The Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Islamic University of Technology (IUT) attracted over thousands of tech enthusiasts to their campus through Esonance. This flagship event was held recently for the sixth time with the motto "Resonance of engineering innovation" sponsored by South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce (SBAC) Bank, Rina P Soemarno, Indonesian ambassador to Bangladesh, was present as the chief guest at the event.
The fest amassed over a thousand visitors and enthusiastic participants from various reputed institutions all over the country. The well-crafted lineup of events provided a tailored experience to all participants ranging from school goers to university students.
The Soccerbot segment took one of the most popular sports of all time and replaced the human players with robots. Teams consisting of three to five members each developed bots which competed against each other in a game that lasted for four minutes. AIUB DEFENDERS took home the champion trophy successfully defeating around sixty four teams, while NSU HAU MAU secured the runners-up position.
The Quadcopter Challenge provided robotics enthusiasts an opportunity to show off their drones by flying it across an obstacle studded track in less than eight minutes. Team Rotor Ninja from South East University flew their drone to victory.
The MATLAB Coding challenge consisted of questions that covered topics from electrical engineering to basic algorithms of computer science and mathematics. The segment was open to students currently enrolled at any university across the country. The participants were ranked based on the number of correctly solved problems. The champion trophy for this segment remained home, in the possession of Team IUT_Machinists.
The event also consisted of a Rubic's Cube segment where participants competed against each other for 3x3 and 4x4 Rubic's cubes to prove who the best among them was in three rounds.
The Poster Presentation segment, powered by Uber, was open to both university and college students. The theme of the segment this year, road safety, in particular was rather an excellent choice. For the university category, the champion and runners up positions were all secured by teams from IUT.
In favour of numerous studies that demonstrate the positive benefits of competitive gaming, especially in terms of spatial cognition and strategic problem solving, the Gaming Contest which consisted of FIFA and DOTA 2 was held. These attracted gamers from all across the country, providing the participants an opportunity to demonstrate their skills through game play.
Innovation, technology and business go hand in hand. Esonance devoted a segment to business case study. Among all participants, only thirty teams made it through the first round. The next round dealt with startups, utilisation of IT sector prospects and sustainable development. Team Gameplan, a freshman team from Bangladesh University of Professionals secured the champion position, while the first runner up was Team X from IUT.
The project showcasing segment provided a very promising platform for the students to unleash their creativity, apply their technical knowledge and express their ideas. The event was divided into two categories namely, school/ college and university. The participants received valuable response from the judges and recognition for their tremendous efforts. Muhit Mustaquim and his team from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) secured the champion position for their vending machine.
Innovation cannot be fostered without knowledge. Recognising the importance of the role of knowledge in innovation, a test of knowledge was a part of the lineup. The quiz competition segment at Esonance tested the individual participant's knowledge in areas such as general science, history, technology, sports and recent events, entertainment industries, art and culture. Another notable segment, especially for engineering students, was the Engineering Olympiad which tested a participant's skill in areas relevant to their field of study such as Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Informatics. The champion trophy was earned by Taki Yasir from BUET.
Dr Mohammad Ruhul Amin, head of EEE at IUT, was present along with other faculty members of the department at the prize giving ceremony which was held to recognise the efforts made and to reward the participants.
Behind the success of this fest lies the collective efforts of the organisers from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Islamic University of Technology.
Participants who seized this opportunity took home a staggering worth of Tk 350,000 prize money, a confidence boost along with invaluable feedback and experience. In addition to improving their technical skills, they had the opportunity to develop their soft skills crucial for their professional success.
The objective of the event was to gather young minds together, develop networks and create a platform with a view to influencing the new generation to persuade their careers in engineering and contribute for the betterment of the society.
The writer is a third year student of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at Islamic University of Technology (IUT). She can be reached at ebtesam@iut-dhaka.edu