‘UET has contributed to developing national building code’

PESHAWAR: University of Engineering and Technology (UET) has made great contributions in developing the national building code-2007 in the wake of the deadly earthquake of 2005 and the university officials and experts were actively engaged in formulating a new building code-2021 for the country.

This was stated by UET Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Iftikhar Hussain while addressing a one-day international virtual conference on recent advances in civil and earthquake engineering held here on Friday.

The conference titled “Making Resilient Infrastructures” was organised by the Department of Civil Engineering, UET. The event was supervised by Prof Dr Muhammad Irshad, chairman Civil Engineering, while Dr Iftikhar Hussain was the chief guest on the occasion.

The Earthquake Center in the Department of Civil Engineering, UET is one of the leading seismic centers in the country, which was established in 2005 by the then pro-vice-chancellor of UET Prof Dr Qaiser Ali. Since its establishment, the center has made great contributions in producing seismic experts and providing valuable guidelines to the authorities in formulating building related policies.

The vice-chancellor appreciated the efforts of Prof Dr Muhammad Irshad for making concerted efforts in conducting the conference that is aimed to focus on current research and best practices in the areas of seismology and earthquake engineering, structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, transportation engineering, water resources engineering, environmental engineering, civil engineering materials and infrastructure engineering.

Prof Dr Muhammad Irshad briefed the participants on the objectives of the conference, with special focus on the October 8, 2005 earthquake that caused a colossal damage to the infrastructure and human lives in Pakistan.

He said the Department of Civil Engineering had been very active in multiple directions to serve the country from developing seismic-based building codes for Pakistan, to applied research targeted towards earthquake resistant designs with an aim to build safe structures in Pakistan.

The conference brought together leading academic scientists and researchers to share views on latest trends and practical challenges in the field of civil engineering. Prof Dr Tim Sullivan from University of Canterbury, New Zealand and Dr Ketrin Beyer from Peking University, Beijing, China also spoke at the opening session.

Prof Dr Sirajul Islam, Dean Faculty of Architecture and Allied Science, Prof Dr Misbah Ullah, Treasurer, Prof Dr Amjad Naseer, Prof Dr Khan Shahzada, Prof Dr Rawid Khan, Prof Dr Muhammad Javed, (professors Civil Engineering Department) and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.