Report on GPSMC held at Pakistan Forest Institute Peshawar from 26th June 2008 to 28th June 2008
Introduction
National interests can be harmed by indiscriminate import of technologies because it tends to kill local initiatives. The alternatives of the issue are building of indigenous technology base, molding of attitudes and development of competencies and motivation at all levels especially at grass root level. These objectives can be achieved by increasing awareness level of the people in general and students, researchers and policy makers in particular.
There is little understanding of creative scientific activities in the masses. The best way to popularize and promote S&T is to target and sensitize fertile brains.
Organizing a science model competition/exhibition could just do the trick and initiate a process towards a change in attitude. The healthy environment of competition would bring forward the creative scientific minds. The purpose of the general public competition is to provide opportunities to the public to test their creativity, knowledge and scientific genius and benefit the society at large.
In a quest to identify and promote people with extraordinary talent for developing technologies, the Directorate of Science & Technology has organized five GPSTC competitions for general public.
- The competition would be organized in two stages. In the 1 st stage, four regional level competitions would be organized in Peshawar , Hazara, Southern and Malakand region. In the second and final stage a provincial level competition would be organized among the winners.
- The competition would help in identifying 10 technologies for promotion and exploring possibilities of up-scaling for commercialization. Each winner would also be awarded a certificate and cash prize.
Eligibility for participation in GPSMC:
People from all walks of life at all levels (From illiterate/ under-educated to Post Doctorate level) are eligible to participate in the GPSMC.
Objectives of GPSMC:
- To organize 5 model/technology competitions for general public
- To promote 10 innovative technologies
- To run district wise organized awareness campaigns
- To establish Data Base of the participants of both school level and general public level competitions
1 st General Public Science Model Competition ( Peshawar Region)
In order to organize the 1 st General Public Science Model Competition (Peshawar Region) the Directorate of Science & technology (DoST) worked according to a plan. The plan included the following steps
• Publicity and advertisement
• Establishment of contacts/linkages
• Making arrangements for the event
• Organizing the event
• Follow up
1. Publicity and advertisement
• Advertisements in Newspapers:
This was the primary mass advertising campaign for the competition. Five newspapers were chosen for this purpose which included two English and three Urdu daily newspapers to ensure wide coverage. The advertisements were published approximately two and a half months prior to the competition. For the next two and a half months, advertisements were published in the newspapers after every few days, even a day before the competition.
The initial response from the public after publishing these advertisements was very poor. In fact, even a month after the publication of the first advertisement, hardly a
few projects were received. To achieve the target of 200 projects, there was a need to adopt other ways of publicity/promotion.
1.2 Brochure Distribution:
Approximately two months prior to the competition, brochures in Urdu language were prepared/ printed and sent alongwith an invitation letter to various organizations/ institutions/ universities in Peshawar , Swabi, Mardan, Charsadda and Nowshera
The two sided printed brochure picture is given below:
Admiration from Chief secretary NWFP
Meanwhile, a letter on GPSMC alongwith a brochure was sent to the office of the Chief Secretary NWFP. The Chief Secretary's positive response was a moral boosting to the DoST . The Chief Secretary termed it a “ commendable initiative” and besides this issued the following instructions,
- Provincial and National luminaries may also be invited to the event
- Special children (handicapped) should also be encouraged with a special prize category
- Special prizes should be reserved for females, especially students
- FATA should receive special attention
The Chief Secretary NWFP also issued instructions to the Finance department to releases an amount of Rs. 500,000 as a token of gesture for the event .
Advertisement through posters:
As the target audience of the GPSMC was General Public, the advertisement campaign was taken a step ahead; a poster was prepared for printing and was pasted in various
villages, Towns and cities included in the competition. The cities included Peshawar , Mardan, Charsadda, Swabi and Nowshera. The a sample poster is shown below,
Collection of registration forms/ Projects
Even after the publication of advertisements in Newspapers and wide circulation of posters, considerable numbers of registrations were not received for the competition. Therefore, it was decided to send the DoST teams to various universities/ institutes/ organizations to make personal contacts and collect the registration forms and projects.
Listed organizations/institutions were visited a number of times and registration were collected from them. Not only local organizations were visited but institutions/ organizations outside the Peshawar were also explored. Such institutions included GIK Topi, Agricullture research station Pir sabaq, DG Agriculture research Tarnab, NIFA tarnab etc.
Some institutes/Organizations were visited more than once, even four to five times and consequently, the number of projects received from these institutes/organizations reached at a satisfactory level.
