DevLab 2026

This event is all set to spark your creativity and elevate your skills. ✨
Dive into the world of web technologies with enlightening talks on Angular 🌍, where our expert speakers will share insights and cutting-edge techniques.
Get hands-on in our Battlesnake workshop designed to empower you to deploy, manage, and scale containerised applications seamlessly. ☸️

Finally, put your skills to the test in our thrilling hackathon capture the flag event 🏴‍, where teamwork and innovation come to the forefront with exciting challenges. Connect, learn, and thrive with fellow developers in Malta. RSVP now and be part of this phenomenal journey! 🧑‍💻

Please don't forget to get your excitement, and your laptop for a day of DevLab!

Agenda

10:00 AM: Registration

Some time to get registered and have a quick chat.

10:30 AM: Welcome Address

Welcome Address, presenting the agenda for the day and a quick intro of the hosts.

10:45 AM: The "Good Enough" cluster: How to ignore best practices and get results

Explore a pragmatic approach to distributed systems with Joseph Trapani where simplicity trumps perfection, challenging standard constraints like latency and consistency to prioritize moving fast and simply getting things done.

11:15 AM: Code is your controller: Getting started with Battlesnake

Learn to scale Battlesnake experiments from local machines to distributed clusters in this workshop with Simon Agius Muscat, covering containerizing bots, orchestration, and managing massive parallel simulations for deep performance insights.

12:45 PM: Break

A quick networking break, with refreshments.

1:30 PM: Angular DevTools: What’s new & Under-the-Hood Architecture

Discover the latest Angular DevTools features like the Signal Graph through practical demos, then go behind the scenes with Hryhorii Avcharov to explore the extension's architecture, tech stack, and internal communication protocols.

2:00 PM: Capture the Flag: Hackathon

Join the ultimate cybersecurity challenge using the picoCTF platform to race against the clock solving puzzles in cryptography, web exploitation, and reverse engineering, capturing flags to climb the live leaderboard in this hands-on competition.

4:30 PM: Closure

End of DevLab 2026, with a quick announcement of the Hackathon winners!

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Speakers

Joseph Trapani - bet365 (Marketing Analyst)

Here is a little bit about me. I like getting my hands dirty with anything I don`t quite yet understand. I learn by doing and reading and I love learning, so I read and do a lot. I am interested in applied technology, the stuff that solves problems and makes me dream up new ones. An engineer by profession, I am self thought in programming and can make a mean bowl of Ramen. Feel free to get in …

Simon Agius Muscat

Particularly interested in scaling products and teams, DevEx, and AI.
Technologies I use include Python, Typescript, React, NodeJS, Go, Flutter, Dart, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Docker, GCP, AWS, Jenkins, Jira, Kubernetes, Terraform, Ansible and more.

Hryhorii Avcharov - Betsson Group (Frontend Software Engineer)

The person who’s trying to adjust this world as much as possible ;)
Interested in frontend framework development, in free time like to dig into Angular core implementation and other open source and contribute there
Tech stack:
• Front-End: Angular 9-19, Vike, Vite, Stencil, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML5, SCSS, SASS, CSS3
• Back-End: C#, ASP.NET
• Databases, ORM: SQL Ser…

Hosted By

James Gatt, Organizer

AOSP Enthusiast
Recognized Developer on XDA Developers
Experienced with both AOSP and Device Engineering

Matthias Bartolo, Organizer

Matthias Bartolo (Graduate Student Member, IEEE) received the B.Sc. IT (Hons.) in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Malta in 2024, graduating with First Class Honours and ranking first in his cohort. He subsequently completed an M.Sc. in ICT by Research at the University of Malta in 2025. His principal research interests lie in computer vision, applied machine learning, and in exploring how AI may be harnessed to support and empower individuals. He has gained considerable experience working on real-world projects involving complex datasets, developing practical solutions in contexts where the way forward was not immediately apparent. In this regard, he upholds a strong commitment to integrity and embraces the ideal of being “a man for others,” striving to use his abilities in service of the greater good.
Matthias is actively involved in multiple projects that bridge research and application, advancing computer vision and applied machine learning techniques while contributing to several peer-reviewed publications. He was selected as a member of the Google Developers Group in Malta, where he contributes to various projects and initiatives within the group and the university. Beyond his academic and technical work, he also forms part of several voluntary organisations, further reflecting his commitment to service and community engagement. In 2024, he was honoured with the Dean’s List Award by the Faculty of ICT in recognition of his outstanding academic achievements, and was robed by the Rector during the graduation ceremony as the top student of his cohort.

Joseph Grech, Organizer

Matthew Mangion, Organizer

Andrea Filiberto Lucas, Organizer

I am a Research Support Officer I within the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Malta and a Master of Science student specialising in AI. My work focuses on applied computer vision, intelligent systems, and dataset-driven research. I contribute to active research projects within the Faculty of ICT, with responsibilities ranging from model development and evaluation to data processing, automation, and system integration.

I am particularly interested in bridging academic research with real-world applications through practical AI solutions and collaborative development.

Jonathan Attard, Organizer

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Partners

DiHubMT (https://dihubmt.eu/)
Digital Entrepreneurship Support Services to facilitate digital and green transformation with a focus on existing local competencies in the area, namely, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cybersecurity and High-Performance Computing (HPC).

Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MDIA) (https://www.mdia.gov.mt)
MDIA is the primary Authority responsible for promoting governmental policies that promote Malta as the centre for excellence for technological innovation, while setting and enforcing standards that ensure compliance with any other international obligations. The Authority seeks to protect and support users and also encourages all types of innovations, by allowing for flexibility when it comes to the certification of Innovative Technology Arrangements.

Google Developer Groups on Campus - University of Malta (https://gdg.community.dev/gdg-on-campus-university-of-malta-msida-malta)
Founded in 2023, we are student-based community, interested in learning more about developer technologies.

Our environment allows you to become a part of a community of like-minded people, with opportunity to learn and grow together as a group and as an individual.

We are excited to see you in our conference events, workshops, hackathons, TechJams and other interactive in-person activities for those interested in expanding their technical skills, soft skills to the next level!

Coffee Circus (https://www.coffeecircus.com.mt)

OSSMalta (https://ossmalta.eu)
OSSMALTA – Open Source Society Malta is a young and dynamic community. Which takes pride in projects which are all developed and designed by in-house and community developers in and around the Maltese islands.

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Complete your event RSVP here: https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-malta-presents-devlab-2026/.