Successful NGN 110 contest held at AUS

Five hundred engineering students of American University of Sharjah (AUS) competed in the annual NGN 110 competition in the university's Main Building on Monday, December 19, 2011, where they showcased their creative cars as they vied for the top prize and extra points for their course grade.

The Sixth NGN 110 Competition saw over 500 freshmen students from the College of Engineering, randomly divided into 100 groups of up to five students each, compete in their class project requiring them to build a car made out of 500ml Masafi water bottles and powered by rubber bands or air balloons. The cars were specially designed to enable them to cross a 10 meter track in the shortest time possible in order to win.

The winning team earned a resounding victory after their car crossed the 10 meter track finish line in just 4.02 seconds. The winners Aditya Apparaju (computer engineering), Rami Hasan Alqassim (civil engineering), Abdul-Aziz Mohammed Ehab Al-Shahrouri (civil engineering), Hisham Haissam Mahmoud (electrical engineering) and Mohammed Tishat Jashimuddin Chowdhury (mechanical engineering) were awarded cash prizes, winning certificates and extra points towards their final grade.

"Congratulations to all of you. You did very well. What we saw today was simply amazing. You were able to take a simple idea and turn it into a reality and that is what engineering is all about," said Dr. Fadi Ahmed Aloul, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and the NGN 110 course coordinator.

The NGN110 class is a freshman course taken by all engineering students enrolled in any of the six engineering programs offered at AUS namely Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. The objective of the course is to train students to develop teamwork skills, conflict resolution and decision making methods.

"The teamwork aspect is important as the teams are multi-disciplinary teams combining students from different engineering fields to work together for the project," said Dr. Aloul who is also the winner of the 2009 Sheikh Khalifa Award for Higher Education. "The course also helps the students to apply what they learn in class in practical terms, as well as helping them improve their research skills as they need to search the internet, the library and elsewhere for ideas and processes."

The course also focuses on problem solving techniques and design processes. To improve these skills, the students, in their randomly assigned groups, are asked every semester to work on a project. They are given six weeks to complete the task. The goal is to improve and develop teamwork skills, problem solving skills and to learn how to effectively go through a successful design project.

"What you do outside the class will make a difference in your community. This competition is an excellent example of students excelling in projects that can actually change lives. Good job everyone, you make us look good, you make us proud," said Dr. Yousef Al-Assaf, Dean of the College of Engineering as he congratulated the students.

The competition was organized by Dr. Aloul in collaboration with Dr. Ayman Hassan El-Hag, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering; Dr. Gerassimos Barlas, Professor of Computer Science; Dr. Ghaleb Adnan Al Husaini, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Dr. Khaled El Fakih, Associate Professor of Computer Science, who were also judges for the competition. It was attended by Dr. Thomas John Hochstettler, Provost; Salem Al Qaseer, Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs; other senior officials; faculty; staff; other students and family members.