NUST holds Grand Finale of FICS’18
Islamabad: National University of Science and Technology (NUST) on Tuesday culminated the Finding Innovative & Creative Solutions for Society (FICS ’18), to promote the social entrepreneurship in youth.
Grand Finale and Prize Distribution Ceremony of Finding Innovative & Creative Solutions for Society (FICS ’18), was held at National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST). FICS is an annual three-stage intra NUST program to promote social entrepreneurship, where the projects submitted are categorized as per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This year, as many as 328 ideas were submitted by students from 13 NUST Schools and Colleges, out of which 137 were shortlisted for the FICS ’18 Stage 2, held on March 27, 2018.
However, a total of 54 teams made their way to the Grand Finale.
Each of the finalist teams presented their prototype of technology-based innovative solution to a panel of 33 industry judges. The winner of FICS ’18 was “Crop Monitoring,” an innovative project by students of NUST School of Civil & Environmental Engineering (SCEE). Crop Monitoring is a platform designed to help farmers in monitoring their wheat fields by giving them real-time information about possible risks that could threaten their crops. “Codifying Brain,” a project by students of NUST Pakistan Navy Engineering College (PNEC) and “Regenerative Medicine,” a project by students of NUST Atta-ur-RahmanSchool of Applied Biosciences (ASAB) were declared first and second runner-up, respectively. Addressing the audience, Lt Gen Naweed Zaman, HI (M), (Retd), felicitated the top position holders and all the finalists, and appreciated them for coming up with technology-based remedies to the most pressing problems of society.
He also lauded the efforts of faculty supervisors, respective school management, alumni and industry partners for their continuous mentoring and support to the students. He maintained that FICS ’18 had received over 300 innovative projects, which not only underlined the popularity of FICS amongst students but also showed a remarkable progress from the previous years. The Rector also emphasized on the role of Science & Technology Universities in improving the lives of communities through technological intervention.
To achieve this end, he added, NUST has been taking many positive initiatives, FICS being one of them. FICS ’18 Sponsors and Partners included Interactive Group, Crescent Steel & Allied Products Ltd., Alachisoft, AlfozeTechnologies, Arkhitech and Epiphany Consultants.–Staff Report
Cultural show enthrals ICNA delegates
ISLAMABAD: Popular musicians and folk performers on Monday night mesmerized the audience with their enthralling performance in a cultural show organized by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) in honour of the delegates of the two-day International Conference of News Agencies (ICNA) to familiarise them about the rich cultural and traditional values of Pakistan. The colourful cultural show included various unique performances of artists that fascinated the foreign guests and local spectators, who responded with applause and appreciation.
Cultural dances from different parts of Pakistan were presented by the artists, which was highly appreciated by guests from various countries including China, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Romania, Oman, Bulgaria, Turkey, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria and Tunisia.–APP
Renowned and legendary musician Ustad Saen Raees Ahmad Khan skilfully fused beats from the violin and enthralled the honourable guests and audience. Dedar Hussain enthralled the spectators with his performance on “Dhol”, while a folk artist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa received appreciation on the melodious use of Rabab.
A large number of people attended the show and appreciated the efforts of Managing Director Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) Masood Malik in promoting and projecting the folk culture of the country. They said Pakistan has a rich cultural heritage, which was needed to be further promoted for improving the soft image of the country.