With support from the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), the Mechanical Engineering Department (MED) and the Mechanical Engineering Society (MES) at The University of Lahore (UOL) recently organised “The KNACK Competition” a fun and inventive contest. The event sought to encourage innovation, collaboration, and teamwork among student societies.
The competition required four-member student teams to produce a brilliant poster, an original essay, and an enthralling vocal act in just 120 minutes. Students had to work together, come up with ideas, show leadership, write and draw artistically, and, most importantly, speak well in front of a huge group of people to complete this unusual assignment.
The theme chosen for the competition was science fiction with student teams being assigned topics such as Time Travel to Partition 1947, A City on The Moon, Time Travel to the Mughal Era, A City under the Sea, If Dreams become Reality, If Robots and AI take over the world, Around the World in 8 Hours, A Human Less Supermarket and Space Tourism to Mars etc.
The competition attracted various society teams, including Arts Culture Team A, Arts Culture Team B, Aadakaars from Dramatic Society, Funkaars from Dramatic Society, Lions, Falcons, Mutians, Team 2K22 and Medic Bees.
An opening ceremony marked the beginning of the competition and provided information about the event modules, rules, and regulations. There were team introductions and the draw, which prepared the ground for a demanding 120-minute creative session.
The organising members Mr Abdul Hanan (President, MES), Mr Muhammad Rizwan (MES, General Secretary) and Mr Azan Elahi (Treasurer, MES) were on toes to provide supplies, guidance and help for the participants. The teams received support and encouragement from the faculty and staff throughout the competition.
The posters and essays were evaluated by a panel of judges comprising Mr Salman Abubakar Bugvi (Assistant Professor, MED), Mr Khurram Hameed Mughal (Assistant Professor, MED), Ms Sadaf Khalid (Lecturer, Department of English Language and Literature) and Ms Saba Zulfiqar (Lecturer, Department of English Language and Literature), Ms Faiza Barkatullah (Officer Student Representation, OSA) and Ms Areej Batool (Representative, Arts and Culture Society).
On stage, students used a variety of creative techniques. Some teams chose to use poster paintings, while others executed dramatic actions, and yet some used speeches and dialogues.
At the awards event, Arts & Culture Team A took home first place, Team Mutians second and Team Funkaars of the Dramatic Society third. These winning teams got medals, gifts, and compensation. Throughout the event, the students showed incredible excitement and vigour while exhibiting their originality and creative ideas.