THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To be the part of a global community of technocrats is every techie's dream. Interacting with fellow innovators and startup founders at the place which is the cradle of everything related to information and technology is something an engineering graduate wants to do at any given period of time in his life. In Muhammed Shibin's case, that dream is soon going to be fulfilled.
Muhammed, a B Tech sixth semester student of Cusat, is one of the 10 top innovators from India to be invited by Google to participate in the Google I/O 2018 conference to be held in the United States from May 8 to 10. A learner, developer, and mobile enthusiast, Muhammed says, "My work as a community organiser and manager led Google to invite me to the conference." He is presently the community manager and organiser with the Google Developers Group Kochi.
He is looking forward to the Google conference and says, "The conference provides a huge platform for young developers to interact with their global counterparts. Developers from around the globe participate in talks, get an opportunity to avail hands-on learning experience with Google experts and a first look at Google’s latest developer products." The conference is not the last stop of this young innovator who has also been selected as one of the 10 innovators for the Rajeev Circle Fellowship (RCF).
Muhammed, whose startups Cashdis and Lets Connect, caught the eye of the talent hunters from RCF, says, "The fellowship sends young entrepreneurs and startup founders to the Silicon Valley in California for two to three weeks to be mentored. The fellowship is bankrolled by the Motwani Jadeja Foundation. Both the Google conference and the RCF programmes are in May."
One of the criteria for selection to both the Google I/O conference and the RCF is that the innovation developed by the candidate has to have made a positive mark on the community. "The innovations should work towards the benefit of the people," he adds. This young techie who loves to dabble in software and gadgets says, "I am always on the look-out for the latest technologies." And his constant search for doing something innovative led him to co-found CashDIS when he was in the first year of B Tech course. "CashDIS, a product by I-Mob Technologies, helps one to find the best deals at restaurants, movies, hotels, salons, gyms, spas and much more around you, with just a click. But we had to shut down after one year after a drop in its market share," he says.
Besides founding CashDIS, he has worked as a developer with many startups. At present, he has founded a startup Lets Connect, a virtual visiting card. The mobile app helps you share contact details with other users. "The app aims to reduce usage of visiting cards," he says. Muhammed says, "Nearly 10 billion cards are printed every year. Hence, you can imagine how many trees have to be cut to provide paper for it! Lets Connect helps mitigate this problem." The app has presently 150 Beta users.
Muhammed, who is a full stack developer with a core interest in mobile technologies, says, "There are many platforms that help young innovators to turn their ideas into reality. One such platform is the TinkerHub. At TinkerHub students and other technology enthusiasts come together and brainstorm ideas, share learning, besides experimenting cool hacks."
According to him, regular workshops are conducted to help beginners get an insight into newer technologies and know-how in electronics. "There are expert guides see that each project gets completed," Muhammed says.Another platform that helps young developers and innovators is the Rethinkfoundation.in. "Both these platforms are a boon for young techies," says Muhammed.