear/Close Feature of AT&T Trouble Ticketing System. This feature was responsible for closing the tickets of Trouble Ticketing Systems, once the problem is resolved.
·Designed and implemented the web interface as well as their communication to the backend C++ server using JavaScript, XML and CGI programming.
Manual Progress, Manual Escalation, Manual Diagnose and Manual Verify Feature
·Web enabled the Manual Progress, Manual Escalation, Manual Diagnose and Manual Verify feature of AT&T Trouble ticketing system.
·Designed and implemented the connecting interface between Web and backend C++ server using JavaScript, XML and CGI programming.
Work Flow Manger Enhancements
·Implemented the code enhancements of Work Flow Manger, which would trigger some automation features on service identification change event.
CresSoft, Inc. 01/97 - 3/99
Software Engineer
·Part of the Object Oriented Development team and C++ core team engaged in Object Oriented Analysis, Design & Implementation of Client/Server based applications, using C++, based on TMN and CORBA Standards.
Vertical Slice Prototype
·Involved in implementing a vertical slice of middle three layers of TMN Model namely Service Layer, Network Layer and the Network Element Layer. The application mainly facilitates maintenance of minimum revision levels of the Network Elements, identification of unsupported equipment, identification of cards requiring upgrades, etc. This prototype application was implemented following TMN Layered Architecture.
·Defined and designed the Interface objects between the three layers of the system. Involved in designing the detailed Object Model, State Diagram, Class Interaction Diagram and Process Flow Diagram of the overall system.
·Involved in defining and designing of all the Server Objects, which are to be made CORBA compliant to provide interoperability between the layers. These Server Objects are responsible to fulfill Client Requests to manage the Network elements, implemented in JDK 1.1 using ORBIXWEB.
·Involved in writing and compiling the IDL for Server objects. Implemented the Server Objects in C++ using ORBIX 2.2 for interoperability of objects. Wrote the Callbacks code in C++ to send notifications to the client machines.
·Also involved in writing a CORBA Client in C++ to change the configuration of network elements which are implemented as CORBA objects on the server
·Also involved in the testing of overall application. Tested the server with a large set of objects in the database.
·Development Tools used were MSVC 4.2, ORBIX 2.2, Rational Rose on Windows NT.
Mail Automation System
·Worked on the Business Layer application of a Telecommunication System following Telecommunication Management Network (TMN) standards. The purpose of the application is to receive Digging Notification Tickets in multiple formats from multiple call centers, parse them, and generate email responses for the field engineers depending on the trouble. Field Engineers then take proper actions to deal with the trouble.
·Involved in setting up the Object Models, State Diagrams, Class Interaction Diagrams and Process Flow Diagrams of overall application and also on the module basis. Design of the application was based on Raumbaugh's Object Modeling Technology and TMN standards.
·Involved in the Detail Design and implementation of a Database Class in C++ and its derived classes, which acts as an interface between all application objects and the database at the backend. This class in turn uses OCI (Oracle Call Interface) to add, delete and update application objects' data in the ORACLE database.
·Also involved in the detail design and implementation of a module, which maintains a history of all trouble tickets in a compressed format on periodic basis.
·Development Tool used were MSVC 4.2, Oracle and Rational Rose on Windows 95.
Joule
·Worked on the Service Layer application of the Telecommunication System to provide integrated solution for the Sales, Ordering, Pricing and Inventory Management of Telecommunication vendors.
·Involved in setting up the Object Model, State Diagram, Class Interaction Diagram & Process Flow Diagram for the overall application.
·Involved in detailed design of and implementation of "Ordering" and "Pricing" modules.
·Development Tools used were MSVC 4.2 and Rational Rose and Oracle 7.3. at the backend.
Subnetwork Manager
·Worked on the Information Model of Subnetwork Manager, which provides the element interface to MCI's data services, transmission, and switching networks for network and service layer applications such as provisioning, configuration, fault monitoring, performance monitoring, and asset management.
·Studied and updated the Information Model of the Sub-network Manager to support a uniform control and management of the underlying network entities. The managed objects supported are to meet requirements of network and service management applications, such as provisioning of connectivity and management of sub-networks. The information model includes a network layer model to represent underlying network topology and connectivity. It also mirrors managed objects in the underlying Network Elements.
·Prior to the design of Network Layer Model, involved in a thorough study of TMN (Telecommunication Network Management), CMIP (Common Management Information Protocol), SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), GDMO (Guidelines for Definition of Managed Objects), ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation) related literature. Gone through a large set of ITU-T manuals.
MY COMPUTER SCIENCE BACKGROUND
I did my Bachelors in Computer Science from FAST Institute of Computer Science now known as National University of Emerging Sciences and Technology. I then worked as Software Engineer at CresSoft Inc. I mainly worked on Client/Server based applications using C++, Java, CORBA and Object Oriented Technology. I then moved to USA and joined AT&T Research Labs as Software Consultant. At AT&T I worked on the AT&T Trouble Ticketing System and developed various modules of their Client/Server based application using C++, CGI, JavaScript, SQL and Object Oriented Technology. I then did my Masters in Computer Science from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, one of the top five graduate schools of USA. Most of my graduate courses were purely Software Engineering related. And I have the honor of being taught by Ralph Johnson,the author of Software Productivity award winner book Design Patterns.Following is my complete skill set.