Though it was expected that institutes/organizations would respond promptly and a number of projects would be received, but even this act did not produce the desired results and only few registrations were received.
Telephonic contacts after registration:
To further ensure maximum participation of the general public, telephonic contacts were made with participants. The participants were contacted on both landline and mobile phones and e-mails. The participants were also informed about the incentives (Cash prizes, trophies, TADA etc) that were offered by the DoST. As a result, more than 95% of the participants confirmed their participation and it was really a huge encouragement for DoST team.
Invitations:
Intellectual Property Rights Organization (IPO):
A representative of Intellectual Property Rights Organization Pakistan was invited for the competition. The aim was to inform the participants about property rights and patents. Since there were some projects that worthy for patent rights, the visit of the representative was very useful for the participants who were informed on how they could protect their inventions and obtain patent rights.
Invitation for Talent hiring:
Apart from others, invitations were sent to various organizations to select and hire talents among the participants who had developed indigenous projects from local resources
Invitation for obtaining Sponsorship:
In order to organize the event better, letter were sent to some organizations to seek their financial support. Their response was not very encouraging as only one organization showed willingness to provide sponsorship of Rs. 5,000.
Invitation for participation as guests:
Special sessions on both the days were reserved for public representatives, Officials and General public. A behavior was noteworthy. They were very much excited and welcomed the efforts of the DoST in organizing such an event. Most of them recorded positive remarks.
Invitation for local schools & colleges for participation as visitors:
Before the event, local schools were also invited to visit the SPSMC and avail one of the rare opportunities of learning and sharing ideas and obtaining benefit from the experience of S&T luminaries. The list of schools annexed at Annexure-
Organizing the Event
Constitution of Organizing Committees:
As a result of the efforts of the Project team, a total of 151 projects belonging to various fields were registered with GPSMC. In order to avoid disorder and duplication, eleven different committees were constituted and each of the committee was assigned special task in this regard.
Important Activities on the day of the event:
26 th June 2008 :
A big covered stall was established in open air at one of the lawns of the Pakistan Forest Institute Peshawar. The stall had the capacity of accommodating 150 tables. Keeping in view of the severe hotness, it was ensured that each stall should have a fan and electricity connection.
A “Help Desk” and a “Registration desk” were also established to register, guide and provide assistance to the participants. Four water coolers were arranged to provide water to participants and all others.
The participants started arriving at the venue in the evening. All participants were requested to submit their projects at the registration desk so that a stall could be allotted to them. More than 110 participants reached at the venue and were allotted stalls.
Volunteer students belonging to FAST, Abasyn University and ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) University of Engineering and Technology assisted DoST and in organizing the event.
27 th June 2008 :
It was the opening day of competition. The honorable Secretary Science & Technology NWFP was the chief guest for the opening ceremony. Apart from heavy participation, a huge number of visitors also came to the competition on this day. Visitors took keen interest in projects/models and were seen asking questions from the participants about their projects. It turned in to a great learning experience for both the participants and visitors.
The quality of projects was beyond the expectations as was evident from Public's enthusiastic and positive response and judgment of experienced judges. According to Dr. Irfan Mufti (Chairman Mechanical Deptt: UET Peshawar) “DoST has started new life on this day”.
The competition review committee started evaluation of projects/models at 10:00 am . CRC consists of the following members:
After inspecting all stalls, CRC members revealed that it is very tough to decide winners as most of the projects/models were superb
.
The program concluded at 6:00 pm on this day. Proper arrangements were made for the security of projects.
Secretary ST&IT is inspecting a stall on 26 th June 2008
28 th June 2008 :
The exhibition started at 8.00 am . It was the closing day of competition. CRC committee completed evaluations of the remaining project. Again a lot of people from general public visited the stalls.
The DoST distributed and collected membership forms of Society of Science & Technology amongst the participants. It will be 1 st ever S&T Society of ite kind in the country.
At 12:00 pm the Honorable Minister for Higher education NWFP Mr.Qazi M.Asad arrived at the venue. He paid a detailed visit of all the stalls and showed a keen interest in various projects/models and appreciated the efforts of the participants..
The prize distribution ceremony was started at 1.00 pm in the main auditorium if PFI. Until the commencement of the prize distribution ceremony none of the participants were informed about the winners. Therefore a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement was observed amongst the participants.
