RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Strengthening its position as a leader in technology education and a mover of innovative initiatives in the country, Usman Institute of Technology (UIT) hosted ‘SS12 Asia: Age of Innovation’ and won the Best Project Award at the national level competition.

Eight leading engineering and technology universities from across Pakistan took part in the social innovation competition aimed at enhancing the quality of life through Innovation including UIT, Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology (SSUET), Bahria University, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology (MUET), Jinnah University for Women, Institute of Industrial Electronics Engineering (IIEE), NED University of Engineering and Technology (NED UET) and National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST).

Beating 6 strong competitors, two groups of Usman Institute of Technology (UIT) and SSUET won the ‘Best Project Award’ for their projects “Automation of Fabric Inspection Machine using Digital Image Processing” and “An Innovative Ultraviolet Light Incubating Blanket For Infant Cure,” respectively. The UIT project that won the award is a system that reduces human errors for quality inspection of fabric; such systems are needed to compete with international companies.

The event was held at Usman Institute of Technology Auditorium in collaboration with the IEEE Karachi section and UIT IEEE Student Branch under the supervision of Branch Counsellor Engr. Atif Fareed. Dr Zahir Ali Syed, Director UIT began the event with his speech that was followed by the speech of Engr. Prakash Lohana, Head of Educational Activities IEEE Karachi Section, about the history of ‘SS12 Asia: Age of Innovation.’ The chief guest Prof. Dr. Muhammad Tufail, Dean Chemical & Process Engineering, NED University, also shared his valuable thoughts.

The panel of judges for the competition included: Dr. Muhammad Khurram, Associate Professor, CIS Engineering, NED Dr. Majeed Ahmed Khan, Associate Professor, NED UET Dr Muhammad Shahid Sheikh, Associate Professor and Program Director Electrical Engineering, Habib University; Ashraf Kapadia, AT&T, Country Head, Pakistan; Syed Azhar Afaq Rizvi, CEO, Cambridge Advisor Network; Dr. Muhammad Mubashir Khan, Associate Professor, Tahir Saleem, CEO, United Engineering Services and Irfan Ahmed, Energy Consultant. They graded the projects according to the judging criteria provided by the IEEE Karachi Section. Judges scrutinized every aspect of the projects and gave their valuable suggestion for further improvements of the projects.

Dr. Zahir Ali Syed, Director UIT, in his concluding speech, announced the names of the winners, and also appreciated the dedication and hard work of the participants and the organisers.

The UIT organizes different seminars, as well as national and international conferences. Faculty of UIT arranges different educational events for students and public at large. There are two international societies currently working to groom the future engineers and scientists. These two international societies included IEEE UIT Student Branch under the supervision of Engr. Atif Fareed, and Association for Computing Machinery under the supervision of Engr. Prakash Lohana, working for the well-rounded development of students that encompasses technical knowledge, skills and character-building.