SWABI, April 10: Four students who took part in the 10th National Physics Talent Contest (NPTC) have earned places at top American universities. This was stated by NPTC training programme coordinator Dr Ibrahim Qazi while talking to this correspondent at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology here on Monday.

Of the four students, he said, three had already qualified for the upcoming 37th International Physics Olympiad to be held in Singapore from July 8 to 17.

Dr Qazi, a teacher of the GIK institute’s engineering sciences faculty, said the NPTC was part of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers project initiated for promotion of science among students.

He said participants of the contest were selected after a nationwide screening test, followed by several camps where they were trained and tested by eminent scientists, eventually leading to participation in the International Physics Olympiad.

The project, he said, was a joint venture of the Higher Education Commission and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission for the grooming youth for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

He said the objective of the project was to encourage the youth to opt for careers in science and engineering and to prepare a team of talented students to represent Pakistan in annual international Olympiads.

He said that among the four students, Fahad Mahmood had got admission to both Stanford and Princeton universities, Omer Aftab to Harvard, Saba Zaidi to the MIT and Omair Khalid to the Cornell University.

“We are very happy and we are proud of these youngsters. They have raised our hopes that they will not only perform well at the forthcoming International Physics Olympiad but also during their studies at the world class universities,” said Dr Qazi.

“The NPTC experience has indeed helped us a lot and we all hope to be a part of this community for years to come,” said Fahad Mahmood.