PWiC Karachi’s Experience at DevDay’23
A highlight of PWiC Karachi’s experience at DevDay’23 conducted by FAST NUCES.
Hackathon. A terminology that stems from two words: ‘hacker’ and ‘marathon’. A hackathon is an event where people participate to showcase their ideas to industry experts or critiques. These ideas revolve around themes or topics which are mostly based on current real-world problems.
A hackathon’s main two characteristics are time and problem solving. Participants find themselves in an arena of fast paced teamwork and rigorous analysis of the provided topics. Such factors are essential to a hackathon’s nature so that participants can come up with the most unique, feasible and effective idea of all in the given amount of time.
PWiC recognizes the importance of hackathons and values the participation of students in the field of problem solving. Hence, on the 4th of May, PWiC Karachi’s team sponsored a hackathon at DevDay’23 organized by FAST NUCES.
About DevDay’23
Every year, FAST NUCES holds a career fair, Developers’ Day which is organized and managed by their student society, ACM. The fair is attended and sponsored by a large number of organizations from the job market. These companies offer career opportunities to students and conduct introductory seminars about their mission as an organization.
Apart from job opportunities, Developers’ Day or DevDay for short, comprises a large variety of competitions from electrical engineering to computer science. Each of these two domains introduce several competitions that require technique and intellect in order to be won.
DevDay’23:
This year, Developers’ Day had an electric atmosphere, full of enthusiasm and energy. DevDay’s team had organized a stall for PWiC Karachi’s team. Alongside this stall stood a banner that called out to women in tech to join PWiC Karachi’s different teams such as Content, Design and Marketing.
Managing the desk were two PWiC Karachi team members, Sarah Fatima and Rakia Shafique, who warmly greeted and attended to visitors. They reviewed resumes, gave helpful career guidance, and shared information about how one can become a part of PWiC. Sarah and Rakia also prepared goody bags for the visitors such as stickers, notebooks, pens to show their appreciation for the massive support and interest.
A diverse audience was present at PWiC’s stall, including not just women but also men eager to become allies of Karachi’s team. This inclusiveness created a vibrant atmosphere. Their presence highlighted the broad interest in technology and women empowerment among different individuals.
About the hackathon
The hackathon consisted of a total of 57 teams each comprising three participants. The participants were provided the following themes that focused upon solving tangible issues.
- No Poverty
- Zero Hunger
- Good Health & Well-Being
- Quality Education
- Gender Equality
- Clean Water & Sanitation
- Affordable and Clean Energy
- Decent Work & Economic Growth
- Industry & Infrastructure
- Reduced Inequalities
- Sustainable Societies
- Responsible Consumption & Production
- Climate Action
- Life Below Water
- Life On Land
- Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions
Since a hackathon produces a stream of ideas from innovative minds, it is all the more necessary for an evaluation to exist for these ideas, on the basis of feasibility, scale and budget. This helps in ensuring if these ideas can be implemented in real life. The esteemed judges, which included Dr. Muhammad Rafi from FAST, Zulqarnain Abdul Jabbar from Folio3, Eisha Tir Raazia and Murk Bhutto from PWiC Karachi’s Core Team, marked the ideas of presenters.
Apart from judges, the hackathon participants also had the assistants of hackathon mentors. A group of 10 market experts were called upon to guide participants throughout the competition. These mentors offered their expert advice in terms of which tech stack a project should be built upon, its feasibility and budget plan.
The hackathon consisted of two rounds. The first round was conducted online on Discord. During this round, participants were given a chance to have one on one session with any of the mentors and get some advice from them on their groundbreaking ideas.
A total of 22 teams submitted their ideas along with an introductory presentation on the Discord channel. Here, their ideas were analyzed on the basis of uniqueness and their alignment with the provided SDGs or themes. This round cut off only 10 teams for the second and final round which was held at the main campus of FAST NUCES on 4th May 2023.
In the second round, the judges conducted a thorough and timely analysis on the skills and projects that each group presented. At the end of their presentations, participants received feedback from the judges that allowed the participants to figure out their mistakes and acknowledge their strong points.
Competition plays a significant role in our society. Apart from motivating us to get ahead of our peers, it also urges us to enhance our surroundings with creative and innovative efforts.
Limited time and present critical judgement encouraged the hackathon participants to rigorously work upon their project presentations. In the end, this problem hacking contest announced a single winner and two runner ups. Let’s have a look at the three projects that came over every obstacle and made it to the finishing line.
Winner: 3D Med — Donation, Disposal, Drugs
Since pollution in general has a massive impact on the environment of our planet, it has become necessary for us to identify each type of pollutant that is rapidly spreading through industrial flows, carbon emissions, or radioactive contaminants.
In Pakistan, the pollutant that plays a major role in polluting water bodies and the air is medicinal waste. On a daily basis, hospitals discharge waste material that includes paper waste such as empty tablet packs or bottles, contaminated supplies such as injections, plastic bags that have been used for drips or blood and a lot of other wastage that flows into rivers and the sea and pollutes them. This waste often also includes unused medicine that gets mixed in the environment.
