National University of Sciences & Technology DECEMBER 2012 MONTHLY NUSTNEWS Volume III / Issue VI Web Portal Launch Page 03 Allama Iqbal Photo- 24th PNEC Truck Art Workshop Essay Competition Convocation Page 19 Page 06 Page 12 Soft copy can be downloaded from NUST website: www.nust.edu.pk/downloads NUSTNEWS NUSTNEWS NUSTNEWS NUSTNEWS NUSTNEWS NUSTNEWS NUSTNEWS NUSTNEWS NUSTNEWS NUSTNEWS CONTENTS 3-11 HIGHLIGHTS 12-22 UPDATES FROM SCHOOLS 23-27 CO-CURRICULARS CORNER 28-29 SPORTS 30-31 ACHIEVEMENTS Editorial Team Editor: Maryam Khalid Assistant Editor: Faheem Khaliqdad Graphics & Layout: Kareem Muhammad Photography: Ghulam Rasool NUSTNEWS is a monthly publication, produced by Student Affairs Directorate, covering various events across the entire Student Reporters: University. It will be appreciated if the focal Zaid Bin Khamis Butt, Anum Yousaf Khan, persons send reports right after the event so Taimoor Ahmad as to give them timely coverage. 01 Highlights NUST web portal unveiled National University of Sciences and Technology unveiled its through the web portal would allow the visitors to appreciate world class web portal on Dec 17. In this connection, an impres- and understand NUST’s international standing with respect to sive ceremony was held at the main campus of the university. its academic programs and research. The Rector maintained Rector NUST graced the occasion as chief guest and inaugu- that the web portal would enhance web presence of NUST so rated the web portal. A number of dignitaries including former that to project its astounding stature and attract new students Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Owais Ghani were also present and research scholars from across Pakistan as well as the world at the launch. at large. He added that eventually it would help the University Addressing the gathering, Rector NUST Engr Muhammad As- climb even higher rungs of the web-ranking ladder and promote ghar lauded the efforts of NUST web portal team and all the its international visibility manifold. Moreover, this web portal focal persons, which made the successful culmination of the would serve as an impetus to academia-industry linkages along- project possible. He said that NUST intended to revamp its side integrating information resources previously distributed in existing website into a portal carved in conformity with world respective websites of NUST institutions and centers. standards for university portals. This was done by first focus- Earlier, Chief Strategy Officer NUST, Amir Hashmi apprised the ing on well-defined information upload and retrieval process audience of how the project was conceived, planned, executed and mechanism with a user-centric interface. Thus navigating and successfully completed. He said that development of NUST web portal had been a very challenging project. “Just to make you get a drift of the enormity of this project, I must confess that this ambitious undertaking would not have completed had there been no sagacity, determination, visionary leadership, team spirit and rational exuberance at work,” he said. The plan- ning phase was the most crucial as we had to draw a roadmap NEWSLETTER MONTHLY that would lead us to a high pedestal in pursuing the objectives in line with the quality standards NUST is famous for. 3 CSO maintained that it was a common perception that IT pro- jects in public sector had a very low success rate; the reasons for this perception might be cited as rigidity of methodology, NUSTNEWS HIGHLIGHTS orthodox approach and policies that did not encourage initia- and the unprecedented performance exhibition through ma- tive and boldness. He said that NUST had however adopted a trix structure in the local setup, he elaborated. Ms Tooba Raza, culture of research and innovation, coupled with the pervasive DD Marketing and Communications was the master of the cer- approach to allow new initiatives and ideas to be pursued and emony. Punctuated with humour-coated lines, her narration of nurtured, and development of the web portal was one such in- the success story of this gigantic project kept the interest of the stance. audience alive throughout the ceremony. He explained though apparently this project seemed to be a monolith, it was the amalgam of multiple sub projects ranging from setting up of infrastructure for local hosting, image bank- ing, to the development of form and content. He said that fol- lowing the quality criteria for which NUST was renowned world over, they went an extra mile to garner requisite expertise both from within and outside NUST and specialist consultants from the IT industry for successful culmination of this venture. Mr Mubbashir Ahmed, who was the project manager, also spoke at the occasion. He said that the key factors that guided them towards the