The following participants were declared as prizes winners and they received their prizes (cash awards, trophies and certificates) from the Chief Guest. The detail of winners in various categories is as under,
Detail of prize winners
Name of the winner
Position
Category
Institution/ organization
Brief Summary of the achievement
Kifayat Ullah
1 st
General Public
Individual
Weight machine
Manzoor Hussain
2 nd
General Public
Local Technical Consultant
Multi media TV, free solar light system without solar cells.
Zeeshan Zafar
3 rd
General Public
Local Technician
Home security & light automation models
Dr. Zahid Hussain
1 st
Academia
Assistant Professor, Govt College Swabi
Conversion of raw plastic material into petroleum.
Dr. Fazal Mehboob
2 nd
Academia
Research Scholar, University of Peshawar
Conversion of raw polythene bags into petroleum using calcium carbide as catalyst
Zain Muhammad
3 rd
Academia
Govt College of Technology Peshawar
Automatic physiotherapist walker for elder persons
M. Farhan
1 st
University
Individual
Model of modern science
Dost Muhammad
2 nd
University
NWFP UET Peshawar .
Wind turbine
Shiraz Ali
3 rd
University
National College of Arts Rawalpindi
Architect model
Miss Seemab Zeb
1 st
Women
Govt: college of Technology College for women
Automatic controlled tape using intense electronic
Salma Noreen
2 nd
Women
Govt Girls College Charsadda
Model for power generation.
Komal Khalid
3 rd
Women
Army Public School & College for Girls Pesh:
Solar cooker
Saira Qadir
1 st
Special People
Center for physically handicapped People
Handicrafts
Taj Ali
Encouragement Prize
Individual
Pelton wheel
Raja Ahsan
Encouragement Prize
Pak Turkey Int: School Pesh:
variable colored thermometer
Mr. Imran Khan
Encouragement Prize
Engineering University Pesh :
Bio-diesel plant
Ambreen Nazish
Encouragement Prize
Govt Girls Polytechnic College Peshawar
Model of Peshawar museum
M.Awais
Encouragement Prize
Pak Turk Int: School Pesh:
Ultimate Control
Wasim Fida
Encouragement Prize
Electronics Deptt: UOP
Digital controller of FM transmitter
M. Noman
Encouragement Prize
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Zia-ur-Rehman
Encouragement Prize
ASI Police Department
Concepts of various models
Manzoor Hussain
Encouragement Prize
Technical Consultant
Multimedia TV, free solar light system without solar cells.
Muftooh-ur-Rehman
Grand Winner
1 st prize
Engineering University Pesh :
Sugarcane plant
M.Naeem Zahid
Grand Winner
2 nd prize
Individual
Electric bike
Qazi Zafar
Grand Winner
3 rd prize
Local Technician
Ultra light glader
Haider Khan
Special prize Institution
Principal Scientist NIFA Pesh:
Bio geyser
Muftooh-ur-Rehman
Special prize Industries
Student of Engineering University Pesh :
Sugarcane plant
The Grand Winner is receiving shield from Honorable Chief Guest
After prize distribution ceremony, lunch was offered for the guests and certificates were distributed among the participants. The program was closed on 4:00 pm .
Event Feedback
General Public Feedback:
Probably for the first time in the history of NWFP, an event of science was arranged on such a huge scale for general public. A large number of spectators from different disciplines of life visited the competition. For every visitor it was a unique experience. They felt astonished and honored having been with unexplored great minds and scientist from the general public. Our personal questioning from general public gave us the following feedback for betterment of the event in near future:
General Public
Academia (teachers/students)
High ups/officials
Visitors
School Students visiting NIFA Stall
Participant's Feedback:
A proforma was circulated among the participants to obtain their feedback regarding 1 st GPSMC. The participants raised there suggestions, likes and dislikes through feedback form provided to them at the end of the competition. Later a team of DoST evaluated those forms and came up with a brief summary of the participant's comments. Following are the positive and negative comments
Positive Comments
Negative Comments
• There is a lot of talent in our country, and such types of events provide them a platform for grooming their talents.
• The department should increase the number of organizers by hiring human resources from local Universities and Colleges for better management of such events.
• The efforts of DoST towards creating awareness and sensitizing the society for Science and Technology were appreciated.
• Some people complained about the weakness in the management and organization of the events.
• Such type of events should be organized annually because it will help in the promotion of locally conceived ideas and solutions that address the problems of the society.
• GPSMC should be organized in pleasant weather because of hot summer people do not feel comfortable while visiting such events.
