Talent hunt: Five students to represent country National Science Competition in US

ISLAMABAD, National Science Competition was concluded here on Thursday with five students being selected from all over the country to represent Pakistan at the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair to be held in Pittsburgh, US this year.

In the science competition which was held at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), over 200 students participated with their innovative ideas presented in practical shape.

Shiza Gulab, Mahnoor Hassan and Bushra Shahid of Institute of Computer and Management Sciences, Peshawar were named Grand Group Winners with project tile ‘Energy Square’.

Musa Rahim Khan of Aga Khan Higher Secondary School, Chitral and Syed Shahzeb Hussain of Army Public School & College, Quetta were also selected as Grand Winners in individual category, for their projects ‘water and heat detector’ and ‘production of artificial domains’, respectively.

“All five students will visit US this year and we hope that they will make us proud there too,” were the words of Naveed Siraj, country manager Intel Pakistan. Federal secretary science & technology, Akhlaq Ahmed Khan, secretary education Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Farah Hamid Khan, Vice Chancellor AIOU, Dr Sangi, Prof Syed Waqar of federal directorate of education (FDE) and others also attended the ceremony.

Besides the grand winners, students who participated in different categories were awarded with certificates and cash prizes. In Physics group, Urooba Khan, Hafsah Mughees and Aiman Anees of The City School Karachi were declared first. In Chemistry group, Hibba Ansari, Sarah Shahid and Rabia Mahmood of Islamabad College for Girls, F-6/2 stood first. In category of Computer Science, students of Institute of Computer and Management Sciences, Peshawar Yasin Suleiman, Tauseef Raza and Hammad Saeed were declared prominent.

In Biology category, individual, Syed John Nazir Zaidi of Commecs Institute of Business and Emerging Sciences, Karachi and Osama Ahmed Awan of Turk International School & College, Khairpur were declared first.

Rana Mohammad Jahangir of Government College of Technology, Bahawalpur, Mohammad Zaeem Khan of Defence Authority Degree College, Karachi, Arif Mehmood of Fizaia Degree College, Peshawar and Mohammad Mughees Khan of Pak Turk International School & College, Lahore were declared prominent in different categories.

Emotional scenes were witnessed during the competition; a student from Chitral, Musa Rahim Khan who was selected to compete in US started crying after his nomination. “It is unbelievable because I even did not get a chance of going as far as to Lahore and Karachi during my entire life and I am not sure whether my parents will allow me to go abroad or not”, he said while talking to Dawn .

Naveed Siraj said that the idea behind the competition was to encourage critical thinking. Teachers are responsible for building the youth capable of facing the challenges of tomorrow so that they should be trained. Pakistan is blessed with immense talent and we can produce world leaders in technology.

“There should be one computer in each house to ensure that students do research and that equal opportunities are provided to students of rural areas. Only that’s how we can fulfill the dream of education for all”, he said.

Federal Secretary Science and Technology, Akhlaq Ahmed Khan said the young generation has given us a hope that we have a bright future and country is moving towards the right direction. Students should keep up that momentum to ensure development of the country.

Vice Chancellor AIOU, Dr Sangi told Dawn that he has decided to call all the students in summer vacation and request them to once again prepare their projects in the university. “Consultancy of professors will be provided to the students to further polish their capabilities. Free stay of one month in the university and Rs50,000 for each project will also be given to the students taking part in it”, he said. Dawn