Two tickets for two USI students to Silicon Valley

In the vast and varied world of software, one the most prestigious events for developers and engineers is certainly the Apple WorldWide Developers Conference (WWDC), which takes place from June 5 to June 9 in San José, California - the heart of the Silicon Valley. Organised by Apple since 1983, the conference attracts software experts from around the globe to learn about new Apple products and technologies, through workshops, seminars and group discussions.

Among the thousands of professional participants at the WWDC there are also around 350 students, including Alessio Buratti and Patrick Balestra, two USI Bachelor in Informatics students. In order to gain access to the WWDC, students are required to enter an international competion, presenting an original software project. For example, Alessio Buratti presented a 'mobile' version of an app his classmate Andrea Vicari developed during a Bachelor course. The app is called "Parsing & Modelling Swift Systems", a system that uses data from the land office and swisstopo (Swiss Federal topography office) to interactively display a city that, when viewed, can be "played" with, for example by removing buildings or inspecting them to understand where they are and what their properties are.

Future students who would like to acquire new skills and knowledge in the field of software, and perhaps follow the steps of Alessio and Patrick by joining the next WWDC, can enrol - from September 2017 - in the new Master in Software & Data Engineering, a study program that has been launched together with two other curricula in Informatics, the Master in Financial Technology and Computing, and the Master in Artificial Intelligence.