Pakistan at RoboCup 2016

On third attempt, a team of students from NUST (National University of Sciences and Technology) will be representing Pakistan at the RoboCup which begins shortly. This feat has been a long time in the making and has finally been brought to fruition. Team NUST is the only team to be selected from Pakistan and also the only team from South Asia to have qualified for the RoboCup. They will be competing against 27 other teams in the Standard Platform League Competition. The week-long event will be held from June 30th to July 4th in Leipzig, Germany.

RoboCup is an annual international event which is basically a robot football world cup. It was first held locally in Osaka, Japan but due to huge outside interest the competition was taken to an international level. The Standard Platform League focuses more on the software aspect of the robots. Essentially, all teams are provided with exactly the same robots but their performance is judged based on the Artificial Intelligence code that runs them. The main qualifying criterion for this competition is to prove that your robot is able to make decisions based on Artificial Intelligence.

The team from NUST, under the leadership of Dr. Yasar Ayaz, has qualified two times previously. They were not able to participate in the tournament because of lack of funds – these robots don’t come cheap! The six robots, which they purchased from France’s Aldebaran Robotics, cost them a whopping $17,000. However, this year their efforts did not go in vain. The university was able to allocate enough money to fund the trip for three of the team members.

The Standard Platform League Competition is scheduled for June 30th. We wish Team NUST the very best! Till then, have a look at the project that got them selected for this year’s RoboCup!

"To bring married women back to workplaces", NetSol Technologies launches campaign

NetSol Technologies, one of top 500 software houses of the world as ranked by Forbes Magazine, is taking an initiative to encourage mothers back to work. The organization has opened job opportunities exclusively for women, providing them with essential on-office facilities as per a campaign which focuses on bringing women especially moms back to work.

The press release stated that a campaign aiming to inspire young mothers and housewives to return to work has been in function since, 10th June 2016. The campaign was focusing on bringing women back to work by offering them a sound working structure. A study was being conducted, hence, which brought to light the factors responsible for the thinning down of gender diversity up the ladder of leadership hierarchy. The study revealed that about 90% of women stepped out of their jobs either when they get married or when they have their first child. Further such issues were investigated and highlighted as part of that study

Recognizing the far-reaching advantages of gender diversity, NetSol Technologies has taken to resolving the issues responsible for its poor index in a workplace. A supportive working environment has been in place to make sure that no woman finds it hard to return to the workforce after their marriage or after the birth of their first child.

Aiysha Munir, Manager QE at NetSol Technologies, while highlighting the issue said,

“The reason I have been able to continue my job at NetSol is largely due to the availability of daycare. It makes a huge difference for mothers to know that their children are being taken care of and as the daycare is in close proximity, it is easier to check in on them at least once during the office hours.”

The software house now houses a daycare, with proper support staff and a teacher to train the children in their initial years. A high-quality gaming zone and a gymnasium have also been made functioning. Extra-Curricular Activities are being made an integral part of the routine of working women.

It also has an exclusive cafeteria which serves fresh and hygienic food to all staff free of cost. Pick and drop facility has also been provided for women. The medical facility is also an added advantage.

NetSol is a workplace which is a well-known name when it comes to giving all the factors its due importance. It basically is a global provider of IT and Enterprise Software Systems and provides solutions to clients in USA, Pakistan, England, Thailand, China, Australia, and Japan. NetSol also was featured in the Forbes list of ‘500 best software companies to work for in 2015’ and has won the P@SHA Award for Gender Diversity in 2014, making it the best company with the best gender diversity ratio in the IT industry of Pakistan.

As the advanatage of gender diversity are being brought to light, the initiatives are also being taken and it is expected that a great number of moms shall take advantage of these facilities.

Any mother who is looking to join their workforce should just dust her CV and send it to NetSol at moms.careers@netsoltech.com