Victoria University Sydney Adopts Bangladeshi Student's Rostering App

Ornob Barua, a Bangladeshi student at Victoria University Sydney, has developed Avocadoo, an app that is now officially replacing Microsoft Excel for staff rostering. This rostering and shift management tool is currently being used by the university's Student Representative Group (SRG), significantly reducing the manual workload involved in tasks like shift planning, hour tracking, and approvals.

Victoria University Sydney has formally acknowledged Ornob's contribution, praising his efforts and encouraging the community to utilize this "fantastic tool."

Originally from Dhaka, Ornob is pursuing a Bachelor of Information Technology with a focus on Web and Software Development. Despite a commerce background, he is a self-taught programmer, having developed over 50 websites and digital tools. Avocadoo marks his first major Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product. He expressed that it feels "surreal" to have his creation replace Excel at his own university, driven by his belief in building solutions that simplify everyday tasks.

Avocadoo offers advanced features beyond traditional spreadsheets, including an interactive drag-and-drop calendar, real-time hour and overtime calculations, export options, live chat prompts for commands, and role-based interfaces. The app is built with a combination of Python, JavaScript, PHP, C/C++, HTML, CSS, and React, utilizing the Python library Pandas for time calculations and document automation.

One of Avocadoo's most innovative features is its AI-powered prompt system, which allows users to generate schedules using natural language commands, such as "Create a weekly roster for five students with four-hour shifts." Ornob explains that this "smart assistant" simplifies rostering by understanding user intent, eliminating manual data entry. He also plans to integrate offline AI logic for even greater accessibility.

Currently in weekly use, Avocadoo has received positive feedback from both staff and students, with university officials noting it has reduced manual shift scheduling work by up to 80%. Inspired by this success, Ornob plans to expand Avocadoo globally, developing more SaaS tools like AvoText and Logic Sheet, with the ultimate goal of building a top-ranked global tech company from Bangladesh.