Dr Iftikhar Hussain made UET acting VC

Gilani bids farewell to the varsity after 12 years; Noor Muhammad resigns as dean

PESHAWAR: Professor Dr Iftikhar Hussain has been appointed acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Peshawar, while dean faculty of engineering Prof Noor Muhammad has resigned from his office.

A notification issued by the Higher Education Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Monday said that the governor had appointed Prof Dr Iftikhar Hussain of the Department of Industrial Engineering, UET Peshawar, as acting vice-chancellor with immediate effect till further orders/ appointment of regular vice-chancellor.

The earlier notification about the appointment of Imtiaz Hussain Gilani was withdrawn and he bade farewell to the institution after serving it as vice-chancellor for 12 long years.The government had given him (Gilani) a three-month extension on January 28 on completion of his third consecutive term of four years each as vice-chancellor of the university, asking him to continue as head of the university till appointment of a new full-time vice-chancellor.

The decision, however, triggered protest by the Engineering University Teachers Association (EUTA), who managed successful class boycott in all the campuses of the university for four days, which knelt the government to review its decision.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak visited the camp of protesting teachers at the university on the evening of February 4 and assured the teachers to de-notify the decision. In return the teachers called off their strike.

The HED moved a summary the very next day recommending the names of three senior most professors of the university including Prof Dr Noor Muhammad of Department of Mining Engineering, Prof Dr Akhtar Naeem of Department of Civil Engineering and Dr Ifikhar of Industrial Engineering for appointment as acting vice-chancellor. The governor selected Dr Iftikhar.

Dr Iftikhar Hussain is the pioneer chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering, UET Peshawar, which he established in 2006 and he has been serving in the same capacity for the last 10 years.

Prof Dr Iftikhar Hussain did his PhD in 1998 from Bradford University, UK. He has also worked as professor at Bradford University and King Saud University, Saudi Arabia where he conducted at least four international projects.

He has got published over 60 research papers in national and international journals. He has also been awarded with Best Teacher Award by Higher Education Commission and Best Research Award by Ford Car Manufacturing Company, UK.

Prof Dr Iftikhar Hussain has supervised over 10 MS and PhD scholars. He is also Convener of HEC curriculum committee for Industrial Engineering and an elected member of Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Meanwhile, Prof Dr Noor Muhammad resigned as Dean Faculty of Engineering of the university. In his resignation letter, he said that he has taken the decision due to some family problems. However, according to sources he was unhappy with the government’s decision. He considered himself to be the senior most in the university and was expecting his appointment as vice-chancellor, the sources said.

A group of teachers visited him in his office and requested him to review his decision. But, by the time he had already submitted his resignation to the HED.