KARACHI, Dec 31: As many as 891 graduates were conferred undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the 14th convocation of the NED University of Engineering and Technology on Saturday.

Dr M. Akram Sheikh, deputy chairman of Planning Commission of Pakistan, delivered the convocation address, while in the absence of Sindh governor, his adviser Abdul Wahab Sheikh gave away gold medals and merit certificates to the outstanding graduates.

Almost 50 per cent of the outgoing graduates appeared at the convocation to receive degrees. The ceremony was witnessed by senior academicians, services personnel, government high-ups and prominent citizens as well as parents.

In the bachelor of engineering category of 2000-2001, a maximum of 152 students passed out the electrical engineering exams, followed by 134 of computer and information system, 133 of mechanical, 113 of civil, 73 of electronics, 63 of industrial and manufacturing, 32 of textile engineering exams and 21 of Bachelor of Architecture examination and 49 of Bachelor of Computer Science and Information technology examinations.

A total of 121 were conferred master’s degrees, out of which 37 received in person. A maximum of 41 students passed the master of electrical engineering exams, followed by 29 of civil, 26 of mechanical, 13 of environmental, 3 of computer science and one each of industrial and manufacturing (by research), computer science and information technology (by research and urban and regional planning exams.

The first position holders of different bachelor level examinations, who were handed over gold medals and merit certificates at the convocation are: Mohammad Zahid Zia of Civil, Mohammad Farrukh Shahab of Mechanical, Mohammad Saadat of Electrical, Mohammad Imamuddin of CIS, Asma Siddiqui of Textile, Nazifa Mariam of Electronics, Shabbir Ali of IM, Shahid Jamil of CSIT and Aaliya Saeed of Architecture and Planning.

Two of the graduates Mohammad Zahid Zia and Shahid Jamil were given one additional gold medal, instituted in the name of Dr A. T. Khan and Wakilunnisa, respectively.

Speaking to the graduates, Dr Akram, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Engineering Council, said that what they had learnt and how were they going to react in the practical life , while encountering a different set of challenges and requirements, would matter a lot.

Dr Akram underscored the need for focussing on issues of sustainable development and population welfare. The unprecedented consumption of the natural resources of water, land, fuel and air cannot be continued indefinitely as it was already proving hazardous and disastrous, he added, saying that alternative sources and technologies must be quickly developed.

Talking on the trends of utilization of skilled manpower, he said that the country had been wasting the talent it had, but now there was a need to place sufficient quality human resources in the right place.

NED Vice-chancellor Abul Kalam said that the varsity concentrated first on producing first class graduates and then progressed to developing reliable master’s level degree programmes and then began concentrating on research works for doctorate degrees.

The second and third position holders of different programmes who were given merit certificates are: Samina Tabassum, Raheel Ahmad, Zubairur Rehman, Hina Shakil, Mohammad Athar, Syed Mohammad Bilal Hashmi, Rajesh Kumar, Farrukh Jamal, Sitwat Batool Zaidi, Tayyaba Sami, Mohsin Mumtaz, Sadaf Mudassir, Sadia Mahboob, Farooq Nasir Siddiqui, Fawad Hussain, Hina Noor, Zareen Zulfiqar and Sayyeda Najia Zaidi.