• Participants related to the agriculture sector also appreciated this effort regarding to the promotion of Science and Technology. They suggested giving a protocol to Agriculture Research Sector working for the improvement in Food Sector; this will help them to improve their work more.
• There should have been proper arrangements for refreshments.
• Events like this motivate the students towards practical science and create a healthy educational environment. Such events also help in generating awareness and interest about Science and Technology.
• People needed proper guidance to the venue, as lack of banners and sign boards created some confusion in finding the right direction to the venue.
Public/Institutional Response:
Contrary to the expectations, the response of both public and institutions/organizations was not enthusiastic in the beginning.
The main targets for collection of projects were various public and private sector universities, colleges, polytechnic colleges and some research organization located in Peshawar district. Similarly NWFP University of Engineering & Technology Mardan Campus, Agriculture Research Stations Mardan and Nowshera and Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute Topi were also our potential areas for collecting research based projects.
The most substantial and innovative input was from NWFP University of Engineering & Technology Peshawar that alone submitted more than fourty for the competition.
Eight projects were received from University of Peshawar and two from Agricultural University . Only one project was received from PRESTON University among all private sector universities in Peshawar .
Response from Government Polytechnic College for Boys Peshawar was very good and six projects were collected from there. Government Polytechnic College for Girls Peshawar also submitted two projects.
GIK Institute was also visited, but no project was collected due to vacations at GIK. However, telephonic contacts were kept continued with the GIK authorities till the last date requesting for their participation but due to some reasons they were unable to participate with full capacity. Only one participant took part in personal capacity in the competition.
NIFA was also visited and two projects were collected. One project was received from Veterinary Research Institute (VRI).
After continuous follow up by project team for two months, 151 projects were registered in the following categories:
Number of projects received from various Institutions/Organizations
S.No
Organization/Institution
Number of Projects
1
NWFP University of Engineering & Technology
40
2
University of Peshawar
8
3
University of Agricultural Peshawar
2
4
Govt Polytechnic College Peshawar for Boys
6
5
Govt Polytechnic College Peshawar for girls
4
6
Nuclear Institute for Food & Agriculture Research
4
7
Veterinary Research Institutes
1
8
General Public
68
9
Special People
S.No.
Category
No. of Projects
•
Electrical
34
•
Mechanical
34
•
Solar Energy
8
•
Chemistry
5
•
Electronics
16
•
Environmental Sciences
3
•
Physics
3
•
Computer Science
5
•
Agriculture
2
•
Medical
4
•
Dentistry
1
•
General
29
•
Mathematics
2
•
Biotechnology
6
Total
151
Problems faced:
• Although a number of problems were faced by the organizing team as it was the 1 st ever attempt of the project team and perhaps 1 st ever effort of its kind in the history of NWFP. However the team overcomes all the hurdles and problems faced at each stage of its implementation.
• Some problems were associated with the name Science Model Competition. Using the word ‘Model' in the title confused the public into considering it as an event where only models could be presented. Even though the advertisements clearly reflected that any idea, invention and discovery can be presented; the title still confused some public .
• The much lower response of public even after heavy advertisement in newspapers was a source of concern for DoST team.
• Various institutes/organizations showed lukewarm response even after sending them brochures, invitation letters and registration forms. The team had to utilize a lot of energies to get projects from them.
• Just a day before the competition, PDA authorities removed banners of the competition which were installed just few hours ago, all the way from Haji camp to the venue of the event. The banners were not only meant to highlight the event for its future promotion, but were also a mean to guide participants from other districts to the venue of the event. Moreover, more visitors would have visited the competition had the banners been there.
• The problem also arose while changing the site for installation of stalls. Previously the site was finalized just adjacent to the auditorium but just a few hours ago, due to some reasons, the authorities insisted on changing the site to one of the lawns of the PFI.
• To severe hot weather and power failures the organizers were permanently engaged in arranging cold water and electricity backup for keeping in operation the exhibits, fans et.
LESSONS LEARNT:
• The title of the competition i.e. General Public Science Model Competition (GPSMC)
• The registration forms would be reconsidered to avoid confusion in categorization of projects.
• The next GPSMC would be organized in pleasant weather or at least in an indoor facility
• Personal contacts with the individuals/organizations will be given more priority instead of publicizing the event in the newspapers.
• Organizers will improve the basic necessities/requirements (electricity, display boards, fans availability of drinking water, Canteen) for the projects
• The boarding and lodging can further be improved, besides ensuring provision of TA and DA to participants
• Certificates/invitations
