Inclusive STEM Confluence 2020, Benguluru
“Inclusive STEM Confluence” is a very unique, one-of-a-kind event, organized by five organizations – I-STEM, IIIT-B, Vision-Aid, Vision Empower and XRCVC and has 3 components. The center-piece is an inclusive hackathon that brings together visually impaired coders with software engineers from the Industry and students form IIIT and other colleges to code on exciting projects in a 24-hour hackathon setting. Confluence also includes a series of hi-tech workshops where visually impaired can learn about latest technical concepts like AI, ML and BlockChain; and also an Employer Connect program which connects them with top Employers.
Vision-Aid has been training students in programming for 3+ years, and by participating in these events, affords our students opportunities to network with other professionals, look for jobs, and learn about new trends in tech. A total of 19 Vision-Aid students from all over India participated. In addition several others from other host organizations and the general public also joined the event. Most of the participants were offered financial aid to enable them to travel and stay at no cost to themselves, thanks to the sponsors of this years event. The photo below shows the Vision-Aid contingent at the event.
The 24-hour hackathon saw several interesting projects with a total of 7 teams. Two teams included Vision-Aid students, who paired with industry engineers from Intel and Oracle, as well as IIITB students to develop projects. One of the teams also won a prize. Vision Aid team Ankit Deb and Kulwinder Singh along with Kartik Arora and Intel developer Nithya, bagged the third prize. The project name - Spot- Me, was a dedicated device that let's the visually impaired know when they are being pointed at by another person nearby. The second Vision-Aid team which included Nagababu and Laxmisagar, along with their mentors from Oracle and students from IIIT Bangalore, implemented and demonstrated the proof of concept on the project named OS-IDEA for Object and Sign Identity detection with extended accessibility. More details about these and other prize winners and projects, including a full event report will be shared soon - please stay tuned. The photo below shows the Vision-Aid team getting the prize at the event.
The event also included several interesting workshops led by Microsoft volunteers, an employer exchange where job aspirants met employers, round table discussions on inclusion and a product expo which showcased many interesting ideas ranging from handwriting-to-text converters, tools to make complex diagrams accessible . Pranav Savla, one of our youngest blind students, who just turned 14 today ( Happy Birthday Pranav !) , presented a project "eFile Encryption and Decryption " which he developed while taking the Harvard CS-50 class online. Pranav was sharing a series of audio updates throughout the event, and one of his messages really sums up the overall feeling "It was a really cool and informative event and its really cool to be here"
The Inclusive STEM Confluence event, was very heart-warming. Hearty congratulations to all Vision-Aid students, volunteers and team members, as well as participants and volunteers from all other fellow organizers - I-STEM, IIIT-B, Vision Empower and XRCVC, for another stellar, successful 2-day event held on the17 and 18 th January, 2020.
“Wow, these Visually Challenged coders are writing even better code than some of my team members” - this was the enthusiastic comment by one of the project managers who works for one of Bangalore’s top tech giants, and who was participating in the Inclusive STEM Confluence event. This comment is exactly one of the outcomes that is hoped for from these events – to create awareness in industry professionals that blind or visually impaired coders are also very talented and can make strong contributions to the Information technology landscape.
This year’s event was co-sponsored by Intel, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley and also supported with employee and HR participation from Oracle, Wipro and many others. The photo below shows our member secretary Mr. V.L.Narasimhan, with Ms. Jayanthi, Senior Program Manager, Mr. Ramesh Kumar Center Manager along with Mr. S.P.Singh head of Intel India CSR program, and Nithya an Intel developer who participated in the 24-hour coding event enthusiastically writing code, along side our visually impaired participants.
The 24-hour hackathon saw several interesting projects with a total of 7 teams. Two teams included Vision-Aid students, who paired with industry engineers from Intel and Oracle, as well as IIITB students to develop projects. One of the teams also won a prize. Vision Aid team Ankit Deb and Kulwinder Singh along with Kartik Arora and Intel developer Nithya, bagged the third prize. The project name - Spot- Me, was a dedicated device that let's the visually impaired know when they are being pointed at by another person nearby. The second Vision-Aid team which included Nagababu and Laxmisagar, along with their mentors from Oracle and students from IIIT Bangalore, implemented and demonstrated the proof of concept on the project named OS-IDEA for Object and Sign Identity detection with extended accessibility. More details about these and other prize winners and projects, including a full event report will be shared soon - please stay tuned. The photo below shows the Vision-Aid team getting the prize at the event.
The event also included several interesting workshops led by Microsoft volunteers, an employer exchange where job aspirants met employers, round table discussions on inclusion and a product expo which showcased many interesting ideas ranging from handwriting-to-text converters, tools to make complex diagrams accessible . Pranav Savla, one of our youngest blind students, who just turned 14 today ( Happy Birthday Pranav !) , presented a project "eFile Encryption and Decryption " which he developed while taking the Harvard CS-50 class online. Pranav was sharing a series of audio updates throughout the event, and one of his messages really sums up the overall feeling "It was a really cool and informative event and its really cool to be here"
The Inclusive STEM Confluence event, was very heart-warming. Hearty congratulations to all Vision-Aid students, volunteers and team members, as well as participants and volunteers from all other fellow organizers - I-STEM, IIIT-B, Vision Empower and XRCVC, for another stellar, successful 2-day event held on the17 and 18 th January, 2020.
“Wow, these Visually Challenged coders are writing even better code than some of my team members” - this was the enthusiastic comment by one of the project managers who works for one of Bangalore’s top tech giants, and who was participating in the Inclusive STEM Confluence event. This comment is exactly one of the outcomes that is hoped for from these events – to create awareness in industry professionals that blind or visually impaired coders are also very talented and can make strong contributions to the Information technology landscape.
This year’s event was co-sponsored by Intel, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley and also supported with employee and HR participation from Oracle, Wipro and many others. The photo below shows our member secretary Mr. V.L.Narasimhan, with Ms. Jayanthi, Senior Program Manager, Mr. Ramesh Kumar Center Manager along with Mr. S.P.Singh head of Intel India CSR program, and Nithya an Intel developer who participated in the 24-hour coding event enthusiastically writing code, along side our visually impaired participants.