By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features
Services)
“The Sir Syed University of
Engineering & Technology (SSUET) has achieved a significant place
among the top institutions due to the excellence in teaching domain and its
students, after getting equipped with knowledge and skills, are serving in the
national and international institutions with devotion and dedication.”
This was stated by Engr Z A
Nizami, Chancellor, SSUET, in an interview prior to the university’s 16th convocation scheduled to held on March
26 in which Chief Justice of the Sind High Court, Justice Mushir Alam will
be the chief guest.
Over 1000 graduates, besides
those having done masters, in the disciplines of computer, electronics, civil,
teleom and bio-medical engineering will be receiving degrees in their
respective engineering disciplines at the convocation.
Pointing out that the outgoing
students will embark upon a new phase of life as they are at the threshold of
practical life the Chancellor wished all of them a glorious career.
He stated that holding of
convocations has been a permanent feature since 1998. “Our convocations have
the honour of having been graced by the presence of Presidents, Prime
Ministers, Governors and other dignitaries of the country,” Engr Z A Nizami
recalled.
“The SSUET has been imparting
quality education in the most modern disciplines, which are constantly
revolutionizing the human life and adoring it with beauty comfort and ease. The
intake of the university has steadily increased from 200 students to the
present strength of more than 6,000 students,” he added.
“We have a galaxy of 490
intellectuals in the form of our faculty. Their guidance and extensive
knowledge are real strength of this university. The functionaries of the
university, with their professional performance, are also playing commendable
role in managing its affairs,” he remarked.
“We are fully aware of the highly
dynamic global markets, where employers require intelligent dynamic and
enthusiastic engineering graduates. This calls us for a role that helps equip
the students with knowledge and skills that are commensurate with the demand of
the job markets. The university has already incorporated the modification
in teaching methodology that addresses the new demands. This is evident from
the employment record of our graduates,” the Chancellor reckoned.
The convocation, he continued,
has a significant feature in the sense that the outgoing graduates of the
university carry a sense of achievement and fulfillment as they depart from
their Alma Mater and it marks the completion of an important phase in their
academic life.
He said despite being a technical
institution, the university is fully alive to the importance of Islamic
teachings.
“The Islamic studies are part of
our syllabi. Besides, the Islamic character of the university dominates in its
every function. Our Holy Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH) had been emphasizing
the significance of education. He had advised the Muslims to acquire knowledge
from cradle to grave. We impress upon the mind of our students the importance
of knowledge in the light of this saying of the Holy Prophet (PBUH),” he
added.
He said that the SSUET strives to
discover and disseminate knowledge and to produce young graduates of high caliber,
who are able to run the wheels of the country to an enviable destination,
through the innovative and modern techniques of teaching.
“In this regard the SSUET has
already opened up new avenues and vistas of development in the field of higher
education,” the Chancellor believed.
This convocation, he said, has a
special significance for all and particularly for the graduating batch, it
marks the completion of an important phase and as they enter the next phase,
they will look back and feel that the years spent at the SSUET were the best
years of their lives.
Chancellor Nizami informed that
the SSUET has been offering master programme in the fields of electronics
engineering with specializations in telecommunication since 2000, in computer engineering with specializations
in computer networking and software engineering since 2001, in civil
engineering with specialization in structural engineering started in 2009, ms
in biomedical engineering was added in 2009, ms in mathematics was introduced
in 2009, ms in computer science was started 2009.
The university, since the
commencement of the MS programme, admitted in total 675 students out of which
209 have passed their MS while the SSUET has also been offering Phd programme
in computer engineering and electronic engineering disciplines since 2005.
Replying a question the
Chancellor pointed out that SSUET is a completely self-reliant institute of
learning. The university is recognized by the Higher Education Commission of
Pakistan while all engineering degree programmes of the university are
accredited by the Pakistan Engineering Council.
He mentioned that the SSUET is a
member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and also a member of
UNESCO sponsored International Association of Universities.
“The SSUET graduates have been
accepted into postgraduate programmes in many reputable universities of the
world including Imperial College UK, California State University, USA,
Dalhousie University, Canada, and University of Florida, USA. The university
has strong links with the local and international industry leaders. These
include our programmes of collaboration with siemens, CISCO systems USA,
Lockheed Martin, USA, and many other universities,” he revealed
Chancellor Nizami recalled that
the SSUET attained another milestone by getting the prestigious ISO 9001:2013
certification for quality management.
He said to provide the
opportunities for delivery of academic programmes in partnership with leading
foreign universities that lead to undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, MoUs
have been signed after the course-matching exercise with Coventry
University UK, Hertfordshire University UK and London Metropolitan University
UK.
The MoUs provided the facilities
of advance entry of our university students into degree courses with credit
transfer facilities involving first 2 years study at the SSUET and subsequent
two years in UK, first six months class work for MS students in UK and
subsequent six months for preparation of thesis/projects in the SSUET under the
local supervisors and staff exchange and collaborative research projects.
The Chancellor said that the
recently chartered inspection and evaluation committee has placed SSUET in
“five-star” category which was another feather in their cap.
To a question Engr Nizami said
that he believes that no deserving student be deprived of education due to
financial hardship and in this regard the university is very liberal in
awarding scholarships to deserving students. Since its inception, the university
has awarded more than 13,906 scholarships amounting to Rs 237 million while
during the current fiscal year, Rs 45 million allocated for scholarships.
He also spoke at length about the
university’s central library having over 75,000 books on latest research and
applied engineering and modern engineering, a motivating career planning and
placement bureau to guide the students to get suitable job after graduation.
He said the HEC after a thorough
evaluation of the working, progress and achievements, holds a very positive
view about the university having awarded the SSUET the highest category while
being regarded very highly in academic circles as well as the corporate
community.
“The most pivotal decision of our
life is selection of right career. When the choice of career is to be an
engineer than a center of excellence in engineering education is the SSUET
known nationally and internationally for its outstanding educational
facilities,” he opined.
Engr Nizami emphasized adding
that promotion of research culture was always an objective of a university and
the SSUET was successfully moving in that direction.
He said that the university
faculty members are engaged proactively in research work which has been
published in the prestigious journals of international repute.
“We believe, without strict
adherence to the parameters of quality education, remarkable progress cannot be
achieved. Besides academic activities, the university has shown outstanding
performance in extra curricular activities like declamation contests,
sports etc and won coveted awards,” he concluded.
