My ACM experience

Okay. So I asked this person (I’m not disclosing names!) about different societies of NUST on Ask.fm. This was almost a week before joining date.  We specifically talked about ACM and IEEE. IEEE? Sounds “more professional” with all those “Es..” as in engineering, but he told me that ACM performed way better than most of the societies and that they got more grants as well.  So, I made up my mind that ACM will be the one I’ll join. We talked about different societies too. SGA, SLS, NAC, etc.

Kher, I’ll share my experience…

At first, obviously, I became a general member of ACM. I did join other societies as well, but the catch was that ACM had arranged an orientation cum fun activity meeting along with a food party (If I’m not wrong there was a cake as well :P ) . So they do care about their members, right? To be honest, they were the only ones who did actually made a first good impression. And then I decided I should try my luck at the Executive council thing.

In a parallel universe, I was sitting in my hostel room when a person X came to rag me. I won’t go into the ragging details but in the end I found out that Mr. x was the President of ACM,  well Former President as of now.  I told him I could design stuff in Adobe Photoshop and I wanted to be on the executive list of members. He said sure man, u’re in! And that’s how it happened…no? Yea none of that happened actually :P I was called in for an interview the next day and after a lot of discussion about what I’ll be doing and will I be able to do it, I was selected. Selection was totally on merit I must tell you, jaisay Shahbaz Sharif k laptops merit pe miltay han :P  I competed for the post. Let’s cut it short there was no one else who had applied for that post so I was selected anyways. Never mind :P

ACM has given me a lot of exposure related to managing tight schedules I’d say. Sometimes we had a day or two to plan and execute a whole event. I’m proud to say that within first six months, I was Alhamdulillah made the head of IT team. It might sound a bit pretentious but I really liked it when someone appreciated my work. Well that’s a natural thing I guess! There were a lot of fun events. Especially Robo-Wars which was related to making robots and competing with your rivals.There was this team who came from some other college of NUST. They used to call us sir, third years, not knowing that we were Freshmen :P There were workshops, seminars and a charity event which was a really good experience.

I have spent some really good time in this society I would say. Though there wasn’t much interaction at first, I didn’t even know about more than half of the council :P. But honestly speaking the people were really good. Taking time out of your busy schedule is very difficult, but this council was able to do it and I salute you guys for that!

I’d like to end with a quote which I just Googled and I don’t know why am I putting it here or if it is even relatable… haha here you go :D

“Learning is an ornament in prosperity, a refuge in adversity, and a provision in old age.” 

― Aristotle

Written By:

Moazzam Ali Khan,

Head IT Team, ACM-SEECS Chapter,

Council of 2013 – 14.

ACM-SEECS from a Student’s Eyes!

“There is a very fine difference between a thing of beauty and a thing of joy. While beauty can be seen with the human eye, joy must be felt deep within the heart to truly envision. If your heart is weary of an object’s joy, your eye will never see it with any beauty.” 

I remember listening to my grandfather’s thick voice as he mumbled this to me every now and then as I was growing up. The first test served by this lesson started when I was seven. I hated numbers; no, I loathed them in fact. I have often felt that the use of a fancy word adds to the embellishment or mutiny of a certain object depending on the situation. Anyways, numbers were not my thing. Struggling with them came rather naturally to me and any amount of effort would not lead to a good-hearted relationship between me and Mathematics. We always had our strains, and quite thick ones too might I add, more often than not.

Fast-forward a few years and I was still stuck at the same point in my life as far as numbers were concerned. I remember reading a very famous quote by Einstein where he remarked:

“Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.”

This was a rather difficult moment because I almost felt indifferent to the subject. I did not gather how something of such misery to me could be a source of joy for so many and the basis of so much beauty that I saw in the world.

However, when I was fourteen, numbers suddenly started making sense and for the lack of a better word, I was truly “obsessed”. I remember practicing mathematics for long hours every single day simply because it brought such a sudden rush of joy. That was when I realized grandpa had been right all along. We only see beauty in things when our heart feels the joy that they bring to us.

