KARACHI – Women Tech Quest 2021, an initiative of 10Pearls University, is a platform for women to compete, network, and showcase their tech talents. The 5th edition of WTQ was held online on April 3, 2021. More than 700 women participated in the event, not only from different cities and towns of Pakistan, but also from across the world including the USA, Italy, Jordon, and Germany.
WTQ, launched in 2017, is a competition dedicated to inspiring 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 to share their experiences to help other women grow.
According to Zeeshan Aftab, Co-Founder, 10Pearls, “As a leading technology company, we want to create an ecosystem that enables women to demonstrate their creativity and expertise, network with influential professionals, and accelerate their careers. This edition of WTQ gave women across Pakistan an opportunity to compete, win prizes, and learn from women excelling in the global tech landscape.”
The competition comprised of three streams; the Coding competition included a series of problems presented to the participants, requiring them to use any programming language of their choice 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 solve a UI/UX challenge, where their approach towards user research, persona building and user flows were judged. There were 6 winners in total – two from Coding, two from Testing and 2 from Design competition.
Winners List – WTQ 2021
Coding Maryam Nasir (Professional), Batool Ahmed (Student) Testing Syeda Ayesha Tanvir (Professional), Samrah Mazhar (Student)
| Design | Aaira Suhail (Professional), Midhat Kamal (Student) |
According to Ayesha Tanvir, Winner of Testing Competition, “Women Tech Quest gave me an excellent opportunity to get visibility, learn, and have great credentials on my CV. It felt great to be recognized for my skills and to win such a tough competition!”
Apart from the Competition, WTQ also featured inspirational speaker sessions by esteemed women such as Sundas Khalid, Senior Analytical Lead, Google (Opening Keynote), Ayman
Sarosh, Owner, WECan (Speaker Session), and Sarah Roderus, Vice President, Testing Services, 10Pearls (Closing Keynote).
In addition, an invigorating panel discussion on “Raising Women Leaders and Why it Matters” was also held. The event was moderated by Samar Hasan, Founder, Epiphany, and Panelists included Asma Shabab, Innovation and Experience Strategist, IBM; Zahra Shah, Co-Founder, Seers; and Puruesh Chaudhary, Founder, Foresight Lab. The discussion centered around enabling leadership qualities, overcoming obstacles, building confidence and the impact of women leadership in a company’s growth.
Women Tech Quest has always been supported by top names in technology and other industries. We are proud to have reputed names like Pakistani Women in Computing (PWiC), WomeninTechPK, Women Engineers Pakistan (WEP), GDG Kolachi, Women Techmakers, and GDG Islamabad as our Event Partners for WTQ2021. The event was sponsored by Careem, Trashit, Vogue Aesthetic, and Nails & Wood.
