Mega Event National Engineering eXhibition 2011 (NEX11)

Mehran University of Engineering & Technology organized a Mega Event National Engineering eXhibition 2011 (NEX11) in collaboration with Faculty of Electrical Electronics & Computer System Engineering MUET (FEECE) and Higher Education Commission (HEC), cosponsored by industry on 2nd November 2011. NEX11 encompassed seven competitions including Project/Competition, Speed Programming, Circuit Designing, Gaming Competition, Techno-Post Galleria, Techno-Fusion Quiz and CISCO Networking Skills. An Education Fair and National Workshop on Project Based Learning (PBL) were also arranged in this Mega event.

NEX11 proved to be a successful event which is evident from the participation response from various universities and institutes which includes UET Lahore, IBA Sukkur, SSUET, QUEST, Bahria University, Baluchistan University, NED, UIT, PAK KEIT, Sindh University, Karachi University, HIAST and NU FAST. More than 230 teams comprising of in total 791 participants, organizers, students and faculty members from 18 Universities/Institutions from all over country participated in different categories of this event. These events were organized in the auspicious buildings of different departments of Mehran UET in parallel. The locations were Electronics department for cdc and project competition, Computer Systems for speed programming, Telecommunication department for Cisco Skills competition, Bio-medical department for Technopost galleria, Software engineering department for Gaming competition, auditorium for Techno Fusion Quiz and central library for Education Fair. In order to maintain eloquence and echelon of judgment, a panel of judges was formed comprising 40 judges from various universities, institutes and industry of Pakistan.

NEX11 was a one day event from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm that was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor, Dr. A.Q.K. Rajput and Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Dr. Aslam Uqaili. The V.C in his inaugural address expressed that such events have not only infused a very positive sense of competition among students but also provided a platform to assess their technical skills at National Level. Interaction with students and faculty from all over Pakistan has provided an excellent opportunity to students to broaden their horizons, acquire new ideas and learn about different projects and technological advancements in the field of Engineering & Technology at National Level.

Prof. Dr. B.S. Chowdhry, Dean Faculty of Electrical, Electronics & Computer System Engineering and Chief Organizer of the event added that innovative & creative engineering projects exhibited in the competition have narrowed the gap between academia and industry. He said that this Mega event was the brainchild of Engr Attiya Baqai and Engr Khuhed Memon of Electronics department. He also appreciated efforts of all the Chief coordinators and organizers of the event.

Prof. Dr. M.A. Uqaili, Pro Vice Chancellor, MUET during his visit to Techno-Post Galleria Competition envisaged that the competition has helped in transfusion of Art & Technology where students have showcased their imagination towards emerging technologies through artistic expressions. The posters presented by students covered diversified areas such as “Going Green” and innovative solutions to everyday problems, thus enabling them to think away from conventional thoughts and expanding their aesthetic horizons. The Project Competition tested the mettle of final year engineering students from across the nation. However projects having high level of design, concept & integrity, although made by junior batches were also entertained and were highly appreciated by the judges and visitors. The Cisco Skills Competition Challenge provided a platform for students and alumni of Cisco Networking academies to showcase their IT Networking skills and gain visibility among talent recruiters in the growing ICT industry. The participants were tested for their basic knowledge and abilities of flawless Network Designing, Management and Troubleshooting. The techno-Fusion quiz competition resulted in discovering the hidden potential of students. With an informative, interesting and entertaining blend of the basic subjects (Basic Electronic Engg, Basic Electrical Engg, Introduction to computing and general knowledge / IQ , techno-Fusion not only provided the participants, but also the general audience, a source to gain knowledge the unconventional way. Speed programming competition emphasized the engineering aspects of software development. In particular the students were given on spot tasks in C/C++, Java, .net technologies and Visual studio. Circuit Designing Competition tested the participants’ grasp over Digital Logic Design, Design, Circuit analysis, Electronics, Microprocessor and Microcontroller Interfacing. Gaming competition proved to be a very interesting event in an otherwise academically tiring semester for the students. The computer games included were Counter Strike v1.6 and Need for Speed Underground 2.

After all the events evaluation all the attendees gathered in MUET auditorium for closing ceremony and workshop. Prof. Dr. Bilal Alvi from IOBM Karachi in his key note speech on “Project Based Learning” (PBL) workshop focused on difference between traditional subject-oriented education and project-oriented model. Prof. Dr. B.S. Chowdhry, in his presentation, mentioned that problem based concept moves the perspective from understanding of common knowledge into ability to develop new knowledge. The aim of project work is “Learning by doing” or “Action Learning”. Prof. Dr. Irfran Haider, Vice President PAF-KEIT in his key note highlighted that the project & problem-based learning means that traditional text book knowledge is replaced by the knowledge necessary to solve real life & real-time problems.

Prof. Dr. M.A. Uqaili in his concluding key note address advocated that PBL can be used to enhance content knowledge and foster the development of communication, problem-solving and self directed learning skills. He also congratulated Chief Organizer Prof. Dr. BS Chowdhry, Engr Attiya Baqai, Engr Khuhed Memon and all the chief coordinators, coordinating teachers, student organizers & volunteers for organizing event in befitting manner. A large number of students, faculty members, and professionals from industry attended the workshop and closing ceremony of this Mega Event.

The credit of success of NEX11 goes to entire faculty of EECE. The phenomenal efforts of the faculty, students, technicians and staff, under the profound supervision and guidance of Prof. Dr. BS Chowdhry resulted in the materialization of the idea of NEX11 which was conceived by the students of Department of Electronics Engineering. All the tasks, including website design & management, installations of necessary equipment and software, banners, brochures, decorations, among others, were carried out by magnificent efforts of the students, staff and faculty members of FEECE. Organizing and managing such an event shows the outstanding potential of the students of Mehran University of Engineering & Technology.

In the concluding ceremony, cash prizes, shields & certificates were awarded to winners of various competitions by the event heads Dr. Aftab Memon, Dr. Ahsan Ahmed Ursani, Dr. Wajiha Shah, Prof. Tahseen Hafiz, Dr. M.A Unar, Dr. Abdul Sattar Larik and Dr. Akram Shaikh. In addition, lucky draws for Return ticket to Dubai for project exhibition, trainings in Multinationals and IELTS registrations, through sponsorship from industry, were also awarded.