When I started my freshmen year at university, I had to take one computer programming course. I had heard that programming can be hard for first timers; however, I had also heard that if you get the “hang” of it, you will love it. In hopes that I will be one of the latter and not of the former, I spent my first few classes. It was a mess. I didn’t get it, it felt absolutely impossible and I was frustrated. With just a single semester gone, programming was, to put in appropriate terms, getting on my nerves.

You might wonder where ACM- SEECS comes in to play here. ACM- SEECS is a community of well-knit individuals who know what it is to be programmer. I attended a few of their workshops, talked to some of their core team members and learnt what no one had previously told me: programming, just like anything else, is a skill. With just enough passion for the subject, you can frame and present your imagination on the screen. A very passionate young member of ACM remarked and his words have stayed with me since, 

“Programming is more than a few lines of code on your screen. It is a vessel, just like a painter’s canvas. The only beauty with the code, just like the painting, is that it must be representative of you. If a painter paints with his heart, the imperfection becomes the new perfect; your code should be just that. Errors will take care of themselves.”

What happened on from here is not too hard to guess! Grandpa’s words got testified once again. Programming became an experience of utterly immense joy for my heart and it has gotten only better and much more beautiful.

Ayesha, a fellow SEECS student and a very dear friend, remarked,

 “You know you come in to a university with lots of hopes and a certain set of ideals. You dream as to how things should be. The sad part is: none of that is a piece of cake. The good part is that there are lots of people who absolutely give you the time of your life. ACM’s chapter in SEECS has some brilliant individuals and I am very proud to have them as my friends! They are the good part!”

Ali, a passionate blogger, shares as I ask him about ACM- SEECS,

 “You know, initially, I thought this would be just like any other computer society that we find in universities. I guess I was wrong. I do believe they can notch up their game by introducing more competitions and workshops. More opportunities for me to get to know people and their stories!”

A few opinions were rather enough! As much as I am thankful to ACM for providing me with a second joy after numbers, every student, whether a part of ACM- SEECS or not, had a unique story that reflected in very deep terms what the society meant for them. This is a huge thing because alongside technology, you have a mention of ACM’s chapter in SEECS.

Three cheers for ACM and its wonderful core team at NUST!

Written By: Tehreem Rasul

ACM-SEECS Chapter from the eyes of Students

Starting from November, as far as I can recall it was 19^th of November 2013, the day when the sun was nearly blinding and the sunlight beamed upon my face and I started to gaze on the cloudless shinning blue sky as I was going up the stairs. A perfect picture that could allow me to feed off of its beauty forever awaited there. Outside the lobby of SEECS, to the extreme left a registration desk was placed and on it were 3 blue letters ACM (this letters meant nothing to me at that time) . Being a freshie Le Me was just excited about joining each society that existed :P..  so I went up there and got myself registered as a Freshie. And that’s how I guess every student`s ACM SEECS Chapter Started.

ACM SEECS is where skills meet the fun and education meets the opportunity  and a time came when a number of workshops started to take place. Firstly the workshop of vuforia after that the most amazing week came up with a lot of opportunities named as CSED week giving away prizes too ... in which i was more interested in lol... and of course encouraging each and every one for their participation and efforts (the best part about it) and this went on and on. Guys! every minute is an adventure, every day is an opportunity so better start availing it. From small workshops held in labs to large scale events, ACM has always been the only society that keeps up to the Student`s expectations.

Robo-wars, the idea behind it still frames in my mind, I would say the most fascinating event of the year though I did not get a chance to attend but really looking forward to it this year. Help, Guidance, experience, encouragement, passion is what we seek from ACM SEECS and much more. Conducting workshops to benefit students like us who have just entered the dark crowded street with no flashlight…

As my friends say:

"It’s definitely worth joining, regret will come on your doorstep if you don't."

“ACM, I believe, is one of the active societies of SEECS. In my one year at SEECS, it has organized well planned events throughout the year. I particularly remember the week long events and competitions organized by ACM. My friends and I participated in some of those events and it was a pleasure to attend them.”

Education is not everything you need to gain... From where would the skills, passion, courage and experience come from ?? ... that would allow you to be always one step ahead of everyone. That`s what societies are for. ACM SEECS is not just one chapter it`s like a novel full of many chapters and each starts with the line “WHERE SKILLS MEET THE FUN !! ” but not to forget that each and every chapter has a completely new story with a completely new adventure. 

