The SZABIST MOBILE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

The evolution of cell phones is one that is remarkable to say the least. From being simple gadgets that helped make and receive calls, to becoming the more complex devices that they are these days; being able to support thousands of applications almost simultaneously. The rapid increase in the usage of cell phones has made people of all ages develop a growing interest in them. Fast forward a few years and who knows what the future of technology has in store for us.

The ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society that delivers resources which advances computing as a science as well as a profession. It has branches all around the world, including one in SZABIST (Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology).

The ACM SZABIST Student Chapter usually organizes seminars and workshops covering various topics of interest to computing students and professionals. This time though, the ACM decided to do something different and fresh; with the help of the new recruits and senior members, they held a Mobile Development Conference. The SMDC was held on the 23^rd of October 2011 and was open to participants from colleges and universities from all over Karachi. Renowned organizations were invited to this event as sponsors and media partners. These included Microsoft, CIO Pakistan, PC World, Xipnox, Nature Water, Frames, Hoster.pk, FM96 and ZabFM 106.6,

The conference was led by distinct professional trainers from Pi-Labs; a mobile and web development company. Among the trainers was Munir Usman the CEO of Pi-Labs, Amir Ali Jiwani the chief technology officer, Arqam Gadit, Fahad Elahi Sheikh and Tabish Ahmed Syed.

The event was well organized and proceeded with accordance to the schedule. It gave the participants a chance to work on developing applications on three different platforms i.e. iOS, android and Windows Phone 7.

The technical department worked tirelessly to create a user-friendly interface for the applications and also helped the participants install all the required software in their laptops so that they could work along with the trainers. Before the trainers actually started the development session, there was a short presentation given on the history of mobile development and what is to be expected in the future by Mr. Munir Usman.

There were two phases of the development sessions; one that focused on business applications and the other on gaming applications. The trainers were quite enthusiastic and determined to teach the participants. The main objective of the conference was to expand the flow of knowledge from the trainers to the trainees.

Alongside learning, the ACM members also worked hard on the back-end; taking care of every minor detail such as the attendance, the preparation of the food, handling the stage and taking care of all the technical problems.

This event was advocated by the society’s faculty advisor, Mr. Adeel Ahmed while other faculty members who attended the event include the coordinator of BS Computing, Mr. Asim Riaz and the coordinator of MS Computing, Dr. Hasnain. All three of them gave their views of the event at the end of the training session and also handed out gifts to the trainers.

The SMDC was a tremendous success, marking the dawn of a new concept that is unique in its own right; we hope that this event is continued for the years to come.