Team “3D Med” worked on the themes of ‘Ensuring healthy lives’ and ‘Sustainable Societies’ and came up with a model that donates unused medicine and monitors the proper method of medicinal disposal that does not harm any water bodies. Hence the name, 3D.
- Donation
- Disposal
- Drugs
The team introduced a web/mobile application that would allow users to donate unused medicines at their homes or at hospitals to 3D Med’s organization. Furthermore, the project promises to connect with authorities that would take care of proper waste disposal.
Future Work
3D Med was presented with three separate phases that are essential for its gradual growth as an innovative project. The first phase includes the first two Ds of 3D, medicine disposal and medicine donation. The second phase also incorporates the concept of donation through blood donation. In the third phase, users will be facilitated with surgical equipment through 3D Med’s web or mobile application.
Team 3D Med left the arena with their faces beaming as winners of the hackathon along with their hands loaded with their prizes which included a shield and cheque of Rs 35,000.
First Runner Up: Qanoon — Where You Meet the Law
The members of team “Qanoon” utilized DevDay’s platform for innovation and technological advancement and aimed to address one of Pakistan’s pressing challenges: limited access to justice. Their dedication to revolutionize access to justice was truly commendable.
Pakistan ranks 118th out of 128 countries in terms of access to justice. The judiciary system faces numerous challenges, including a backlog of cases, inefficiency, corruption, and limited access to justice for marginalized communities. These issues erode trust in the judiciary system and discourage individuals from seeking legal recourse for their grievances.
Future Work
The WYMTL team plans to analyze the data gathered through the application to identify weaknesses and strengthen the judicial system’s policies. They aim to integrate their platform with existing e-court systems such as the Lahore High Court e-court. Additionally, the team intends to include educational judicial resources for clients, empowering them with the knowledge to navigate the legal landscape effectively.
Project Qanoon was presented a shield for scoring the second position in the hacking contest and took home a prize of Rs 10,000.
Second Runner Up: Climate Action — Dhuaadaar
Closely following the last one, team “Climate Action” came third in the highly competitive DevDay’23 hackathon with their project, “Dhuaadaar”. With a huge undertaking of trying to tackle one of the most pressing issues in the globe, carbon emissions from everyday vehicles.
The emission of smoke from vehicles is a prominent environmental issue that demands serious attention. The presence of car smoke adversely affects air quality, escalating the chances of respiratory diseases. Given the gravity of this problem, immediate measures are necessary to address it effectively and minimize car smoke emissions.
Team Dhuaadaar started out by using wildfire detection systems as a guideline to build their vehicle smoke detection system. But the challenge of detecting smoke on the road is that the backgrounds and foregrounds are varied. Hence, the team decided to use advanced CNN algorithms and leveraged a codebook model for background modeling, and applied volume local binary count patterns which has achieved remarkable results in the past.
Implementing this approach can have several benefits, including reducing environmental pollution and improving road safety. By enabling precise and efficient detection of smoky vehicles in traffic surveillance videos, the proposed method can play a crucial role in identifying and taking necessary measures to address the issue. To achieve this, the YOLOv5tiny algorithm is employed, which rapidly detects smoke regions in each video frame.
The smoke-vehicle matching module effectively eliminates false positives, including non-road and non-vehicle regions, ensuring accurate results. To aid in the annotation of images, an online web application called Roboflow is utilized, facilitating the process, and enhancing efficiency.
Future Work
Looking ahead, the team intends to continue their advancements by exploring advanced CNN algorithms and incorporating background modeling techniques to enhance their vehicle smoke detection system.
Team Dhuaadaar was awarded Rs 5,000 and a shield for coming in third in the competition alongside a large number of competitors.
Empowering Women in Tech: The Essential Role of Hackathons:
Hackathons like the one conducted by DevDay’23, provide a unique platform for individuals to showcase their problem-solving skills, creativity, and technological expertise. These hacking marathons foster an environment of competition that pushes participants to think outside the box and come up with groundbreaking ideas while collaborating with others.
It is crucial to recognize the significance of hackathons, in Pakistan, especially for women in the tech industry. These events create a welcoming space for women where they can present their talent, increase their networking, and gain visibility in a traditionally male-dominated field. Hackathons empower women to take the lead, contribute their unique perspectives, and excel in their chosen domains.
PWiC Karachi’s sponsorship of the DevDay hackathon portrays their aim to support and promote women in tech. By providing opportunities for women to participate, learn, and shine, PWiC plays a pivotal role in fostering diversity and driving innovation in the tech industry.
In conclusion, the DevDay hackathon was a celebration of talent, innovation, and collaboration. As we look forward to future hackathons and similar events, let us continue to embrace and support the remarkable achievements of women in technology, and the fact that when we come together to celebrate innovation, the possibilities are limitless, and the future shines brighter than ever before.
Contributors:
- Yusra Arshad (PWiC Karachi Content Team Volunteer)
- Kinza Sheikh (PWiC Karachi Content Team Volunteer)
- Rakia Umaima Shafique (PWiC Karachi Content Team Co-Lead)
