Civil engineering fest attracts tomorrow’s leaders

"Cennovation", an annual technical festival at Islamic University of Technology (IUT) returned with its fifth edition after experiencing tremendous success consecutively, with the tagline "Building within the limits of nature" this year.

The daylong event was sponsored by Seven Rings Cement and BSRM, and organised by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Islamic University of Technology on  October 04, 2019. Md Shahadat Hossain, chief engineer, Public Works Department was present as the chief guest while Dr Omar Jah, the acting vice-chancellor of the institution, presided over the event. Apart from the lucrative prize money, the fest comprised an array of nine well-picked events which catered to enthusiastic students of all age range.

The biggest truss bridge model building competition in the country was held for the fourth time in a row.  'Game of Trusses' tests the participants' ability to design the strongest truss bridges. The champion trophy was earned by the team Synergy from IUT while the first runner-up and second runner-up were CEcentroid from Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) and Tremor Terminator from IUT respectively.

The construction of earthquake resistant structure is a great challenge for civil engineers. The participants of 'Seismic Challenge' were required to construct a structure out of provided material within a given time on event day. The structure that lasted the longest was designed by the team Sigma Squad from IUT while the first and second runner ups were the teams Trophy Heist from IUT and Team Stardust from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) respectively.

In the drafting completion, the participants were given an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skill set about AutoCAD by recreating the challenging 2D drawings that were provided within the given time. The team AUST Falcon took home the champion trophy for this segment while the first and second runner up were Team_No from BUET and MIST Steel from MIST respectively.

For the third time in the history of Bangladesh, Cennovation  launched a perspective drawing competition, where participants were  able to demonstrate their visual creativity and engineering knowledge. Perspective Illustration refers to an approximate graphic representation of an image as it is seen by the eye. In this event a scenario was provided to the participants. This scenario comprised land profile data and the client's requirements. According to the scenario the participants had to draw a perspective design of the structure, simplified plan view and a brief description about the illustration. Team Apex from BUET was the champion team while the first and second runner up teams were team Array from BUET and Imtiaz Mushfique from IUT respectively.

University going photographers and filmmakers were given a platform to share their art through 'Cennovation through your eyes' and 'Cinefest'. The champion for 'Cennovation through your eyes' was Alif from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST) while the champion for Cinefest was Team Alternate from IUT.

Branding and advertising is the core of every business in the world today. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers. It is crucial for business experts to come up with innovative ideas in order to promote their product in the competitive market. "CennoBiz" is the perfect platform for young minds of the country to prove their skills through case solving, product branding, marketing and advertisement making. Team Impact from North South University earned the champion trophy.

The Poster Presentation competition provided participants the opportunity to prove how well they have mastered the art through presenting posters on any of the following sections of civil engineering: structure, environment, water supply, waste management, transportation, geo technical and soil engineering or construction management. Team Saga from IUT became the champion while the first and second runner ups were Team Epsilon from IUT and Structured Boys from BUET respectively. Mechanics Olympiad tested the participants' knowledge on Newtonian Mechanics. Md Amir Hamja from Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology  (DUET) took home the champion trophy.

Prof Md Rezaul Karim, head of Civil and Environmental Engineering, IUT, and other faculty members were there at the prize giving ceremony which was held to recognise the efforts made, and to reward the participants.

The writer is a third year student at Islamic University of Technology (IUT). She can be reached at [email protected]