Daily Times

As part of its efforts to promote Robotics in Pakistan, NUST College of EME has been holding the National Engineering Robotics Contest (NERC) since 2003. This year, the College’s Mechatronics Engineering Department organised NERC’s 20th edition. As many as 250 teams from school and universities across the country participated in the competition. The five-day event comprised 12 categories, including Indigenous Robots, Modular Robots, Ready-to-Race, Robowars, Sumowars and Aero Line-of-Sight and Aero FPV. The event was jointly organised with STEM Careers Programme, HEC, and sponsored by NCRA, MRS Technologies, Graana, Headstart School, Quest, Technology Links, Robotics World Pvt. Ltd., National Centre for Physics, Artificial Intelligence Technology Centre, Red Bull, Ranchers, Zaroon Media & PR Events and Society of Mechatronics Engineering.

Dr Nasir Rashid, Dean NUST College of E&ME, welcomed the esteemed guests and participants to the pioneering and biggest Robotics contest in the country. He made special mention of how the number of participants had grown and standard of the competition risen over the years. Mr Ather Imran Nawaz, CEO Sybrid Private Limited, graced the event as chief guest. He appreciated the efforts of NUST and College of E&ME towards promotion of Robotics among the youth. He termed NERC a platform that provides students with an excellent opportunity to hone their Engineering skills, and showcase their creative prowess and problem-solving abilities.

Dr Hamid Jabbar, Head of Mechatronics Engineering Department, thanked the participants whose enthusiasm and energy made the event a big success. He also expressed his gratitude to the organisers and sponsors whose support was instrumental in the conduct of such a mega event. Towards the end, the chief guest gave away prizes to the winning and runner-up teams.