Dear All,

I am thankful for the support and enthusiasm shown by everyone. For me, it's a dream come true. Roughly two years ago, I started teaching Batch 06 with Electronics I as my first course at CASE. One day, I was narrating them something good about Nustians and one of my students said, "Sir, they are Nustians and we cannot be like them." The comment made me realize that there was a lack of pride and confidence as a CASIAN. I knew that my students were as good as any other university students and their concepts as strong but that was what they needed to know. I promised to my students that one day we will prove that we are academically as strong as Nustians are – or even better. National Engineering Robotics Contest is the largest robotics competition of Pakistan since 2003. EME has a strangle hold of the competition since its start, winning 6/7 times. They were on a 3 year winning streak since 2006. There could be no better place to go than NERC 2009. I gave them the "autonomous line tracking vehicle" project in Electronics II and then they went on with some very exciting projects during the course of Control Systems. With their grip getting strong on practical Electronics, Industrial Automation was the pinnacle of all the courses that I had taught them. I had a meeting with Dr. Saeed and he graciously approved my audacious plan of taking on EME in the NERC09. There was no looking back. Since January 2009 we embarked upon a long and tiresome journey. Days and nights passed by but batch06 stood strong. It was our first time - we made mistakes, corrected them and moved on. Our energies were being sapped by the momentous job at hand but our resolve could not be tempered.

Qualification round on 10^th July, 2009 was the moment of truth. We faced 107 teams from over 35 institutions of Pakistan. 8 robots of CASE participated in the qualification rounds on 10^th and till the end of the day, Nustians were in shock and awe. With its fierce speed and job completion time of 22 seconds, our BURAQ was ranked hot favourite. 6 teams from CASE qualified for the finals on 11^th.

With prayers and hopes dawned the 11^th. No words can describe the charged up atmosphere of EME auditorium. You had to be there to feel the tension between the two rivals; CASE & EME. No one knew what way the tide would turn. A loud uproar from EME greeted our BURAQ as it missed its first try but so did NEO from EME. Till the end went on a continuous exchange of intense slogans from the two rivals. With a time difference of 0.4 seconds we were declared the champions of 2009.The moment of triumph has been captured in my mind forever. It was that last announcement that might always be remembered in the history of CASE. The journey does not end here but it has just started. Defending the title is even a greater responsibility. It was hard to win this huge event but it will be harder to defend it. The fierce clash has raised the bars of the competition. We have not loosened up - instead we are ready to defend this title. May Allah be with us in our future endeavors. I thank ALLAH – the most merciful and beneficent who made our dream a reality. I would also take this opportunity to thank some people who made valuable contributions in making this happen. First of all, I would like to thank my family for bearing with my late hours of work and their prayers. I also would thank my mentor Dr. Khalid Munawar for his precious ideas and prayers all the way. Special thanks to Dr. Saeed for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. He patiently listened to all the vexing demands that I made on behalf of batch 06. I would also like to thank Dr. Abdul Khaliq who has always been cooperative and extending his helping hand. He has been a support from day one. I would like to thank Dr. Farrukh Kamran for giving us time from his very busy routine. His valuable ideas were priceless.

I can never forget the efforts of Mr. Raheel Bhutta. I have never seen a person who was ever ready to help. He is indeed a selfless individual and a stalwart employee of CASE. I would also like to thank Mr. Ali Syed and Mr. Najam for helping in arranging the local contest. Mr. Najam took a lot of load off my shoulders by contributing towards the cause. He was always available whenever needed. Specially Mr. Ali Syed showed unbridled support during the NERC09 by staying with the teams all day and night at the EME college. He is indeed a very spirited and a dedicated CASIAN. May Allah bless him for his efforts and sincerity. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Mr. Rizwan Arshad (MS student of CASE) who gave a lot of time to the students of batch 06. He was always available for discussing different scenarios and has contributed a great deal to the success story of CASE.

I am also thankful to administration people for bearing with all the chaos that we made at the basement. Mr. Bilal Meer was always willing to help and has a great contribution in the smooth sailing of the proceedings. I would also like to thank Mr. Isa Khan for lending us time from his ever busy routine. He was always smiling and ready to help even in the most urgent situations. I would also like to thank specially Mr. Sarmad for his services in coordinating important information with the students of batch 06. He is a gem of a person. May Allah reward him of his efforts. No one can forget the efforts of Mr. Farid and Mr. Muzaffar during this long stint towards the final competition. I also have to mention and thank Mr. Kashif here who motivated students on every stage. He also provided them with the necessary items whenever needed without a hitch or delay. I would also like to thank all the people of machine lab, electronics lab and CARE lab. They all have been providing us with equipment and ICs whenever required. CASE NERC team is also thankful to the night watchmen of CASE. They have also been very cooperative in this regard. It is a gift of Allah that we have so many selfless individuals working for CASE.Last but not the least in any sense, I am profoundly grateful for the respect and love batch06 has given me. I will never forget the moments that I have passed with this amazing batch. Without them this dream could have never been realized. May Allah give them success on every step they take. Amin. Finally I thank all the faculty members and employees of CASE who have contributed their bit in the memorable outcome.

Congratulations to all on a new beginning. Please pray to ALLAH that He widens our horizons and make us more humble as we win more titles in years to come.

Regards,
Mansoor Shaukat.