DNA

KARACHI: KASB Institute of Technology (KASBIT) hosted the award ceremony for its First Inter-University Space Technology Hackathon on Monday, 1st April, in Karachi. The competition was sponsored by the Dr. Farid A. Khwaja Foundation. Over 40 students, across eight teams from six universities participated in the competition. The teams made projects which solved problems and challenges in space tech.

The top prize went to the team from FAST, who designed a system to self-navigate a Lunar rover in a path which optimizes for energy efficiency. The second award was won by a team from the University of Karachi who built a track and navigate system to help satellites avoid space debris. The third winner was a team from NED, which made an interactive dashboard and chatbot for displaying anomalies on a space system. The KASBIT team got a special prize for diversity.

Prof. Dr. Farid Akhtar Khwaja, Aezaz-e-Kamal, was the Chief Guest at the ceremony. Dr. Khwaja spoke about the genesis of Pakistan’s space program and motivated the students by telling them about the rich history of Pakistanis in science and technology. Dr. Kashif, the Rector of KASBIT hosted the competition and highlighted why STEM education is critical for Pakistani youth.

The purpose of the competition was to inspire Pakistani students to dream big and aim to solve complex problems in technology. New advances in Artificial Intelligence create the challenge of making basic-level tech work redundant. It is imperative for Pakistani students to raise their level and get motivated and mentored on subjects in advanced technologies.