Design Challenge at SMME NUST 2019

The local heats for the Design Challenge are organised by IMechE NUST Student Chapter every year, to provide the freshman students a platform where they can assess their designing and problem-solving skills by creating devices, which are required to perform certain tasks.

This year’s heats were held on 24 April at the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SMME), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) where the participating teams tasked with designing an external pipe climbing device.

Design Challenge is one of the most prestigious events for engineering students at NUST, Islamabad (Pakistan) as it ensures the application of current engineering knowledge in practical life by devising a solution of the specified problem. Last year, an internal pipe climbing device was to be made that could be inserted into a hollow pipe, climbed to the top and returned back to the initial position.

This year’s Design Challenge was headed by Mr. Muhammad Saad and Mr. Neeraj Nankani, who are both sophomores at SMME, NUST. The devices were judged by Mr. Ikhlaq Khattaq (Faculty member of SMME), Junior Year students Mr. Zeeshan Arshad and Mr. Aqib Maqsood with engineering perspectives of the devices taken into consideration. The event was compered by Mr. Abdullah Hayat. Mr. Mohammad Sohail (Faculty member of SMME) aided the participating teams as well as the organizers in the pre-event preparations.

A total of 33 teams competed in the competition, comprising of five students each. The participating teams belonged to different departments such as Mechanical, Electrical and Mechatronics Engineering. The teams were instructed to design a device that could climb up a copper rod, identify the top end of the rod and climb back down, all the while carrying an increasing load in the form of a chain.

_{A device showcased for the Peer Review module of the challenge}

Prior to the heats, presentations were given by each team of students on their devices. In the presentations, the students highlighted their journey to their current design as well as justified their choice of design. The latter was done by theoretical calculations keeping in mind what was required from their device. The students brought in CAD models as well as technical drawings to explain their devices in detail and showcased their innovative approaches from grooved wheels to increase the grip of the device on the rod to using the lift force of copter wings to elevate their device.

The Presentation Competition was judged by two panels, one consisted of faculty members of SMME: Lecturer Mr. Muhammed Umer, Mr. Muhammad Sohail, Mr. Ikhlaq Khattak and Dr. Syed Husain Imran, while the other consisted of sophomore students: Mr. Saad Shabeer, Ms. Sunia Tanweer, Ms. Zartash Aslam, Ms. Mahnoor Bilal and Mr. Syed Faraz Hussain Kazmi.

For the heats themselves, around 20 IMechE Members and 100 non-members, excluding the 160 participating students, watched as the devices performed. The event was divided into three heats. Performance time of every device in all the heats were duly noted. The devices that executed the task in the shortest amount of time were declared the winners.

The arena for the Design Challenge was designed by the Technical Team of the Chapter led by Mr. Zeeshan Arshad. The arena employed a programmed laser based system to allow for automatic measurement of time taken by each device.

The closing ceremony was held in the seminar hall of SMME where the Principal of SMME, Dr. Shahid Ikram Ullah Butt, and Head of Department Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Emad Uddin, awarded the winning teams with certificates and cash prizes of PKR 6000, PKR 4000 and PKR 3000 respectively.

_{Principal SMME, Dr. Shahid Ikram Ullah, and HoD Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Emad Uddin, awarding the runner up team with their certificate}

The winners were:

• 1st position, Team A8 -Mr. Zarrar Mumtaz, Mr. Farzan, Mr. Muneeb, Mr. Ans Ahmed Khan and Mr. Aitezaz
• 2nd position, Team A1 - Ms. Arfa Eeman, Mr. Abdur Rehman Ali, Mr. Zain Ul Abidin, Mr. Afaque Ahmed, Mr. Raees Ahmed Jalil
• 3rd position, Team B1 - Mr. Moeed Ahmed, Mr. Khezar Qayyum, Mr. Sohaib Nawaz, Mr. Ahmed Waleed Bajwa, Mr. Hamza Saleem
• Best Design Award was given to Team A1.

• increased the knowledge bank of the students as well as enhanced the current skills by increasing the understanding of the practical applications
• allowed the participants to experience both the engineering and non-engineering aspects related to any engineering project
• helped the students simulate their interest in the fields of mechanics, power transmission, electronics etc.

The event brought praise and appreciation from the students as well as the faculty and administration of NUST and motivated IMechE NUST Student Chapter (SMME) to continue with its efforts to decrease the gap between the academia and the industry by promotion of project-based learning.