Hundreds of students from American University of Sharjah (AUS) participated in the popular 22nd NGN 110 Competition held yesterday, December 9, on campus. Students were required to build a low weight dome-like structure that could carry five paper packs, each weighing 2.6 kgs.

Four hundred eighty-five students, divided into 112 groups, participated in the competition which put the skills of first-year engineering students to the test. Organized by the university’s College of Engineering (CEN), the competition is part of the first-year Introduction to Engineering and Computing (NGN 110) course taken by all engineering students and aims to enhance students’ skills, teamwork, engineering design, problem solving, time management and communication skills.

The winning team, comprising mechanical engineering majors, Muhammad Mubeen and Vishwesh Kumar Maheshwari, and computer engineering majors, Abdul Muqeet Abdul Mannan and Syed Muhammad Faizan, were successful in building the lightest and sturdiest structure. Their dome weighed in at only 39.5 grams, while the second and third place domes weighed in at 40 grams and 51.5 grams respectively.

The criteria for evaluating the project was the application of teamwork, the technical background, the level of analysis and detail, creativity and innovation, the final report and oral presentation and the model and demonstration.

Speaking on the occasion, Aqeel Ahmed, Professor of Practice in the Department of Civil Engineering and organizer of the event, said:

“I am very happy with the performance of students in this course and we are proud of all our outstanding freshmen. The goal of the competition is to challenge students to think out of the box, encourage them to work in multi-disciplinary teams and help them gain confidence in practicing engineering while working with their peers from different majors. In this course, students are required to learn the different ways engineers work and communicate with those in other professions. This competition gave students an opportunity to learn from their mistakes, providing them with a valuable learning experience. I am very grateful to the participating students, volunteers, judges and the entire AUS events management team who made this mega event a great success.”

Faculty members from CEN including Dr. Dana Abouelnasr, Professor in Chemical Engineering; Dr. Hicham Hallal, Lecturer in Computer Engineering; Dr. Karnail Baldev Singh, Lecturer in Chemical Engineering; and Dr. Ming Foey Teng, Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, were the competition’s appointed judges.

Students from all seven undergraduate degree programs offered by the AUS College of Engineering participated in the competition. Renowned throughout the region for its academic excellence, the college offers Bachelor of Science degree programs in chemical engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, industrial engineering and mechanical engineering.

For more information about the AUS College of Engineering, please visit: https://www.aus.edu/cen

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