Pakistani Students Win Silver in International Genetic Engineering Competition

A team of undergraduate students representing Peshawar has won a silver medal in a genetic engineering competition organized recently by the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts.

Source: iGEM Peshawar Facebook Page


iGEM Team:

The team was made up of students from several cities and towns across Pakistan including Lahore, Attock, Islamabad, Multan, Faisalabad, Khyber Agency, Nowshera, Charsadda, Peshawar, Swabi and Mardan.

The team was hosted by Institute of Integrative Biosciences of CECOS University of IT and Emerging Sciences Peshawar. It was sponsored by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP)’s Directorate of Science and Technology, according to media reports.

The team's silver-medal-winning 2017 entry is a genetically engineered fish called "Reporter Fish" that can detect five different heavy metals and change color to indicate the presence of metal contamination in the water. It used an Arduino electronic circuit board with bacterial-human interface device that enables bacteria to detect and report contamination.

The Peshawar team also participated in iGEM 2016 competition and won a Bronze medal. The 12-member team last year was made of 5 female and 7 male students.

Stanford Challenge:

Earlier this year, a 3-person team of Pakistani students, including a female student from Islamabad's National University of Science and Technology (NUST), won first place in a contest organized by Stanford Center of Longevity. The team's entry is a device they designed and prototyped that enables tremor patients to perform daily routine tasks.

Higher Education in Pakistan:

Wins such as the iGEM silver medal and the first place in Stanford Challenge are the result of improvements in higher education in Pakistan since the year 2000.

There are over 3 million students enrolled in grades 13 through 16 in Pakistan's 1,086 degree colleges and 161 universities, according to Pakistan Higher Education Commission report for 2013-14.  The 3 million enrollment is 15% of the 20 million Pakistanis in the eligible age group of 18-24 years.  In addition, there are over 255,000 Pakistanis enrolled in vocational training schools, according to Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA).

Graduation Day at NED Engineering University For 1300 Graduates in 2013
Pakistani universities have been producing over half a million graduates, including over 10,000 IT graduates, every year since 2010, according to HEC data. The number of university graduates in Pakistan increased from 380,773 in 2005-6 to 493,993 in 2008-09. This figure is growing with rising enrollment and contributing to Pakistan's growing human capital.

Source: UNESCO's Global Education Digest 2009






Higher education in Pakistan has come a long way since its independence in 1947 when there was only one university, the University of Punjab. By 1997, the number of universities had risen to 35, of which 3 were federally administered and 22 were under the provincial governments, with a combined enrollment of 71,819 students. A big spending boost by President Pervez Musharraf helped establish 51 new universities and awarding institutions during 2002-2008. This helped triple university enrollment from 135,000 in 2003 to about 400,000 in 2008, according to Dr. Ata ur Rehman who led the charge for expanding higher education during Musharraf years. There are 161 universities with 1.5 million students enrolled in Pakistan as of 2014.

R&D Investment: 

Rise of research and publications at Pakistani universities began during Musharraf years when the annual budget for higher education increased from only Rs 500 million in 2000 to Rs 28 billion in 2008, to lay the foundations of the development of a strong knowledge economy, according to former education minister Dr. Ata ur Rehman. Student enrollment in universities increased from 270,000 to 900,000 and the number of universities and degree awarding institutions increased from 57 in 2000 to 137 by 2008. Government R&D spending jumped seven-fold as percentage of GDP from 0.1% of GDP in 1999 to 0.7% of GDP in 2007. It has since declined as percentage of GDP.

Summary:

Pakistani students, scientists and researchers are continuing to produce highly recognized and cited research in spite of serious economic and security challenges. Enrollment in higher education is rising and giving a boost to innovation. With better policy focus and more investment in higher education, Pakistan  can make an even greater impact with its young demographics.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistan Beats BRICS in Highly Cited Research

Pakistan Becomes CERN Member

Pakistani Scientists at CERN

Rising College Enrollment in Pakistan

10 Pakistani Universities Among Asia's Top 300

Genomics and Biotech Research in Pakistan

Human Capital Growth in Pakistan

Educational Attainment in Pakistan

Pakistan Human Development in Musharraf Years

Robotics Growth in Pakistan 

Comments

Riaz Haq said…
Pakistani student’s ‘sonic eye’ a ray of light for the visually impaired
Hifza is also working on a mobile app that can help the partially blind find their way around

http://gulfnews.com/news/asia/pakistan/pakistani-student-s-sonic-eye-a-ray-of-light-for-the-visually-impaired-1.2162995

Two years ago when Faizan Khan woke up in hospital following a car crash, he rubbed his eyes hard but still couldn’t see a thing. He initially thought it was an effect of the trauma from which he would recover with time but he had in fact been blinded.
Today, the horrors of his car accident are long gone but he is still learning to live in a world he cannot see anymore. “I had great difficulty at first as I simply wasn’t prepared for it” says Faizan. “One of the most detrimental impacts of vision loss is that you’re not able to move around like before. The fact that you are dependent on someone for movement is the worst feeling.”

