What is the DevFest about?

The Windsor Google Developers Group (GDG) is proud to host our fourth annual Windsor-Essex DevFest on Saturday, October 28, 2023. DevFests are Google-sponsored software developer conferences that allow the local software development community to come together to network and learn about the coolest new technology out there. The Devfest is also an opportunity to present topics that are aligned with the latest industry trends or have the potential to be one and to share knowledge and experience with others. Topics/sessions around Generative AI, Cloud Security, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), Google Cloud, and any other topics that can help and benefit the tech community are welcomed. 

Don't miss this opportunity and get your ticket today --> Get Tickets !

Windsor-Essex DevFest 2023 Attendee Guide

WHERE - St. Clair College Centre for the Arts - 201 Riverside Drive West, Windsor, Ontario N9A 4K4

REGISTRATION - Registration starts at 8 am. 

NETWORKING - One of the main goals for the event is to network and connect with like minded professionals. Be sure to MEET SOMEONE NEW and LEARN WHAT THEY DO.

THANK A SPEAKER - Speakers are key to making the DevFest a big success. Use the opportunity to connect with at least one speaker and thank them for their time and effort

LEARN SOMETHING NEW -  Try to attend a session on a topic that is new to you or you know nothing about. Be amazed when you feel a tingling of excitement to learn more!

THANK A SPONSOR - Just like speakers, our sponsors are key to making the event a big success. Connect with them 

BE GOOD TO EACH OTHER - This conference is volunteer driven. No one is being paid. Please treat everyone with respect and how you wish to be treated.

What is the High School Student Track?

Glad you asked! We are excited to host a small group of High School Students who will be learning the logical and physical skills to build and program electronic devices that interact with the physical world during the event.

Speakers Session Abstract

The abstract for the speakers sessions can be found here

Floor Plan

A detailed floor plan can be found here 

Agenda

8:00 AM Event Registration

9:00 AM 

• DevFest Kick Off and Welcoming Message -  Skyline B
• Josh Gordon (Google Head of ML & Generative AI DevRel)- Keynote Speaker - Skyline B

10:00 AM

• Ali El-Sharif (Professor - St Clair College) - Optimizing for AI Fairness - Dieppe A - First Floor
  
• David Neufeld (Senior Software Developer - Utilismart Corp) - Using Docker in the development / deployment process - Room A - 4th Floor
• Godfrey Nolan (President - RIIS) - Mobile Security - Room B - 4th Floor
• Medha Muppala (Women Techmakers Windsor)- Inclusive Design and How Google Paves the Way - Room C - 4th Floor
• Nilesh Patel (Customer Engineer Specialist - Google) - Generative AI: The Next Frontier of Conversational AI - Room D - 4th Floor

11:00 AM

• Nicholas Schmidt (Chief Technology and Innovation Officer - SolasAI & BLDS, LLC) - Responsible and Ethical Use of Machine Learning and AI  - Dieppe A - First Floor
  
• Bryan Bedard (Director, Architecture & Research - Amrock) - Building Bridges, Not Towers: Fostering Collaboration in Software Architecture - Room A - 4th Floor
• Joanne Soave (CEO - Connecting Windsor-Essex) - Effective Communication of Complex Concepts - Room B - 4th Floor
• Naresh Jasotani (Principal Technologist | Gen AI Ambassador - Google) - Generative AI - Room C - 4th Floor
  
• Sam Branton (Manager of Talent Programs and Engagement - WEtech Alliance) - Get Plugged into the Windsor-Essex Tech Scene - Room D - 4th Floor

12:00 - 1:00 

• Networking and Lunch Break - Skyline B            

1:00 PM

• Glen Yu (Google Developer Expert (Cloud) | Cloud and Data - PwC) - Lessons Learned in Building a Where's Waldo Object Detector - Dieppe A - First Floor
• Nav Singh (Google Developer Expert (Android) | Senior Mobile Software Engineer - Manulife ) - Accessibility in Android - Room A - 4th Floor
• Sydney Thompson (Entrepreneurship Program Coordinator - EPICenter University of Windsor) - EPICentre Programs & Services. How students can turn their ideas into a business - Room B - 4th Floor
• Joseph Youssouf (Intermediate Data Scientist - Preteckt) - Predictive Maintenance: Machine Learning to Prevent Vehicle Breakdowns - Room C - 4th  Floor
• Mackenzie Habash (Program Manager at Automobility & Innovation - Invest WindsorEssex) - Leveraging the Tech Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship - Room D - 4th Floor

2:00 PM

• Umair Durrani (Data Scientist - Presage Group) - Google Cloud: Catching Fire: Scaling Shiny Apps with Google's Firebase - Dieppe A - First Floor
  
• Abdul Habra - Speech I/O - Room A - 4th Floor
• Don Ward (Customer Engineer - Google) - Lead Your Local Tech Community, Gain the Edge in your Career - Room B - 4th Floor
• Noah Campbell (Senior Elite Technical Marketing Specialist - BlackBerry) - Building a connected and converged future you can trust - Room D -  4th Floor
  

3:00 - 3:30 PM

• Networking Break - Skyline B

3:30 PM

• Abdelghani Tbakhi (Professor - McMaster University) - Reimagining Pathology & Genomics: The Deep Learning Advantage - Dieppe A - First Floor
• Diaa ElKott (Software Development Engineer - Perceptron Inc.) - Demystifying Rust Ownership and Lifetimes - Room A - 4th Floor
• Vimal Kumar (GDG Cloud Toronto) - Cloud DevOps - Room B - 4th Floor
• Sodiq Shofoluwe (Professor - St. Clair College) - Introduction to the concept of Large Language Models LLM - Room C - 4th Floor
• Aislyn Laurent (LABR Group Research Assistant - University of Windsor) - Computational Tools for Scientific Research - Room D - 4th Floor

4:30 PM

• Event Closing Remarks and Wrap-up  - Skyline B

Don't miss this opportunity and get your ticket today --> Get Tickets !