10Pearls University holds Women Tech Quest 2020: An online tech competition for women across Pakistan

Women Tech Quest 2020, an initiative of 10Pearls University, is a platform for women to compete, network and showcase their tech talents. The 4th edition of WTQ was held online on June 13 & 14, 2020 for women across Pakistan. More than 500 women participated in the 2-day event, won exciting prizes and networked with inspirational tech women – all from the comfort of their homes.

WTQ, launched in 2017, is a competition dedicated to inspire women to excel in technology careers. The women participate in hands-on Coding, Testing and Design competitions, and the winners get exciting prizes and exposure. Additionally, there are guest speaker sessions and panel discussions, whereby leading professional women share their experiences to help other women grow.

10Pearls’ Co-Founder Zeeshan Aftab explains the purpose behind Women Tech Quest: “We want to create an ecosystem that enables women to demonstrate their creativity and expertise, get due recognition and accelerate their careers. Women Tech Quest is one such initiative. It was held online this time to safeguard social distancing and yet give women across Pakistan the opportunity to compete, win prizes and learn from successful women in tech.”

The Coding competition included a series of problems presented to the participants, requiring them to use a programming language of their proficiency to solve them. The Testing Competition presented contestants with a set of objectives to test their database and automation concepts, while the Design Competition required participants to design a thematic poster using Photoshop or Illustrator. There were 5 winners in total – two from Coding, two from Testing and 1 from Design competition.

Winners List – WTQ 2020

Coding: Marium Ali (Professional category), Eisha Tir Raazia (Student category)
Testing: Hoor Khan (Professional), Syeda Maryam Fatima (Student)
Design: Gulzar Fatima

According to Marium Ali, Winner of Coding Competition, “Events like Women Tech Quest give women an opportunity to prove their mettle and experience a competitive environment. I thoroughly enjoyed participating and winning the competition!”.

Apart from the Competition, WTQ also featured inspirational speaker sessions by esteemed women such as Jehan Ara, President of P@SHA and Co-Founder, The Nest I/O; Muazma Zahid, Senior Engineering Manager, Microsoft Azure Global and President, Pakistan Women in Computing; and Maheen Noor Soomro, Director, Mushawar UK & Mushawar Solutions.

In addition, an invigorating panel discussion on “Creating Your Own Beehive” was also held. The event was moderated by Faiza Yousuf, Founder, WomeninTechPK, and Panelists included Asma Khalil, Senior Director, Customer and Captain Care, Careem; Sadia Khuram, Vice President of Marketing, Jazz Business and Ammara Masood, CEO and President, National Data Consultants. The discussion centered around how to create and strengthen your professional network, connect with high-profile individuals, and achieve a steady growth!

Women Tech Quest has always been supported by top names in technology and other industries. We are proud to have renowned names like P@SHA, NIC Karachi, Circle, WomeninTechPK, Women Techmakers Lahore, GDG Islamabad and FAST-NUCES as our Event Partners for WTQ2020. The event was sponsored by Uber and Bonanza Satrangi.