Instituto TIM attended the 9th Campus Party Brasil, one of the lengthiest international technology marathons, which took place on January 26 to 31 at Centro de Exposições Anhembi (Anhembi Convention Centre), São Paulo (SP). Two projects featured prominently at the event: Academic Working Capital had a permanent desk throughout the event and TIM Tec was the topic of a lecture on the main stage. In all, approximately 120,000 people visited the spaces set aside for lectures, workshops, panels, and activities at the Campus Party.
The AWC program took to the event 10 young people who had been in four groups that participated in 2015: Tech Muda, Tech Talk, Loot Factory, and Recicladora Portátil de Papel (Portable Paper Recycler). The idea was for those young people to share their experience in the program with the students.
“Our plan is to get the word out so someone out there gets interested,” explained Lucas Moraes Pinheiro from Tech Talk. He and his classmate Edson Nakada created a system that vocalizes tasks via voice commands. Their initial idea was to sell the solution to pizzerias, but now they are shifting their focus to e-commerce. “We made our first contacts in the queue,” Edson said. “We are looking for someone to be our pilot client.”
The AWC 2015 participants also attended lectures on entrepreneurship and startups and gave interviews to the press. “It has been very good for us to raise our profile,” said Fernando Paes Lopes. He, Fernando Velloso, and Henrique Martins created Tech Muda, a machine that automatically selects eucalyptus seedlings (mudas, in Portuguese) and which won the Santander Universities Award in the Entrepreneurship category.
Lectures
Besides the AWC desk, Instituto TIM participated in the Campus Party by giving two lectures on the evening of January 27. The first took place on the Startups & Makers stage with Instituto TIM representative Anna Carolina Meireles and AWC content coordinator Diogo Dutra. Anna Carolina spoke about the Institute and some of its initiatives, especially AWC. “If you are not going to a university, you certainly know someone who is and has this entrepreneurial vein,” she said.
Then, Diogo presented the program. He said the purpose of AWC is to market solutions that end up in a drawer after students graduate. “This is a time in people’s lives when they are choosing a career and often the option to become an entrepreneur is not there. AWC shows this alternative.” Diogo discussed some of the 2015 projects like Tech Talk and Grape Truck, and talked about the 2nd AWC 2016 call for projects, which will be open between February 15 and April 17.
Subsequently on the main stage, TIM Tec Teacher João Bernardes talked about “What you need to know to create a game”. The proceedings were opened by Teacher Fábio Flatschart, who spoke about Instituto TIM and presented the three pillars of the project: free software, courses, and using TIM Tec such as the MOOC platform of Rede e-Tec Brasil.
João Bernardes said game development involves not only programming but also art and business, and pointed out important aspects in the creation of a game: interaction, computer graphics, animation, physical simulation, and music and sound. “The game may look good, but if you want the guy to tell his friends about it, or play your second game, it has to be fun to play,” he highlighted.
