Annual ACM Symposium 2023

The Annual ACM Symposium was organised on 18 July between 2pm-5pm at the Mondini Hall. The primary objective of the event was to celebrate and honour the contributors of the ACM-DBIT website, which received a prestigious global award, especially Mr. Grejo Joby and Mr. Hayden Cordeiro. Additionally, the program aimed to recognize the achievements of the previous ACM-DBIT core members and introduce the new ACM-DBIT core for the upcoming year.

The event commenced with Leona, the ex-chairperson of ACM-DBIT introducing the event and its purpose and welcoming everyone, thereby setting the tone for Symposium 2023. A prayer session was then led by Fr. Nelson, followed by the lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries. This symbolic act signified the auspicious beginning of the program. Leona then shared the agenda for the main event, providing an overview of the topics and activities scheduled for the day. The dignitaries were welcomed with saplings as they settled into their seats. Leona then delivered a speech explaining the role and functions of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). The talk aimed to familiarize the audience with ACM's objectives and initiatives. The comperes, Mr. Manish Patil and Ms. Siddhi Gadge then introduced the dignitaries. The event was attended by Fr. Charles Anthony, Assistant Director of DBIT, Fr. Nelson Carvalho, Campus Minister, DBCL, Fr. McEnroe Lopes, Administrator, DBCL, Fr. Brian Moras from DBCL as well as Dr. S. Krishnamoorthy, Advisor, DBIT.

Fr. Brian Moras then shared his insights as well as appreciation to ACM-DBIT, and encouraged students to join the student chapter as well as participate in activities organised by ACM Student Chapter. Fr. Charles Anthony also spoke with the students, encouraging the students of the computer department to master proficiency in various technical skills. The Head of Department (HOD), Dr. Phiroz Sheikh then addressed the audience, sharing insights and updates related to the department's activities and achievements. Prof. Imran Mirza then shared his knowledge and experiences as the faculty coordinator of ACM. To create audience interactivity, fun games were organised during short segments of this programme, offering exciting prizes for all of them. These fun activities received active participation from both students as well as faculty.

The students who contributed to the development of the website were then felicitated- Mr. Grejo Joby and Mr. Hayden Cordeiro. This was on account of the ACM student chapter receiving a global award for their website and a 5005 cash prize for the same. Mr. Jovin Nicholas, a contributor to Teknack 2023 was also felicitated in appreciation for his contribution.

After this, the entire ACM-DBIT core team, including the senior, junior, design, tech and product development teams, were felicitated for their contributions and achievements. The induction of the new core team members was immediately conducted, announcing their individual roles and induction into the tearn. This was followed by a brief vote of thanks, expressing gratitude to all dignitaries who attended, and the compere introduced the upcoming fun events to keep the audience engaged. A large-scale fun event was then set to engage the entire audience, aiming to encourage interaction, collaboration, and entertainment.

The panel discussion was then conducted, wherein the alumni shared insights on various topics related to college life, corporate life, placements, extracurricular activities, higher education, time management, artificial intelligence and various other questions asked by the students. The panel of Alumni comprised of Mr. Grejo Joby, ex-chairperson of ACM-DBIT, Mr. Hayden Cordeiro, ex-vicechair person of ACM-DBIT, Mr. Pakshal Ranawat, Advisor of ACM-DBIT, and Mr. Jovin Nicholas, ex-technical head of ACM- DBIT. The panel discussion was moderated by Ms. Nicole Saldanha. It was extremely insightful and motivating, and the students took home a lot of encouragement from this discussion. The alumni were then felicitated with tokens of appreciation