SMCS and GDSC host Hackfest 2024

April 20-21, 2024: Hackfest 2024 was jointly hosted by Google Developer's Student Club (GDSC), IBA and School of Mathematics and Computer Science (SMCS), at IBA City Campus. This year's Hackfest was a collaboration between GDSC's brightest minds from universities across Karachi. Collaborating universities included DHA Suffa, FAST, JSMU, UIT, Habib University, Szabist, SMIU, JUW and MAJU.

Day one commenced with a welcome note from Dr. Shahid Hussain, Chairperson SMCS, followed by insightful sessions from Pakistani women in Computing. Tooba Husain, Founding Member & GM, BusCaro, Khi; and Karishma Veljee, Co-founder, DigitalHire; talked about empowering women in tech entrepreneurship. Kashish Fatima, Founder PWiC, also gave an inspiring speaker session. A conversation with industry experts Raheel Siddiqui and Saad Pasta on kickstarting a career in technology also followed. A thought-provoking panel discussion on job market survival by speakers from Sadapay, Daraz, and Dealcart rounded up the day's events, after which teams geared up for the hackathon on day two. Teams were mentored by professionals from IBA, Sadapay, Motive, Luckyone, Technyx, PWiC, Contour, and Aribsoft.

Day two comprised of intense pitches in the Shark Tank module. Twelve teams were shortlisted after which they showcased their creativity and passion as they vied for the top spot. Our panel of judges included Fahad Javed - Research Team Lead, Motive; Waleed Arshad - Founder Flutter Xchange; Anum Kamran – Founder, Elleways Inc.; Abdul Basit - Senior Software Engineer, Technyx; and Jan E Ali Nabi - Lead Product Manager, Sadapay.

IBA's team 'Team Ironman' clinched the winning title after an intense round of evaluations. The runner-up positions were bagged by Team AgroTechVision from FAST, and Team Guardians from DHA Suffa University.

We extend our thanks to Technyx Systems, Notion and IBA Consulting Society for sponsoring Hackfest 2024 and to our incredible partners from universities across Karachi for making this event a success. Through this platform, students got the invaluable opportunity to network with the best tech experts, paving the way for a brighter future in the tech world.