Nile University Wins 1st Place in Electric Vehicle Rally Competition (EVER)
Nile University team "RPMUS" won first place in the finals of the third season of the Electric Vehicle Rally (EVER) Egypt competition and won the grand prize of 300,000 EGP after an intense competition that included 19 Egyptian teams. NU team heads are Hassaan Ibrahim, Mohamed Khaled, Abdallah Ali, Abdelrahman El-Hawary, Ahmed Mohsen, Ahmed Hossam, Abdelrahman Nabil, and Nada Abbas.
Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, inaugurated the rally, held under the auspices of the Prime Minister in front of the Giza Pyramids. Dr. Abdel Ghaffar said that "the electric car rally was a significant event held despite the unfortunate circumstances across the world that resulted in the postponement of most competitions due to the spread of the coronavirus. During the event, the minister stressed the importance of connecting education and scientific research with industry. The ministry provides the necessary support to utilize students' energies in innovation and scientific research."
RPMUS Student Organization is a student-developing program at NU that contributes to society by developing individuals through periodic sessions and training to spread knowledge and awareness quickly, fun and practical way. They also work on various projects and emerging research topics to keep their members' technical skills at their best to ensure their domination over the related technical fields in the market.
According to Hassaan Ibrahim, a 5th-year mechanical primary student and one of the team leaders, "the collective effort of 35 members lasted for six months together, along with the university's support and providing us with a workshop area with a supervisor, among many others. All this had helped us and enabled us to win 1st place;" he also added that "there is always more room for improvement, and part of the prize's money will be used next year for an even more established vehicle."
The idea of the rally emerged for the first time in 2017 as part of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) first operational plan within the axis of deepening local industrialization, localization, and production of technology - an initiative launched by Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. The Electric Vehicle Rally (EVER) Egypt is the first technological competition of its kind in Egypt and the region.
The engineering faculty at Al-Matareya, Helwan University, came in second place with a prize value of 150,000 EGP. In comparison, third place was won by the Zewail University team. The prize was 75,000 EGP, and the award for the Best Car Design was awarded to the University of Menoufia. Best Presentation Award was presented to the Higher Technological Institute on the 10th of Ramadan city. The 1st place and the 2nd place were for Mansoura University. The 3rd place was for Ain Shams University; there was also a prize for the Best New Team, awarded to the University of Assiut. Al-Azhar University took the award for the Best Team Spirit.
The teams that qualified for the final stage of the Electric Vehicle Rally (EVER) Egypt competition are the engineering faculties teams from the following universities and institutes: Ain Shams University, The Higher Technological Institute of the 10th of Ramadan, the Russian University in Egypt, Kafr el-sheik University, Nile University, Mansoura University, Helwan University, Suez Canal University, Zewail City of Science and Technology, Menoufia University, South Valley University, Zagazig University, the British University in Egypt. 6 new teams were selected to participate in the competition this year, and they were the universities of Benha, GUC, Assiut, Tanta, CUC, and Al-Azhar. The number of teams qualified for this year's final was 19 and received material support from the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology.
Dr. Mahmoud Sakr, the president of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT), said in a statement, "the Academy's executive plan 2018/2022 pays great attention to technological and industrial alliances to transfer and localize technology, deepening local manufacturing, and gathering national capabilities scattered at home and abroad. He added that this year focused on the automotive industry and the digital sector.
Dr. Sakr stressed that the rally is dedicated to locally made electric cars to support the automotive industry in Egypt and increase the percentage of the local component and establish a center for research and development in the auto industry. He added that the total funding allocated for this program reached 40 million pounds; 30 universities have participated this year and were filtered into 19 teams and witnessed about 300 training hours over nine months.
In this context, Dr. Amr Farouk, assistant president of the Academy for Technological Development, explained that the 2020 Electric Vehicle Rally (EVER) Egypt competition was held with special preparations, including building roads, racetracks, spaces, and stands for spectators and areas for media coverage.
He stated that the program aims through innovative mechanisms such as the rally and the competition to design and manufacture a homemade electric car and qualify a team of researchers and scientists in this field in partnership with the relevant ministries. In addition, this prepares engineering cadres and attracts the best elements to enter this field and put Egypt on the international map to participate in international competitions through an institutional system supported by the state, which helps to increase the confidence of global companies to invest in this field in Egypt and enter into partnerships. The importance of such initiatives also lies in qualifying technical workers, engineers, researchers, and designers in the areas of embedded software, mechanical parts, electrical driving systems, design, and owning the components of this promising industry, in addition to supporting and motivating students and innovators in a fun and an enthusiastic atmosphere.
Thousands of congratulations were sent to the NU team from many platforms and people inside and outside the country. This achievement is one of many others that NU students have excelled in. We will always do our best to support our students, and we hope these portals of success will be their path to a bright future.