KARACHI, Jan 5: Degrees were conferred on 691 graduates of Bachelor of Engineering/ Architecture and Masters examinations at the convocation of the NED University of Engineering and Technology here on Saturday.
Sindh Governor Mohammedmian Soomro, who is also the chancellor of public sector universities in the province, gave away gold medals and merit certificates to 19 graduates for their distinctive academic records in different engineering examinations. Female students bagged all the four merit certificates in the Bachelor (Architecture) final examination, two in Textile Engineering, two in Computer and Information Systems Engineering and one in Civil Engineering examinations.
The ceremony was attended by a large number of dignitaries from different walks of life, besides senior educationists, industrialists and parents of the students. Minister of State and Chairman Export Promotion Bureau, Tariq Ikram, delivered the convocation address, while Mr Soomro did not make any speech in his capacity as chief guest.
The minister of state stressed the need for broadening the industrial base of the country and development of a strong engineering industry, which would lead to a better standard of living and modern comforts and conveniences.
Referring to some modern facilities, he said the primary driver was the engineering industry, which acted as a catalysts to the development of other industries.
He observed that the marked increase in the country’s Gross Domestic Product during the last 50 years was made possible through substantial increases in agricultural and industrial output. He mentioned that the economic growth achieved so far was due to the significant structural changes.
The contribution to the GDP from the agriculture sector decreased from 50 per cent to around 25 to 22 per cent, while industrial sector, including minerals, increased from 10 per cent to about 29 per cent, he said, adding that the average growth in the industrial sector over the last 50 years had been an impressive 8 per cent per annum.
Mr Ikram said the thrust of Pakistan’s policy was now to achieve an outward orientation, lower the tariff barriers to make raw materials as inexpensive as possible and let free market mechanism come into play. The focus is to facilitate the up- gradation of quality, product design, cost effectiveness and development of supporting industries.
He stressed on greater progress in the field of engineering industry to capture the world market, saying that the total international trade of the engineering sector was over US $2600 billion, while Pakistan’s export was only US$82 million in 2000-2001.
The minister said the government was conscious of the fact that Pakistani industry had a tremendous opportunity in the reconstruction of Afghanistan as well as in European market and a meeting on Afghanistan had been schedule for January 7 in Islamabad to bring together businessmen, dealing in engineering goods, construction materials and cement, to discuss the potentials and ways to avail of the opportunity.
He urged the university authorities to consider the inclusion of an introductory level module for export marketing of engineering goods in their curriculum. This addition to the learning of engineers would be of great help to themselves and the country, he added.
In his report, vice chancellor of the university, Abul Kalam, said the passing-out of the first batch (1996-97) of students from the Textile Engineering department marked the end of the first phase of reorientation of the university towards liaison with industries, utilities and other organizations, which employed engineers in a large numbers.
He said it was the policy of the university not to compromise on the standards of education, though the university had to undergo the paucity of funds and suspend the development works. All the degrees awarded by the university have international recognition, he added.
Referring to the unemployment of the Civil Engineering graduates, the vice chancellor stated that the university was concerned about the problem and possibilities were being explored regarding introduction of new sub-disciplines under the umbrella of Civil Engineering to improve the employment prospects of the graduates.
He said the university had proceeded to offer undergraduate programme in Computer Science/Information Technology at its city campus, wherein post-graduate diploma in Computer Science had been started in addition to the ongoing programme at the main campus.
Amidst applause and jubilation, Sindh governor awarded the varsity gold medal to Faisal Azeem, son of Muhammad Younus, for securing first position in Textile Engineering (1996-97 batch) examination. He also won a purse of Rs5,000 for showing a consistency of securing first position in all the four examinations of the discipline. The other recipients of gold medals and merit certificates were: Kamlesh, Civil Engineering, who was also awarded the Dr A. T. Khan Memorial Gold Medal for securing maximum marks; Masroor Mansoor, Mechanical Engineering; Syed Muzammil Ali, Electrical Engineering; Arsalan Minhas, Computer and Information Systems Engineering, who also won the Wakilun Nisa Memorial Gold Medal for securing maximum marks, and Rahina Wahid, Architecture.
The following graduates were awarded merit certificates for securing second and third positions respectively in final year examinations of 1996-97 batches of different departments:
Civil Engineering - Sofia (second) and Sohail Samdani (third);
Mechanical - Aneeq Ahmad (second) and Sohail Ahmad (third),
Electrical - Sheikh Faisal Hassan (second) and Saad Ahmed Qazi (third); Computer and Information Systems - Sabahat Moin (second), and Humera Noor (third);
Textile - Farheen Jamal (second) and Saira Ishaque (third);
B-Architecture - Muzna Iftekhar (second), Darakhshan Zia (third), and Wajiha Noor Memon (third).
The graduating students included 613 with Bachelor degrees and 78 Master’s degree holders. In all, 308 graduates were conferred degrees, while other remained absent.
