NUST Prime Ministers Entrepreneurial ChallengeDISCOVER2012

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NUST Prime Ministers Entrepreneurial ChallengeDISCOVER2012

Top five plans make it to finish line after rigorous evaluation

Islamabad Feb 26 - Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) - National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) successfully culminated the grand finale of the second Prime Ministers Entrepreneurial Challenge, DISCOVER - Prosperity through Entrepreneurship, here on Monday. DISCOVER, a national level business plan competition patronized by NUST, has been endorsed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Spanning over six months, the competition came to its exciting end with a group of seasoned panelists deciding on five teams to be termed winners of the second episode of the grand event. These included Boondh, Coal Ash Brick, Futureon Engineering Technology, Nanocides and Zarai Otaque. Rector NUST Engr Muhammad Asghar distributed certificates among the winning teams. However, an august prize distribution ceremony, likely to be graced by the Prime Minister of Pakistan himself as the chief guest, will be held shortly.
Over 1600 students from across 55 universities of Pakistan participated in the competition to showcase 376 brilliantly conceived ideas. After the registration, there started a rigorous process of training, mentoring and selection of the best among the participating teams for the final stage of the competition. In the Grand Finale, the top ten teams, presented their innovative ideas before a jam-packed audience. These included business plans related to biotechnology, electronics, power generation, agriculture, transport, health, food, education, plantation, alternative energy etc.
Addressing the audience, Rector NUST Engr Muhammad Asghar felicitated the winning teams; extolled runners-ups; expressed his gratitude to the esteemed panelists from the industry for their keen observations and analyses; and lauded NUST officials for their untiring efforts to turn the event into a real success. He said that the role of modern day universities was then by all means more productive than it ever was, as it revolved around the evolving concepts of building economies, communities and leadership within the parameters of academia.
He said that NUST was taking every measure to identify as well as nurture the entrepreneurial talent deeply embedded in the youth of Pakistan. For this among other activities, he added, Discover Business Plan Competition was being held regularly since the last year. The Rector highlighted that one of the significant benefits drawn from the competition was a platform paving the way for a close and productive interaction between the industry and the academia. It helped hundreds of students engage and work with high profile business and industry leaders. He maintained that the students trained the previous year through this program went on to bring glory to Pakistan at international fora by reaching the victory stands in international competitions.
Earlier, the participants from the previous years entrepreneurial challenge narrated their success stories, describing how they manifested their business ideas as viable enterprises.