The Faculty of Engineering’s (FE) Department of Mechanical Engineering at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU) collaborated with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to host the first EFx Conference of the academic year in the Middle East and the only one in Lebanon. In addition to the ASME-NDU Chapter, students from different ASME sections in Lebanon attended the event that saw a total of three competitions, as well as three seminars and two workshops with a focus on skills that complement engineering proficiency.
Turnout for the two-day event was high, with over 100 attendees from a variety of backgrounds, including but not limited to, schools and universities across Lebanon and the Middle East, NDU alumni, and engineers just starting out in the field. Most of the participants were students, with 80 registering for either the competitions or the seminars on the first day.
The EFx opened with a seminar on “Mixing Synthetic and Real-World Data to Optimize Racing Performance,” presented by Mr. Joe Sleiman and Mr. Charbel Bou Maroun, Software Engineers at inmind .ai. A highly informative session, it included an overview of the technology used to implement data of any kind to solve real life problems related to racing.
The seminar was followed by a workshop titled “Drifting Basics and Technique,” given by Mr. Oliver El Kik, Owner of Drift King Academy, who taught the attendees about cars and their setups used for drifting, drifting techniques using a simulator, and finally information about the various rules implemented for drifting in the Middle East and abroad.
The first day ended with a pizza and trivia night where the participants were able to test their general knowledge on diverse themes and topics. Students who had registered to compete in the Quick Build Car Olympics Impromptu competition were given their kits around this time.
The second day opened with a seminar given by Mr. Christophe Zoghbi, Founder and CEO of Zaka AI, who shared his expertise in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with more than 12 years in the field. The presentation began with an introduction to AI fundamentals, followed by an exploration of how AI is applied across different domains, particularly in the context of racing. Furthermore, the challenges associated with AI utilization were discussed. Simultaneously, the participating competitors of the Elevator Pitch were provided with the details of their task.
Keeping in line with the theme of AI, a workshop given by Ms. Jana Kabrit, AI Research Engineer at AEMS.ai and AI Instructor at Zaka AI. In this workshop, titled “Computer Vision for Autonomous Vehicles,” participants were introduced to the fundamental principles of computer vision, including insights into state-of-the-art CV models, their functions, and their practical uses.
The Elevator Pitch competition ensued: participants had 90 seconds or less to pitch their ideas and skill sets to a potential employer, decision maker, or influencer. Among the judges were:
- Dr. Elias Feghali, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at NDU
- Dr. Mohammad Darwich, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Beirut Arab University
- Dr. Nancy Saliba, Director of the Asher Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- Dr. Charbel Tawk, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Lebanese American University
The competition comprised 12 participants, the first prize being awarded to Charbel Khoueiry.
The last seminar was given by Mr. Alex Feghali, 6-time Lebanese rally, speed test, hill climb, and karting champion. His talk, “The World of Racing: Experience and Challenges,” tackled a variety of issues in racing, including the differences between rally cars and road cars, preparation for events, how to increase speed, and safety points of rallying and conventional car driving. The seminar ended with a simulation on the key differences between reckless and smooth driving.
The talk was followed by the Oral Competition, which had four participants demonstrate their public speaking skills and engineering knowledge, namely on:
- Nuclear Renaissance.
- Urban Implementation of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines.
- EVs: A Silent Killer.
- Material Informatics.
The judges were:
- Dr. Elias Feghali, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at NDU
- Dr. Gérard-Philippe Zéhil, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at NDU
- Mr. Sergio Eid, Mechanical Engineer and Business Development Specialist at Fox EMS
Each contestant had 15 minutes to present, followed by a thorough Q&A session of 5 to 10 minutes. The winner was Mr. Emanuel Rizk for his topic on Material Informatics.
The final competition, Quick Build Car Olympics, was a 90-minute contest that tasked participants to build a car and a launch platform using the materials provided within the time constraint. With three different challenges, the highest total of points earned determined the winner, the first prize going to Team Infinity.
The event concluded with a closing ceremony during which ASME-NDU’s Chair, student Anthony El Mansab, gave a few words to thank all the people who helped this event succeed. ASME-NDU’s advisor, FE Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Charbel Bou Mosleh, then announced the final winners of the competitions. Photos were taken and a cake was cut, celebrating the success of EFx.