Written By: Fatima Mahmud

ACM-SEECS Chapter from the eyes of Students

The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual. (Vince Lombardi)

Acm seecs feels proud to have a good team.

ACM-SEECS is a sub domain of International Society “Association for Computer Machines” working in SEECS. Aim of ACM-SEECS is to promote Computer Science among students through a number of seminars and workshops. The success of any society is measured by the opinions of students. SEECS feels proud to have talented and ambitious students. One of the Student of SEECS highlighted that ACM should arrange big events.

“ACM should move towards arranging bigger events rather than small number of events. This will not enlarge the picture of society but will also encourage more and more students to participate”.

One of the students highlighted that there needs to be a place of entertainment in ACM events.

“ACM is a good society; it has been the recognized as top council in SEECS and internationally as well in past and its events are good in particular. ACM celebrates CSEd week every year and this is very good tradition and very much applauded in a school like SEECS. My point of view is that ACM is lacking in fun events at campus level as compared to other societies and the upcoming council must also work it out somehow.”

One of the student showed confidence on new upcoming council by saying :

“ACM has a lot of potential”

No society is perfect. There is always a need of improvement. We should focus on the issues that are raised by students. Some of the students highlighted that ACM’s Marketing is not up to the mark. ACM will try to focus on marketing INSHALLAH.

Written by: Faiza Faheem

ACM, from a Student`s Perspective

ACM, IEEE,YES, CSP, IAESTE umm many more societies to name in SEECS. 

Yes as we students, faculty and admin are a part of SEECS likewise different societies also operate in SEECS providing students with opportunities to participate in different competitions (inside and outside the university), conduct different workshops and seminars,  participate and attend different events etc.

As a student at NUST-SEECS of course it has crossed my mind many times which society to join..Well the answer to this question is simple. I wanted to be a  part of ACM. Yes , Association For Computing Machinery. But this did not happen without a reason of course there was a reason behind it. Mainly because I asked my fellows around about different societies and one of the best feedback was for ACM. 

Well i guess i should add ACM is US based international learned society for computing and the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, delivering resources that advance computing as a science and profession. ACM-SEECS Chapter fully aims towards inducing the habits of thinking and research in students by exposing them to new technologies and trends through seminars and workshops. It also facilitates SEECS students in acquiring knowledge that will become the foundation upon which they can build their future.

Enough with the background and history i guess. Now coming to my favorite part what did I gather about ACM that I m so eagerly looking forward to join it.

Firstly, because this society provides the students with a lot of fun events, competitions, workshops and seminars which at the end of the day prove to groom the students. Last year as I was in my sophomore year I had taken part in some of the events and they were quite entertaining providing a break from stressful routine and at the same time informative.

As i asked my fellows, they say  "ACM is quite nice, which along with computing related online and offline events organizes talks and seminars. Like last year they arranged the Thar Fund Raising in collaboration with Sahara Trust. Events like this should be arranged off and on."

" Yes! CSed Week has been eventful. I participated in that and it was hell fun. An hour of coding was awesome and the seminar on augmented reality too and Coffee with ACM hahah that was very interesting , how all teams were trying to win that competition. I loved that quiz competition and i myself got second prize. That closing ceremony was hilarious I enjoyed that a lot and the refreshments were refreshing. We would like to have such events again. " Well this is a nice comment!

One of the former executive of ACM says " ACM is a very cool society though i don't remember what it stands for. Last year i participated in an event called Robo-Wars, my sumo wrestler robot had qualified for final and i was feeling great just before another robot maybe Big Show (wrestler) eliminated my poor robot in the final. Still those were one of the most awesome moments i ever had in SEECS. Whenever i think of a competitor society in SEECS for YES. I always think of ACM." This competition began after with Robotics workshop.

Another says " ACM... umm.. well I can;t talk much about ACM because I have never seen their events being promoted or marketed as other societies do. I haven't taken part in any of the events nor my friends have because either we don't know about the event or either we come to know about it at the 11th hour.. So i guess it should work upon it's marketing strategy. It is a cool society the events I came to know have been cool but unfortunately I came to know about them at the 11th hour." Well , i guess that is true to some extent because this was not a word given by only one, many students said so.

