10,000 Indian Students Unleash Creativity on Windows at AppFest

Over 10,000 students across India joined hands to create 3000 full apps at the Microsoft Student AppFest, a coding event enabling them to develop their ‘dream app’ ideas alongside professional developers using the latest Microsoft technologies.

The Appfest at Saroj Sadan University of Mumbai, Kalina was inaugurated by Jean-Philippe Courtois, President of Microsoft International. 

 Jon DeVaan, Corporate Vice President, Windows Development at Microsoft said, “Developers are at the center of Microsoft’s success. And India is home to some of the world’s most talented developers. We are focused on enabling developers to succeed as they build the next generation of apps. I can’t wait to see some of these apps being built at the Windows Appfest.”

With the participation of 250 students from each college across India, the response amounts to over 60,000 collective hours of coding. An estimated 3,000 full apps were imagined and created during the one-day code-a-thon.

The goal of the event was to ignite the imagination of students from colleges representing the full spectra of Indian academia by offering the chance to design the perfect app with guidance from professional developers. 

Young tech-enthusiasts were given the freedom of casting their app-vision on the latest Windows 8 and Windows Phone platforms; building, designing and testing bespoke apps geared at phones and tablets while receiving guidance and support from Microsoft mentors, trainers and Student Partners to realize their creation.

Speaking at the AppFest Dr. S S Mantha, Chairman, AICTE, said, “Opportunities like these are the game changers in today’s world. These are the skills that the future generations need to understand and learn in a globally collaborative world.”

Dr. Rajan Welukar Vice-Chancellor, University of Mumbai spoke about the link between both the IT and the education industries, saying, “University of Mumbai is keen in creating competent skills in students as per the need of Government, Industry and other Social Sectors. Conducting workshops on application development for the students by the leading industries thus facilitates them to achieve the expertise required. We are bringing up new specialized courses such as IT infrastructure management in collaboration with industry to bridge the gap between academia and industry. Appfest by Microsoft being conducted across fifty centers in India and being inaugurated here in University of Mumbai will stand as a landmark for achieving the above objectives.”

Participation at the Appfest was from colleges such as IIT Mumbai, Ahmadabad but also saw representatives from a plethora of vibrant academic and engineering colleges from Tier II and Tier III cities.