Faizan and millions of visually impaired people like him now have a chance to make sense of their surroundings with the help of Sonic Eye, a device that acts as a navigational prop through the medium of sound.
The innovative device has been developed by 23-year-old Hifza Jamal, a student from Peshawar in the north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — signifying how young Pakistani women in the field of technology are transforming society.
Talking to Gulf News, Hifza explained that Sonic Eye is basically a stick that is attached to a navigation system. “This navigation helps to identify the objects in the path. These sensors alert the visually impaired with a loud sound when an object is nearby,” she said.

“The device releases frequencies in the shape of a cone, which when they come in contact with any object in a certain range, activate the buzzer,” said Hifza detailing her invention.
The device can indicate obstacles ahead and makes it easier for visually impaired people to find their way around. The device could be extremely useful for not only the blind but also the partially blind or people with complex eye diseases.
During her research for the project, Hifza spoke to several visually impaired persons as well as eye therapists to understand the problems faced by people with vision loss.
“What struck me most was that vision loss can have a debilitating impact on the mobility and independence of people. They are stuck in one place and become dependent on other people.”
Determined to instil hope in the physically challenged population of Pakistan, Hifza decided to resume work on her university project. “Sonic Eye was basically my university final year project made with the help of my colleagues under the supervision of my professors,” said Hifza, who completed her Bachelor of Computer Science degree from the Institute of Management Sciences Peshawar.
“I am perhaps the first one to launch this technological device in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” she reckons.
Hifza is currently busy working to develop a mobile app that will be able to offer a navigational aid for the blind without even having to use the stick. The app has image processing, face recognition and object detection features, which will help partially sighted persons perceive their surroundings with the use of a mobile camera. “The app is basically aimed at partially blind people,” Hifza explained.
“The app will also recognise currency by speaking the denomination, enabling visually impaired people to easily identify and count bills.”
Hifza is also the co-founder of Sympathizers, an organisation working to provide better education, health and everyday facilities to special people in Peshawar.
Armed with the Sonic Eye and the app she is working on, Hifza aims to bring about a phenomenal change in the lives of people with visual impairments. “This technology can allow sightless people to live an independent life,” she said.

Riaz Haq said…
#NASA #astronauts, #scientists answer #Pakistani fourth-graders’ #science questions on Twitter. #Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, #American TV host Emily Calandrelli replied to the tweet https://gn24.ae/aa2409bc4ec6000

A group of fourth graders from Karachi got the surprise of their lives today when they wrote a letter asking American space agency Nasa (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) some questions about space and got replies from astronauts and space experts.

Students of The Cornerstone School in Karachi, Pakistan, had some questions for astronauts about travelling to space. Promoting curiosity in her students, their teacher helped them post the questions on Twitter. She tagged Nasa’s official Twitter account as well as some astronauts in hopes of getting a response.

The tweet soon started gaining attention as people began retweeting it to help make it viral. Eventually, astronauts and space experts took notice of it and replied.

The Emmy-nominated American science TV host Emily Calandrelli, who hosts Xploration Outer Space and Emily’s Wonder Lab, was the first expert to reply to the tweet.

A 10-year-old student Alisha had asked: “What fuel does a spaceship use?”

Calandrelli replied: “All different types! Some popular rockets that you’ll see will use a fuel plus an oxidiser. For example, something called RP-1 and then liquid oxygen. These are combined and then *ignited* and burned to create a big (controlled) explosion that moves the rocket!”

Nine-year-old Haniyah asked: “Is it true that it rains diamonds on Jupiter?”

The MIT-engineer replied: “It’s definitely possible!! The same physics and chemistry that creates diamonds here on Earth (putting carbon under super high heat/pressure) exist on planets like Jupiter, so some scientists hypothesize that it’s raining diamonds there. Wouldn’t it be fun to see that?”

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield who often shares space videos replied to 10-year-old Mahrukh’s question: “How do you feel when you get blasted off in a space shuttle?”