"Design Off - The future starts, one of a good events of ACM. Students participated very enthusiastically since they were asked to draw their perspective about future which i guess was different in its kind.

As the winner of the event says  "When I heard about ACM's Design Off competition, I was pretty excited because this was a rare kind of opputunity as there was no restriction on the subject of drawing; plus there were those awesome X-Men movie tickets as the prize. So in those busy projects and assignments day, I sat down, brainstorming idea after idea until I settled upon drawing a idealistic future NUST HQ building. And guess what, I won! And thanks to ACM, I got to see my favorite movie with my friends in 3d on big screen, and that too free. Awesome. :D"

So ACM throughout its year organizes events for all kind of students looking in the interest for all students that is from a passionate coder to someone into Robotics,  from a designer to a non-designer. Time to time events are organized,  so students can easily manage between their studies and other activities in a good manner

At the end of the day I think, no I believe that ACM is one of the best choices for students to join.

Written By: Sitwat Atiq

View of people about ACM

ACM in the eyes of the people! Wow an interesting topic to write upon! As this post is meant to be an honest people poll so I decided to take the opinion of some people. My questions were mostly about the significance of ACM and views of people related to its events. So, here is the point of view of some amazing people :p

Husnain Arif Wahla (BESE 4A SEECS)

"ACM is an excellent society man. The events in particular are just amazing. I wonder how people in this society including you work so much for the society. Surely, that’s the dedication for the work and your love for your society. As far as my favorite event for is concerned, well I liked that Robo Wars event. It was one of a kind and I enjoyed a lot."

Abdul Manan (BESE 4C SEECS)

"ACM? (Bhai who kiya hai?) :D Anyways just kidding, there is hardly any person related to technology who doesn’t know the Association for Computing and Machinery and ACM SEECS Chapter is one of the most active societies of SEECS particularly for its awesome events and extra ordinary executive council."

Azba Nawaz (BESE 4A SEECS)  

"As I am the student of Software Engineering so interaction with societies such as ACM is an important factor for the sake of grooming. And without any doubt ACM SEECS Chapter is playing an excellent role in keeping us update with the technology and helping us developing interest for Computing."

Moazzam Ali Khan(BESE 4A SEECS)

"As soon as I was selected to be a part of SEECS, joining ACM was one of my topmost priorities and yes I am working as a graphic designer of the society and it’s a pleasure for me to design banners, posters and fliers for the events of ACM. P.S. “ACM waale Bohat kaam krwate hain yaar!”. :D"

Samra Nasir (BESE 4A SEECS)

"People belonging to ACM are always found working on something as if their events are everything for them. Sometimes we feel sorry for them :p but sometimes we feel proud of our mates working so hard for their society. Yes, ACM SEECS Chapter is an awesome society with a bunch of some excellent people."

Hussnain Waris (BESE 4C SEECS)

"I always heard of Association for Computing and Machinery as the oldest computer association in the world so it already was very prestigious organization for me and when I came to NUST and witnessed the amazing events of this society, I became sure that there is no other society in NUST matching the excellence level of ACM and yes it’s a dream for me to be a part of this society."

Faiza Ahmad Khan (BESE 4A SEECS)

"I remember being the part of “programming workshop” arranged by ACM SEECS Chapter which helped me a lot in clearing the concepts related to coding. ACM SEECS Chapter is an esteemed society with excellent people working day and night for the society and I wish them best of luck for the future."

Wow!! These were some of the opinions and comments by my mates about ACM, pretty amazing huh! :p Well these comments depict the respect of ACM in the eyes of the people. I, myself, worked for this society for an year and thoroughly enjoyed each and every event. Most of my work included writing articles for the society and yes distribution of Samosas. Well now as I have mentioned samosas so let me tell you one thing that I have a bad reputation regarding this distribution of Samosas because usually I ate most of them :P

Anyways, I am proud to be a part of this society and I want to be in this society forever. 

P.S. Aik din iss society ka president bnn k dkhaun gaa :’)

Written by: Umer Ahmed