Industry experts inspire youths in tech festival

The much-anticipated information and communication technology (ICT) festival of the country took place on April 12 and 13 at the Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Gazipur, powered by First Security Islami Bank Limited. The two-day  fest was organised by the IUTCS (IUT Computer Society) in association with the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Department of IUT for the tenth time, marking a decade. This time the fest was inaugurated by the chief guest AFM Gausal Azam Sarker, director general (International Organisations) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh.

Competition and opportunity

The tagline of the fest 'Ideas to Action' captured the essence of the events that were held. The fest brought together over 1,500 students from various universities, colleges and schools from all over the country, energising the campus with enthusiasm, with the visitors adding further liveliness to it. The well-picked array of events tailored the experience for every tech enthusiast. Hackathon, Project Showcasing, App Development and IT Business Case Competition provided participants with a platform to get their ideas off the ground as well as receive feedback from an industry-expert panel of judges. The Programming Contest, ICT Olympiad and Math Olympiad provided the participants with a platform to prove their analytical skills and knowledge. In support of numerous studies that demonstrate the positive benefits of competitive gaming, especially in terms of spatial cognition and strategic problem solving, the Gaming Contest, which consisted of FIFA, DOTA 2 and Rainbow Six Siege, was held. This provided the participants with an opportunity to demonstrate their skills through gameplay.  ICT Olympiad and Math Olympiad were open to students of schools, colleges and universities while the rest of the events were restricted to university students only.

Hackathon

For this year's Hackathon, sponsored by BDApps, participants had the liberty of choosing a category among four--namely, agriculture, education, health and travel at the time of their registration. On the event day, teams received a problem statement and twenty-four hours to devise and develop a solution, which integrates BDApps API, on the spot. The App Development contest, also sponsored by BDApps, consisted of an initial idea assessment round -- the results of which aided the selection of teams for the contest. The selected teams had the privilege of taking part in a session on how to integrate BDApps API to their applications and  learnt more about this powerful API.  The categories of apps which were accepted for the event included health, education, business or economy, social, lifestyle or blogging.

Prize giving and winners

On the last day of the fest, a prize-giving ceremony was held to recognise the efforts made and reward the participants. Munir Hasan, general secretary of Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad, was present as the chief guest while Professor Muhammad Mahbub Alam, head of Department of CSE, IUT, presided over the event. Team "Baprobi Oporahnno" from BUET, solving nine problems with the maximum number of best solutions, was declared the champion in this year's programming contest. Team Nocturnal from IUT developed an app for finding and scheduling an appointment with a doctor and was declared the champion for the Hackathon event. The winners of all events took home total Tk 40 million.

On top of everything, participants took home a memorable and valuable experience. The fest provided the participants with an opportunity to receive advice and feedback from industry experts, which will assist in their development of skills. Besides, participants gained experience of working as a team, a crucial skill for their professional success.

The writer is a third year student at Islamic University of Technology (IUT). She can be reached at [email protected]