Muhammed Shibin, a native of Calicut, has been selected for Google's tech conference to be held in Mountain View, California, between May 8-10. The young man, a freelance android developer and student in the 6th semester at the IT department in Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), is understandably excited.
The conference is titled 'Google I/O 2018' where 'I/O' stands for 'innovation in the open' and refers to bringing about a new learning experience for all participants.
Shibin is also a mentor to Sarang Sumesh, an eight-year-old child prodigy, who hails from Kochi in Kerala. Sumesh works on robotics and is interested in using technology to solve day to day problems. Sarang was previously a fellow at the Rajeev Circle Fellowship (RCF) and Shibin will be accompanying the boy to the Maker Faire science fair in San Francisco, as confirmed to TNM by an official of the RCF. The fair is scheduled to take place on May 19.
Sumesh's latest invention is a seat-belt that can sense an impending accident involving fire or water and release itself.
Other than the Google conference, Shibin, who has previously worked with companies like Flip Technologies and Techstars, and volunteered with the National Association of Software and Services (NASSCOM), will also attend the Facebook Developer Conference and TiEcon.
TiEcon is yet another programme which encourages entrepreneurship while the Facebook Developer Conference, to be held on May 1 and 2, is all about the future developments to be brought in on Facebook.
Speaking to TNM, Shibin says, "I am working for Google Developers as a community manager in its Kochi Chapter. I work as a volunteer leader, which means I am not paid for this. I am doing this work out of my own interest.”
He further adds: “And it is also part of the student entrepreneurship policy of our college through which we can work in our desired fields. I was contacted by the Google team since I was a community manager. They choose people based on the activities they have done and their impact. Because of my efforts, I was promoted to the post of the official organiser from being a community manager.”
Shibin's achievements include founding 'Let's Connect', a mobile app that enables one to share contact details. "This app basically makes it unnecessary to share business cards by replacing them with their soft copies online," he says.
Shibin is currently working on a few productivity apps and tools and hopes to get help for these with the experience he gains from attending the conferences and fairs.