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Each year the competition brings together some of the most sublime presenters from across the globe and provides a source of inspiration to the young and talented people in Pakistan.
The Challenge in 2019 was the second in the series and was held on 8 April at the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SMME), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad with the sponsorship and support of Millat Tractors Limited.
The event was a great success, with participants from Sri Lanka, Egypt and Hong Kong coming in with their amazing presenting prowess. The event chiefly consisted of two separate sessions, first the Open Speech Round, where international and national participants exhibited their skills and second, the National Heats of Speak Out for Engineering, where the winners of the north and south zones were the contestants. Students triumphant at their respective student chapter level make it to zonal level, the top three contestant of which proceed to the nationals where they compete to represent Pakistan at South Asian level.
The preparations for the event had begun months in advance as the organising committee, led by the energetic Mr. Abdullah Azzam, Mr. Hasnat Aman and Ms. Laveeza Fatima, worked day and night to ensure a smooth execution of the event on the big day itself. The event day was mentally rehearsed multiple times before the event to make sure that every possible eventuality could be foreseen and that no stone was left unturned.
The host for the event was Mr. Zarrar Mumtaz who formally began the event by welcoming everyone and thanking the guests and judges for taking out time to attend the event. The event focused on exposure and integration of students with practicality hence several revered guests from industry were invited.
A jury of erudite and expert personalities including Barrister Mr. Safi Ghauri and Ms. Aneeqa Ali from Toastmasters club Islamabad, and Mr. Hassan Ghayasuddin Ansari from IMechE Pakistan Executive Committee were introduced assuring the best possible assessment of the participants.
Holy Quran was recited to bless the occasion and this was followed by an address by Dr. Ameer Khalid, Jibran Khalid’s father, who highlighted the importance of such events as well as praised the Chapter for continuing working on Jibran Khalid’s initiative.
The first bout was the Open Speech Heat which began with the splendid presentation by the contestant from Hong Kong, Mr. Ali Jahan Zaib on “Future of Travel with Hyperloop”. Ms. Sarah Munir from Egypt then had the judges wonder-struck with her impressive presentation on “Future of Autonomous Vehicles”. Mr. Waleed Bin Khalid, a presenter from Pakistan presented his “Experimental Analysis of a Toyota Prius Engine” and gave a very fine competition to other contenders. Mr. Afnan Marzook from Sri Lanka with his presentation on “Thermo Electric Generators” also did equally well and made the decision even tougher for the judges.
The first session ended around lunchtime and was followed by the session of the SOfE National Heats after lunch. The National heats had participants from all over Pakistan. Ms. Hajra Mirza from DSU Suffa University led the way with her project proposing a “Solution for the foreseeable crisis with drinking water”. Mr. Qais Hassan representing NUST PNEC gave her a tough competition with his presentation on the “Blended Wing Body Aircraft”. From NED University, Ms. Bushra Farhat smoothly presented on “Smart Grid and FACT Devices”. Presenting on his final year project “Designing an above Knee Prosthesis for amputees”, Mr. Haseeb Kazmi, from NUST SMME, left the audience mesmerised with his work. Mr. Junaid Ahmad, also from NUST SMME presented on his final year project, “Design and Development of a Bipedal Hopping Robot” and made the job for the judges even more difficult. The winner of the Northern Region Heat, Mr. Temoor Abid, from UET Taxila gave a perfect finish to the National Heats with his presentation on “Thermo-Responsive Hydrogels”
After the heats had been conducted, a time slot of 15 minutes was provided for the judges to compile the results. The chief guest for the closing ceremony was Mr. Ghulam Mustafa, the Head of Supply Chain Department of Millat Tractors Limited. The closing ceremony was started with recognition of the participants for their efforts and hardwork. After which the chief guest, Mr. Ghulam Mustafa, and the principal of SMME, Dr. Shahid Ikramullah Butt, made motivating and revitalizing speeches. Mr. Ghulam Mustafa appreciated the school’s collaborative efforts with Millat Tractors and accentuated the positive corollaries of such international level events. He highlighted the importance of taking part in such events, irrespective of the results, for the young engineers of Pakistan as well as the participants from around the Globe. Dr. Shahid, echoed Mr. Ghulam’s remarks by highlighting the importance of such events as well as appreciated the NUST Student Chapter for the successful execution of the event. He also expressed his gratitude towards Millat Tractors for allowing the students to create such a global platform within Pakistan.
Barrister Safi Ghauri was finally invited to announce the results while Mr. Ghulam Mustafa along with the Dr. Shahid Ikramullah were invited to give away the accolades and awards. Mr. Safi Ghauri before announcing the results highlighted the importance and significance of communication skills and lauded the commencement, organization and of course the participants for their amazing efforts. He ,also, in accordance with his experience endowed the audience and participants with some extremely valuable advices. The runner up of Open Speech Round was announced to be Mr. Waleed Bin Khalid and the top of the list was Ms. Sarah Munir.
For the National Heat of SOfE 2019 Pakistan, after a very close competition Ms. Hajra Mirza and Mr. Haseeb Kazmi were announced to be the runner-up and winner respectively. The closing of the event was marked by a Tea in which the guests, judges and participants informally interacted with each other. The event formally ended by 1700 Hours.