development of this portal were unstinting support, guidance and commitment of the senior manage- ment, incorporation of PMI best practices, a team epitomizing the courage of conviction, taking all the stakeholders on board, effective communication, optimization of resources at hand Seminar on Internationalization in higher education The University of Warwick and the International Resource Cen- initiatives and most importantly the ways to raise internal and tre at National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) ar- external funding required to proceed with these initiatives and ranged a seminar on “Internationalization in Higher Education” make them sustainable. for vice chancellors, registrars, directors, senior faculty and The seminar was attended by almost 20 vice chancellors, reg- administrative staff in the higher education sector at the NUST istrars and senior officials of institutions in Islamabad, Karachi, campus in Islamabad on Dec 13. The workshop was conducted Badin, Nawabshah, Azad Kashmir and Peshawar. The partici- by Mr. James Kennedy, Director of the International Office at pants welcomed the initiative by the University of Warwick and the University of Warwick. appreciated the efforts of the University’s international office In this interactive seminar, Mr. Kennedy highlighted various teams in Pakistan and UK to provide regular and updated infor- challenges that universities face today. The participants dis- mation and guidance to help in capacity building of educators in cussed various ways through which universities could enhance Pakistan. The University of Warwick is ranked 5th in the UK and MONTHLY NEWSLETTER MONTHLY their quality, cultural diversity and international collaboration. 50th in the world and has a dedicated team in Pakistan which 4 The seminar focused on raising an understanding on why uni- regularly conducts activities to support students and institu- versities need to take steps towards internationalization, the tions in their international outreach and partnerships. procedure for implementing various forms of international NUSTNEWS HIGHLIGHTS University Industry Collaboration FFCL contributes USD 45000 to CES-NUST In line with the agenda of Corporate Advisory Council (CAC), NUST, to foster University-Industry linkages and its core aim of having long-term economic impact for the sectors within its purview, Centre for Energy Systems (CES) entered into a stra- tegic partnership defining a long-term collaboration with Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFCL). This collaboration empha- sises on the importance of both conventional and renewable energy sectors in Pakistan. The overriding objective is utiliza- tion of Pakistani coal from the power generation and liquid fuel production sectors. According to the MoU signed between CES-NUST and FFCL, the latter has generously donated USD 45,000 to build, commis- sion and operate Pakistan’s first gas-to-liquid FT synthesis plant at NUST. This will go a long way in demonstrating the technol- ogy to key stakeholders for subsequent commercial ventures, bringing the coal to the diesel engine platform. Aviation, Ma- rine and land transport are other beneficiaries of this program. NCSC distributes relief goods among Jacobabad flood affectees NUST Community Service Club in H-12 and its sister organiza- been carried out by the Air Force, the condition of flood victims tions in other campuses of NUST ran a campaign titled ‘Flood was still detestable. Dwellers of temporary shelters were run- Relief Drive 2012’ last month and were able to raise 1.8 million ning low on food supplies and many houses were in dire need rupees for the flood affectees. The donations were divided into of renovation. Contemplating the circumstances, team decided two parts- one for Balochistan and the other for Sindh- the two to purchase construction material and ration with the money. worst-hit areas of the country. Construction materials such as cement, guarder & TRs for par- The money for Balochistan was distributed via Mir Changez tial renovation of 11 houses were distributed and grocery bags Khan Jamali Federal Minister of Science and Technology. For were given to over 100 families. Officers of the Air Force Base Sindh, a team consisting of four students, Treasurer (Umair- helped and guided the students throughout the visit. The stu- NEWSLETTER MONTHLY Saleem) and Media secretary (Nidaul Fatima) NCSC, President dents were accompanied by Flying officer Salman Tahir during 5 (Farhan Ahmad) and General Secretary (Sarfaraz), NUST Volun- their visits, who offered his assistance on various matters. teers Club EME went on a 3 day visit to Jacobabad. The team The visit was successful and entrusted money was rightfully dis- lodged at Shehbaz Air Base Jacobabad and toured