@Cmdr_Hadfield replied: “Mahrukh - I flew in the Space Shuttle twice. You feel violently shaken, squished, super-focused, excited, and lucky.”

He also replied to another student named Rayyan, who asked: “Do you get scared that your space shuttle might get lost?”

Along with a picture of Karachi from space, @Cmdr_Hadfield tweeted: “Rayyan - I wasn't scared we'd get lost. We had the Earth nearby, and used the stars to steer. I felt especially comforted when I flew over home. Here's a photo I took of Karachi - can you find your school?”

By October 15 morning, screenshots of the tweet were viral on other social media platforms as well. And Nasa scientists and space experts started replying to the questions on Reddit. Twitter users later posted these responses in reply to the teacher’s original tweet.

Tweep @tahaazher wrote: “Also these replies from Nasa scientists on @reddit. They have invited the students when the pandemic is over.”

That’s not all. The students got a reply from the control centre of Ariane 6, which is a launch system developed and manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency. And the German Aerospace Center also sent replies to their questions.

The excited teacher, Aimun, shared an update with the reactions the students had when she handed them the responses that all the space experts had sent in.

Twitter users found the thread of questions and answers very heartening, and some even felt emotional after reading it.

Many Pakistani tweeps also commended the teacher for thinking of putting the questions on Twitter. @smoodwrites replied: "I'm really glad you did this. I was a super space-curious kid... Pakistan needs more teachers like you."

Riaz Haq said…
Top European Research Labs Select Three teams of Secondary school students-- One Each Netherlands, Pakistan and the US--For Own Accelerator Beam Experiments at CERN and DESY


https://home.cern/news/press-release/cern/three-teams-secondary-school-pupils-netherlands-pakistan-and-usa-win-10th


Geneva and Hamburg, 28 June 2023. In 2023, for the second time in the history of the Beamline for Schools competition, the evaluation committee selected three winning teams. The team “Myriad Magnets” from the Philips Exeter Academy, in Exeter, United States, and the team “Particular Perspective”, which brings together pupils from the Islamabad College for Boys, the Supernova School in Islamabad, the Cadet College in Hasanabdal, the Siddeeq Public School in Rawalpindi and the Cedar College in Karachi, Pakistan, will travel to CERN, Geneva, in September 2023 to perform the experiments that they proposed. The team “Wire Wizards” from the Augustinianum school in Eindhoven, Netherlands, will be hosted at DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron in Hamburg, Germany) to carry out its experiment.


Beamline for Schools (BL4S) is a physics competition open to secondary school pupils from all around the world. The participants are invited to prepare a proposal for a physics experiment that can be undertaken at the beamline of a particle accelerator. A beamline is a facility that provides high-energy fluxes of subatomic particles that can be used to conduct experiments in different fields, including fundamental physics, material science and medicine.

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“Congratulations to this year’s winners – may they have good beams, collect interesting data and generally have the time of their lives,” says Christoph Rembser, a CERN physicist at the ATLAS experiment and one of the founders of Beamline for Schools. “Every year I am astonished by how many young people submit very creative, interesting proposals. In 2014, we weren’t sure at all whether this competition would work. Ten years and 16 000 participants later, I am proud to say that it is obviously a resounding success.”

The fruitful collaboration between CERN and DESY started in 2019 during the shutdown period of the CERN accelerators. This year, the German laboratory will host its fifth team of winners.


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The Pakistan team “Particular Perspective” will measure in detail the beam composition of the T10 beamline of the CERN Proton Synchrotron accelerator. The experiment set-up they designed will make it possible to differentiate between different particle species and measure their intensity.

“I am grateful to BL4S for having provided me with an opportunity to represent my country, Pakistan, and its budding community of aspiring physicists. This is a chance for us to experience physics at the highest level and will inspire people with interests similar to ours to reach greater heights,” says Muhammad Salman Tarar from the “Particular Perspective” team.

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The “Wire Wizards” team’s experiment focuses on detector development. The Dutch students designed and built a multi-wire proportional chamber (MWPC), a gas detector able to measure the position of a particle interacting with it, and they plan to characterise it using the electron beam available at DESY.

“The BL4S competition provides us with a unique educational experience that will be a highlight in our time as students,” says Leon Verreijt from the “Wire Wizards” team.

The winners have been selected by a committee of CERN and DESY scientists from a shortlist of 27 particularly promising experiments. All the teams in the shortlist will be awarded special prizes. In addition, one team will be recognised for the most creative video and 10 teams for the quality of physics outreach activities they are organising in their local communities, taking advantage of the knowledge gained by taking part in BL4S.


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