ACM is an international learned society for computing, founded in 1947. It is the world’s largest educational computing society. It is a non-profit professional membership group, organized into multiple local chapters, and 37 Special Interest Groups (SIGs), through which it conducts most of its activities. The ACM presents and co–presents a number of awards for outstanding technical and professional achievements and contributions in computer science and information technology. The award given in the honor of Alan Turing, who is widely regarded as the father of computer science is an example.
The Manipal Chapter was conceptualized in the odd semester of the academic year ’15-’16. It is a vision brought to life by four Computer Science enthusiasts Pawan Dubey, Shubheksha Jalan, Rohit Ranjan and Anshuman Funkwal in April ’16, who supervise the working of the club as the Executive Board Members.
Here at ACM Manipal Chapter, the mission is to create a thriving Computer Science culture at MIT Manipal by sharing of knowledge and ideas, and promoting and nurturing the interest and curiosity of students in relevant fields. ACM welcomes any person who is passionate enough to pursue excellence in any field of Computer Science, irrespective of their year, branch or CGPA. For instance, some members in the committee are from Electronics and Communication, and even Mechanical Engineering. It encourages people to gain and impart knowledge about Computer Science and contribute in the fields of research and development.
The ACM student chapter comprises over 20 core committee members and Board members who have excelled at placements by bagging jobs at IT giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, Juniper to name a few. The members of the chapter share an unparalleled degree of enthusiasm when it comes to Computer Science and its various fields of application and possess domain knowledge in Machine Learning, Data Science, Natural Language Processing, etc. ACM houses members who have won Microsoft’s prestigious Code.Fun.Do and have participated in competitions such as Imagine Cup and Build the Shield. Under the guidance of the skilled and knowledge-equipped mentors, the members of ACM are exposed to different fields of Computer Science, and are encouraged to excel in the same. Publishing papers, holding in-house hackathons, competitive coding and having mock-interviews are a few examples of how ACM helps in developing skills and increasing knowledge-base.
ACM Manipal’s most recent event was Mentorship Program during summer ’16, one of the most unique programs in MIT, where in different topics were available to choose from, ranging from learning languages such as Java or Python, working with run times such as Node.js, to applications of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, along with a choice of being a mentee or mentor for the same. Along with such events, we are coming up with weekly meets – ACM: ACM CS Meets, which will deal with a new topic in CS every week. ACM also holds talks on various topics such as research, and ACM ICPC (International Collegiate Programming Contest), which is unarguably the world’s biggest competitive coding contest, regarded as the Olympics of Programming, sponsored by ACM.
How is it different from other technical clubs in MIT?
- ACM believes in an inclusive environment with a flat hierarchy, meaning that there is no further divisions in the group based on the year you’re in such as the working committee comprising of first years, the managing committee comprising of second years – the structure followed by most clubs here in MIT.
- It is trying to be actively focused on research on advanced topics in CS, something very few clubs in MIT do.
- It is not looking to work with a huge group of people, but for a group of focused & talented individuals with a keen interest in CS.
- It puts prime emphasis on learning & sharing of knowledge & doesn’t expect its members to do publicity chores such as poster drawing and info-desks, hence restricting itself to online publicity
What will you gain by joining ACM Manipal Chapter?
- You will be among a group of smart & motivated peers who’re enthusiastic about all things CS
- ACM members are provided with a special ‘acm.org’ ID, which enables them to access the ACM Digital Library. The ACM Digital Library is a research, discovery and networking platform full-text collection of ACM publications worldwide, along with a richly interlinked set of connections among authors, works, institutions, and specialised communities
- It has a calendar full of workshops for its core committee members including topics such as – Introduction to Data Science, Web Development, Software Development & Testing, Contributing to Open Source and a lot more!
If you don’t fully understand what some of the terms used above mean, but it sounds exciting or fascinating to you, don’t worry, because ACM is looking for people like you! Their General Body Meeting is on Wednesday, 28th September, followed by recruitment on 29th and 30th of September. Do attend!
In case of any queries, you can email them at hi@acm.manipal.org or message them on their Facebook page.