SKILL SET
Primary Skill Set: OOA (Object Oriented Analysis), OOD (Object Oriented Design), C++, CORBA
Languages: C/C++,JAVA, Small Talk, SQL, PL SQL, HTML, IDL, CGI, XML
Modeling: UML,Design Patterns
Development Tools:MSVC, ORBIX, Orbacus, Café, Visual Works, JDK
Case Tools:Rational Rose, Visio
Databases: Oracle
Operating Systems:UNIX, Windows
Distance Education Tools: Blackboard, WebCT, Intralearn
MY DISTANCE EDUCATION EXPERIENCE
I have taken several of my graduate courses over the internet and that inspired me to teach online. I started teaching online back in July 2003 with Universal Class Inc.And now I realize I enjoy teaching online more than anything else. I love waking up in the morning to start checking emails from my online students and responding them all day until I go to bed. I am among top 45 instructors at UniversalClass.com. I am also an Online Facilitator at Thomas Edison State College of New Jersey and South University Online. I am constantly looking for more online teaching opportunities in the area of Computer Science. I have a passion to teach online and determined to make a difference in Online Education.
MY DISTANCE EDUCATION CERTIFICATION
I successfully completed Socrates Online Facilitator Training through the Socrates Distance Learning Technology group and offered by South University Online and Art Institute Online. I also completed three series of seminars (Theory and Culture of Distance Education, Principles of Instructional Design for Web-Courses and Mentor Skills for Online Course Delivery) as part of the Distance Education Certificate Program offered by Thomas Edison State College of New Jersey. Currently enrolled in their fourth seminar, Introduction to Multimedia.
COMMENTS FROM MY ONLINE STUDENTS
“….. I am an IT professional.This is my first experience with an on-line course. I am an IT professional who has worked his entire career with IBM Midrange systems. I was looking to upgrade my skills with PC based programming languages and decided to give this C- Language course a try. It is my first experience with an on-line course and I can certainly recommend it to anyone willing to learn C. This course covers the whole spectrum of the C language and is very well structured and complete. You have access to a lot of course material and exercises and you can proceed at your own pace. The assignments and quizzes insure that you can put in practice what you learn immediately. The one thing that makes this on-line course worthwhile above all else, is the access you get to your on-line instructor. Sadaf is always there to answer any questions you might have about a technical aspect or an assignment. I am really impressed with the level of support she provides; she is always prompt to answer (usually the following day, sometimes faster) any question you might have and gives feedback on every quiz and assignments you complete. She is the main reason why I strongly recommend this on-line course to anyone who wishes to learn C or C++…..,M. Pion
“ …. I enjoyed the SQL class very much. I learned a lot. The reading assignments and homework problems helped with learning SQL skills. The instructor was great! Always… was there for questions or any help needed. She also responded very quickly.I liked learning at my own pace. I never felt rushed. I would highly recommend this class for anyone who uses SQL. Excellent class and an extremely knowledgeable instructor!...”, L. Critzer
Comments from student of "Object Oriented Programming in C++"
Instructor was very knowledgeable and helpful. I recommend this course
for someone who has little knowledge of C++ and would like to gain confidence in coding and other fundamental principles. I truly enjoyed this class. I feel confident about my C++ knowledge. Taking this class was like taking any other class at any colleges. The instructor was as available as any in person instructor would be. Timely quizzes and assignments kept me on track and in check. It was a good experience. R. Vyas
Comments from Student of "C programming (Beginner to Advanced course)
By nature I am one of those individuals who thinks that I don't possess any
special talent and if there is something that I need to spend time on to learn, I wasn't meant to learn it. Pessimistic I know, but that was the exact thought I entered this C Programming course with. Boy I struggled! I knew within my heart that I believed 'in order for anyone to be a good programmer it would have had to be an innate trait, not something you learn' I also knew I wasn't. I read in certain chat rooms where 'programmers' discourage persons who didn't appear to catch on well, and I knew I was one of them. I said all that to say that I was wrong! C is very challenging but when you have a great teacher like I do you start looking at things in a whole different way. My confidence has improved in part due to the type of relationship I have with Sadaf. She is not just a great teacher but a good friend, motivator and mentor. I have often decided to throw in the towel and she has always been there, even using her own personal experiences with programming to give me that boost I so desired. I am not sorry I started this course, I have learnt so much and there is so much to learn even after this course has ended. But I'll go forward with a different mindset, I am grateful that Universal Class was the place I decided to study and that Sadaf was my teacher. R. Dawkins
This course is excellent for a beginner trying to understand the concept of computer programming, and is also excellent for a programmer who is experienced in other computer languages and wants to learn C. The reading material is very good. Professor Mumtaz is very excellent in answer questions and trying to help students understand the concepts. I especially like the fact that the course is self-paced, because that allows me to work on the course as my schedule allows. T. Lewis
Comments from SQL student
Thank you for your help in course learning. It was very interesting and cognitive course. All narrow places have been
resolved by easy discussions with teacher. Our discussions was as live conversation, what is very helpful for education. I learned SQL from ground level and I got big score, because of such interactive process of learning. Anna Firsova