Feature

CUET ICT Fête 2010

Sushanta Paul and Mahmud Hasan

CHITTAGONG University of Engineering & Technology (CUET) CSE Association observed a two-day long splendid national ICT festival titled Teletalk-CUET ICT Fête to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Department of Computer Science & Engineering (CSE). Around one thousand participants from over 50 universities, distinguished ICT professionals, eminent professors and scientists participated in the aforesaid event and made it a grand success. The much anticipated carnival started on 22 January. The inauguration ceremony was attended by renowned faculty and personalities from around the country. Chief Guest of the inauguration ceremony was Dilip Barua, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Industries, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Prominent Scientist Professor Dr. Jamal Nazrul Islam was present as Special Guest. Professor Dr. Shyamal Kanti Biswas, Vice Chancellor (VC) of CUET presided over the ceremony.

In his speech, the chief guest said that the present government is committed to building an industrialized digital Bangladesh free from hunger and poverty within 2021. In this regard, the government is giving stress on a knowledge-based industry sector. On the other hand, proper measures should be adopted to integrate local industries with the mainstream sector with ICT support. And for serving this purpose, students and teachers of the universities should play a significant role.

The minister further mentioned that the universities should undertake programmes of mutual cooperation for research and development to develop innovative technology, which in turn will help foster quality of engineering education in the country. He announced to sign up Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CUET and Ministry of Industries aiming to build an atmosphere of mutual cooperation between industries and universities. He hoped that, as CUET is located at the industrial belt and near the major port of Bangladesh, Chittagong; this university can help open up a new era of Industries-Universities collaboration.

Eminent Scientist Professor Jamal Nazrul Islam, in his speech, said that to excel in the ICT sector we have to establish a favorable environment for ensuring quality education. He further noted that automation in all cases might not always be beneficial; in that case, coordination between human resource and automation process is of utmost necessity.

The VC of CUET emphatically urged to enhance the standard of ICT education. He stated that expansion of a standard ICT education is very essential in order to achieve economic emancipation of the country. He congratulated the Department of CSE for arranging the ICT carnival and added that a separate Faculty of Computer Engineering will be established at CUET very soon.

Bangladesh in accordance with the agenda declared by the present government.

The Head of the Department of CSE, Professor Dr. Md. Tazul Islam, the Convener of Teletalk-CUET ICT Fête Engr. Mir Md. Saki Kowsar and Organizing Secretary Engr. ASM Kayes also delivered speeches in the programme. Mir Md. Saki Kowsar, convener of the programme, expressed his profound gratitude to all the participants, patrons and speakers of the seminar. He especially thanked the sponsors - Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. for title, Huawei Technology Bangladesh Ltd. for their gift items.

A seminar on ICT was held after the inauguration session. Among several renowned presenters, Professor Dr. Md. Saidur Rahman, Department of CSE, BUET; Professor Dr. Al-Amin Bhuiyan, Department of CSE, Jahangirnagar University; tabled their papers related to ICT. Professor Dr. Poritosh Kumar Shadhu Dean, Faculty of Electrical & Computer Engineering, CUET conducted the seminar as its chair.

The two-day long festival was divided into 7 major segments; National Collegiate Programming Contest (NCPC), Seminar on ICT, Software and Hardware Project Showcasing, Career Counseling, Computer Gaming Competition, Reunion of CSE-CUET and a cultural Programme. The last part of the programme was synchronized with a concert.

The CUET NCPC-2010 was the most enjoyed event of the festival with the participation of 59 registered teams from 40 universities around the country. The contest took place in the Multimedia lab, C omputer lab and Central lab of CUET. It was one of the largest congregations of young programmers of the country with intense competition and a neck-to-neck fight till the very last moment. BUET's Bhushondir Kak and Rand Ecliptic secured the first and second position respectively while BUET Integrity secured third. The VC of CUET distributed the prizes and certificates among the participants. Md. Monjurul Hasan, Lecturer, Department of CSE has drawn much appreciation for successful arrangement of the CUET NCPC-2010 as its director.

On the other hand, Gaming Contest captured much of the enthusiasm among the students. The most popular games, NFS Most Wanted and FIFA 09 were in the competition where 100 participants took part.

Students from various departments of CUET participated in the Hardware & Software project showcase competition. The judging panel comprised of faculty members and industry experts from noted institutions. Among the projects placed for showcase, A Model of CNC Router as well as Automatic Sliding Door by Nahian and Automatic Water Tap Control System by Masud from Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) secured first and second place respectively. Project showcase competition took place outside the CUET auditorium and attracted a flock of visitors who were fascinated by the works of the developers.

A highly informative career counseling session was conducted where experts from renowned institutions exchanged views with the participants. It ended with an interactive question-answer session.

A memorable reunion was held where the CSE-CUET alumni shared their views and re-announced their commitment to go ahead with renewed spirit for ultimate betterment of the Department of CSE, CUET.

At the end, a cultural programme was organized by the present and former-students of the university. Songs, drama-segments, recitals and other events were presented at the cultural show.

A souvenir titled 'Envision' was brought out on this auspicious occasion. The sincere hard work of the teachers, students and technicians of CSE-CUET and the participation of numerous people from different institutions helped make a successful ending of the Teletalk-CUET ICT Fête.

(The writers are the members of CUET CSE Association)