AUS engineering students build racecars at the annual NGN 110 Competition

American University of Sharjah (AUS) held the 21st edition of the NGN 110 Competition on April 24, which put the skills of engineering freshmen to the test. Students were required to build a racecar that could carry a 500 ml water bottle, three quarters full, and travel a minimum distance of five meters using energy harvested by rubber bands.

Eighty two students, divided into 20 groups, participated in the competition, which was held in the Rotunda of the Main Building on campus.

Organized by the AUS College of Engineering, 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 comprised civil engineering major Alya Ahmed Almusallam, industrial engineering major Mohamed Ali Jaafar and chemical engineering major Zainab J Dashti. The ratio of the distance travelled by their racecar to weight was 117. The second and third place racecars had a distance travelled to weight ratio of 96 and 75 respectfully.

The criteria for evaluating the project were the students’ technical background, level of analysis and detail, creativity, innovation, team work and the final report and presentation.

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

“The purpose of the competition was to enhance the students’ confidence in working in the field of engineering while working within a multi-disciplinary team. In this course, students are required to learn the different ways engineers work and communicate with those in other professions which is helpful in their day to day life.”

He added: “The competition gave the students an opportunity to learn from their mistakes, thus providing them with an important learning experience.”

Judging the competition were Dr. Karnail Baldev Singh, Lecturer in Chemical Engineering, and Dr. Ming Foey Teng, Lecturer in Electrical Engineering.

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 www.aus.edu/cen.