Karachi’s Institute of Business Management (IoBM) on Saturday held its first-ever technology-centric competition as part of the ‘Technova 2025’ event.

According to the event’s website, ‘TechNova’ is a premier tech and innovation event bringing together students, professionals, and enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds.

It is a unique blend of technical and non-technical modules. The event provides an engaging platform for participants to showcase their skills, compete in exciting challenges, and explore emerging technologies.

Speaking to Dawn.com, the event’s vice president, Muhammad Anas — a final year student at IoBM, said: “This was the first tech-centric event in the history of IoBM; it had multiple tech modules, including a final year project showcase, a startup launchpad, speed programming, prompt engineering, web and logo design, and maths mania.”

He added that winners were awarded with a cash prize of up to Rs50,000, and the competition was attended by students, teachers, technology experts and professionals from more than 25 universities across the country.

“Alhamdulillah, we had more people than expected. Around 500+ participants and visitors, excluding university students and staff who made up a footfall of around 2500 to 3000 people,” Anas added.

The event — organised under the College of Computer Science and Information Systems, aimed to provide an opportunity for youth to express their technology, creative thinking and practical skills, according to a press release by the competition.

The event, affiliated with the varsity’s Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) student branch, began with an opening session, which was attended by the leadership of the institute and personalities from the tech industry.

The event also included a special artificial intelligence symposium, in which experts discussed the future of artificial intelligence and its educational and industrial significance.

The speakers included Microsoft Pakistan Country Education Lead Jibran Jamshed, Telec Group Director Brigadier Musharraf Khan, Rector Professor Dr Tariq Rahim Soomro, and other notable speakers.

In the final year project competition, the students presented innovative ideas which were not only appreciated but some teams also received investment offers. Students demonstrated their creative skills in web and logo designing, while speed programming demonstrated their technical abilities through accurate coding within a set time. Academic competitions were held in ‘Maths Mania’ and ‘Prompt Engineering’, while the youth presented business ideas through ‘Launchpad’.

Speaking about their project, the winner of the startup launchpad competition, Ayaan Amir, a mechanical engineering student, said: “My project was a healthy food startup called GreenBite. We aim to provide oil-free meals that are not only healthy and delicious but also affordable.”

He added that there was a demand for a service for health-conscious individuals who want a reliable, daily meal solution without compromising on flavour or budget, and that the judges had encouraged his team to reach out to them to develop the idea further.

In May, Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), Department of Law, organised a contest under the theme of ‘Legislative Drafting and Policy Competition on AI Governance’ in the university.

The event was organised in collaboration with Sehrish Saba Raja and Associates Legal Clinic and Research Centre, The Society 5.0 Initiative, Law Students’ Council Pakistan, and other distinguished partners.

It brought together 11 teams from leading universities and think tanks across the country to present innovative legislative and policy proposals on artificial intelligence governance.

In March of this year, Khyber Medical University (KMU) hosted the HULT Prize 2025 Campus Competition, wherein 21 emerging startups showcased their creativity and entrepreneurial skills