Up in the air: Airplanes fly high at Propellair 16

Students from four universities participate in competition

KARACHI: With their eyes fixed on the airplanes that they were flying via remote controls, students from four different universities participated in NED University of Engineering and Technology's flying competition, Propellair 16, on Saturday.



This was the third time that the NED University organised this event. The number of participating universities increased as it was only DHA Suffah University that participated last year. With the addition of Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) and National University of Science and Technology (NUST) this year, students of a total four universities became part of the event. The participants intelligently handled the airplanes soaring as high as 30 metres in the sky at the university's cricket ground with their remote control. Muhammad Jaffar of NED University controls his airplane, named 'Burraq' after the flying horse that is believed to have carried Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to the heavens on the night of Mairaj. Jaffar told The Express Tribune that all the teams were asked to design and fabricate their remote-controlled planes. Teams were also asked to prepare the computer-aided design model of their aircraft and a detailed report of their work. They were also required to have deep theoretical knowledge of aerodynamics, explained Jaffar. In short, the competition offered both practical experience and theoretical knowledge to the participants.



Another participant, Mohsin Iqbal, told The Express Tribune that the aircrafts are a result of months-long preparation. He added that it took them more than two months to design and prepare the planes while their teachers also assisted them during the process.

The chief guest of the event, Pakistan Maritime Academy Commodore Akbar Naqi, said that these events are the positive happenings that the media should highlight. He added that he has travelled around the world but has not seen the talent exhibited by Pakistani youth. Naqi also said that this has been an inspiring event over all as the students themselves prepared the aircrafts and learned a lot through that.

NED University registrar Ghazanfar Hussain said that the university has always supported students organising such events. "In the future, we will continue to provide them the facilities they require," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2016.