LUMS undergraduate Electrical Engineering students made their mark at the National Engineering Robotics Contest (NERC) this year. NERC is considered to be one of the most challenging competitions of the country, where each year over 100 universities and institutes compete against each other.
This competition, which is almost two decades old, is a joint project of National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), STEM Careers Programme and Pakistan Science Foundation and aims to promote research in robotics and its related fields in Pakistan.
This year the largest group to date, of about 27 enthusiastic and hard-working students from LUMS took part in the competition. These students worked day and night throughout winter semester and during summer break to work on innovative projects to present at NERC.
The various categories at the NERC include, Game of Drones, Drone Aero and Robo Wars. The most interesting and demanding category, however, is Indigenous, where all the parts of the Robots are designed and fabricated by the participants themselves.
Sharing his sentiments at the achievement of the LUMS team, Associate Professor Electrical Engineering, Dr. Jahangir Ikram said, “I am very happy to announce that the LUMS team won first position in the category, Game of Drones and stood second and third in Drone Aero category. Although none of the four LUMS teams were among the top four in the Indigenous category, our team did win the coveted, ‘Best Engineering Design Award'."
“I am thankful to the Dean and Chair for constantly providing all the encouragement and financial support, and Dr. Ahmad Kamal Nasir for providing mentorship and full backing to the Drone masters. Appreciation is also due for lab staff and lab engineer, Muhammad Mujtaba, without whom taking part in this competition would not have been possible,” added Dr. Ikram.
