VC Afzal Haque vows to make varsity hub of entrepreneurial activities
The NED University of Engineering and Technology conferred 2,352 degrees on candidates from various bachelors and masters programme at its 25th convocation held on Tuesday at the varsity’s main campus.
As per details, bachelor degrees were awarded to 1,638 students and MEngg/MCIT/MURP degrees were conferred on 712 students, while two faculty members received PhD degrees.
Assistant professor Dr Raheela Asif of the Department of Computer Science & Software Engineering and assistant professor Dr Fareed Ahmed of the department mathematics, were the recipients of the doctorate degrees.
Talking to The News, Maleeha Noor, a graduate from the electrical engineering department, expressed that teachers taught theory at length but the students could not learn much about practical work due to lack of state-of-the-art equipments in laboratories.
Noor, whose father has served the Pakistan Army, aspires to follow the footsteps of her father. “I too want to the army,” she said.
Since the department has adopted a double-check system, she said, students had become more cautious to make sure their presence in the class.
She urged that the alumni should support the students both in applying for jobs and engaging in entrepreneurial activities.
Noor was of the view that industry tours should be arranged for students and seminars be conducted on a regular basis to let students acquire information about technologies being used in the country and aboard.
Another graduate, Anum Afzal from the CISE, said she was working in a private firm for the last two months and wanted to goa broad for a master. “I prefer Germany or United States for higher students, as students can get familiar with cutting-edge technology in these countries.”
She said she was lucky to work in research labs along with senior faculty members who helped students in their academic activities and facilitated them in finding relevant jobs.
Chief guest
NED Vice Chancellor Professor Dr M Afzal Haque presided over the convocation whereas former Nation Assembly speaker Engineer Illahi Bukhsh Soomro was the chief guest.
Soomro in his brief speech informed the audience about his decades-old relation with the engineering institute and advised the graduating students to use their knowledge and skills to excel in future.
Dr Haque said the NED University had been awarding degrees since a long time. “This Institution was founded in 1922 when the British administration was in need of civil engineers to participate in construction of the Sukkur Barrage.”
According to him, the varsity graduates have been contributing in most desired exercises of the nation building. “NED gradates are always in the list as one browses through the records of various tasks of development including construction of large infrastructure projects, vital power generation works, industrial and manufacturing feats, operation and maintenance of crucial infrastructural assets.”
He said the NED began as a modest college with offering undergraduate civil engineering courses upon its inception, but it had now transformed into a well-known university, offering 29 undergraduate, more than 50 masters and doctoral programmes.
Thanking Illahi Bukhsh Soomro, the NED VC said: “We are fortunate to have one of the former principal of the NED College with us today as our chief guest who has remained in key positions in this country including speaker of the National Assembly and chairman of the Engineering Council.”
Dr Haque said Soomro had had tremendous contributions towards the development of the NED.
He added: “As per our data base, more than 12,000 students belonging are pursuing programmes in engineering, architecture, computer science, computational finance, linguistics, development studies and other carefully carved out subject combinations.
“You will be pleased to know that with the help of the Sindh government, the Higher Education Commission and savings through strict cost cutting measures, the university has successfully drawn its way out from the crisis.”
He said the varsity’s liabilities had reached to Rs1.56 billion with a share of Rs765 million to pay off the commercial banks and its annual deficit of Rs522 million was adding to the university's liabilities.
Moreover, he said the university had started its own endowment fund in which Rs626 million had been collected by the end of 2016. “Other opportunities have also been explored and accordingly availed by the university due to which the NED will turn into a self-sustainable institution in the longer run.”
He said Rs750 million for the mega four funding approved by the Planning Commission was now underway to strengthen academic, research and physical infrastructure of the campus. “Along with this amount, Rs326 million has been separately approved by the Sindh government for the expansion of the Food Engineering Department.”
He said the university had obtained Rs3.5 million under the HEC-British Council Fund for a project which pertains to the modelling of the K-Electric network and addressing line congestion issues
He noted that the university had also secured 70,000 Euros, under DAAD - German Pakistani Research Collaboration Programme, for a project which is related to development of water resource management for agricultural areas of Pakistan.
“The university extends professional input to various regions of the country. Assistance to earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction work in many parts of the country, and heritage conservation support to the Sindh government in Shikarpur are some mentions in this respect.”
He said the NED University was also assisting the provincial transport department on several transport-related projects of Karachi which include the RBS and establishment of the Vehicle Inspection Stations.
The VC said around 17 international projects worth US$ two million were under progress while research journals and publications amounting to 353 journal publications, from 2013 to 2016, and 262 conference papers had been published during the same period.
He expressed that universities played a vital role to build a nation on scientific base with the help of result oriented research and modern strategies of learning. “In this regard, massive measures are being taken to improve the quality of education make a constructive society. I am happy to mention that tje NED disbursed 781 scholarships of various denominations, amounting to nearly two million rupees. Our next imperative objective is to make this university a hub of entrepreneurial activities.”
The VC also congratulated all the graduating students and their parents on their success. “Today is truly a momentous day in your lives, a day of celebration that you will look back on and remember always. I hope and pray that you will reap many more successes in your professional and personal lives.”
