Day: March 21, 2022

Lahore, March 21, 2022 (PPI-OT): Prof. Dr. Riaz Ahmed Warraich, one of the most renowned Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon in Pakistan has taken the charge of the University College of Dentistry, the University of Lahore as a Principal. Dr. Warraich holds a PhD degree (Comprehensive) from King Edward Medical University and a Fellowship in Craniofacial Surgery (Hannover Medical School Germany). He is also a fellow of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery College of Physicians and Surgeons of Bangladesh.

He has been bestowed the Fellowship of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan and he completed his Masters in Dental Surgery from Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. He also completed MCPS in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. All these academic achievements add up to 5 Level III and Level IV degrees.

The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) department has been one of the most diverse, complicated and revolutionary departments in Pakistan. Amongst the expansive and varied specialized fields in dentistry, OMFS has been the most developed in Pakistan. This specialty has been directly involved in saving and improving patients’ lives. From surgeries that help in solving life-threatening accidents to treating disfigured facial structures to relieving patients of their aesthetic concerns, this field has impacted the life of millions of people in Pakistan. The OMFS specialists have been hard at work to serve the people of this country.

Dr. Warraich has been one of the most renowned head and neck surgeons in Pakistan. He is credited for having changed the direction of OMFS from the conventional surgical specialty reserved for trauma cases to a modern field encompassing the correction of cancers and fractures to aesthetic procedures and bone augmentation procedures.

He has spent decades in the dental field both as a health professional and as an administrator. He was a pioneer in the establishment of the department of OMFS at the King Edward Medical University/ Mayo Hospital, Lahore in 1998. He was also at the forefront for the Organ Transplant Unit at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Services, Islamabad in 2013. His services to the nation also included extensive upgradation of the intensive care unit, extension of Accident and Emergency department and establishment of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad. Hundreds of patients and even today people are being treated for problems related to Oral and Maxillofacial issues at the department whose base was laid by Prof. Dr. Warraich.

The University of Lahore is privileged to have Prof. Dr. Warraich as the Principal of the University College of Dentistry. The administration, faculty and students are very hopeful and optimistic that a man of Dr. Warraich’s caliber will take the Dental fraternity to new heights of successes.

For more information, contact:
The University of Lahore
1 – KM Defence Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-111-865-865, +92-42-35322501 +92-42-35321761
Email: info@uol.edu.pk
Website: www.uol.edu.pk

Lahore, March 21, 2022 (PPI-OT): A team of female students from Department of Architecture, bagged the first position in an international competition on women empowerment, which was held recently for highlighting the importance of gender equality, heritage, and the environment. The event was organized by the Heritage Foundation and the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture, and Urbanism (INTBAU).

More than nine universities from all over Pakistan participated in the competition, while only three teams, including the University of Lahore, the National University of Engineering and Technology, and Dawood University of Engineering and Technology Karachi, managed to complete the challenge. The competition was about the on-site construction of Lari Octa-Green (LOG) Zero-Carbon materials and techniques that had a low carbon footprint, like bamboo and lime.

The UOL team consisted of 11 female students of Architecture, who took the initiative of designing and constructing the structure in the premises of the university, under the supervision of Ms. Zain Zulfiqar (Assistant Professor), Ms. Komal Fatima (Assistant Professor) and Mr. Syed Zehgham Ali Zaidi (Lecturer).

The competition was adjudicated by Ms. Yasmeen Lari (first female Architect of Pakistan), who herself was known as a beacon of women’s empowerment and had been working to build “earthquake and flood resilient structures” using zero-carbon techniques. The activities were overseen by Mr. Naheem Shah (Coordinator Heritage Foundation) and Mr. Ashfaq Ahmed (Coordinator Heritage Foundation) along with Ms. Lari.

The UOL team managed to build the structure from scratch, including the making of mud-lime bricks, the excavation and construction of the foundation, the cutting of bamboo, and the assembly of pre-fab panels. It was the only team which completed the structure within the given timeline and grabbed first position in the competition.

Later, the organizers arranged a certificate distribution ceremony in Karachi to appreciate the efforts of the students. Ms. Maryam Naveed (Finale Year Student) and Ms. Khadija Sarfraz (Fourth Year Student) along with Mr. Zeeshan Asim (HoD, Architecture Department) represented UOL at this event. The students were awarded with the certificates and the importance of this project in promoting women empowerment was highlighted. Later, Mr. Asim gave an acceptance speech on behalf of the UOL and its faculty.

With the aim of highlighting the hard work, sustainability in professional practice and enlightenment on the subject of Women’s empowerment, the Department of Architecture hosted an event in the honour of the winning team held on January 14, 2022 at Defence Road Campus.

Mrs. Shahnaz Raoof (Chairperson, Chaoon Foundation), Mr. Nasir Mehmood (Pro-Rector Academics), and Mrs. Farah Mahmood (Director, UOL Relief) were invited as chief guests. Members of the winning team made a presentation on sustainable development and also explained the process of how they built the log structure. Mr. Zeeshan Asim (HoD Architecture) encouraged the students to take part in such competitions in future and congratulated the winning participants.

After winning the competition nationwide, the UOL will be sponsoring 11 participants and 4 faculty members to the UK, where they will be engaged in a similar activity scheduled at Granary Square from March 21-25, 2022. The program will include, building the log in London Square in collaboration with Bangladeshi and UK students, on 23rd March at London Square. The log will be dismantled on March 25, 2022 at London Square which will be transported to Prince Charles’ residence at High grove.

For more information, contact:
The University of Lahore
1 – KM Defence Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-111-865-865, +92-42-35322501 +92-42-35321761
Email: info@uol.edu.pk
Website: www.uol.edu.pk

Lahore, March 21, 2022 (PPI-OT): In the year 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) archived Dr. Muhammad Farman’s (Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics) eight research papers based on Novel Corona Virus in “Global Literature on COVID-19” disease. WHO is bringing the world’s scientists and global health professionals together to accelerate the research and development process and develop new norms and standards to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and help for those affected by the disease.

Dr. Farman has also published 18 research papers in 2021 having a total Impact Factor of 37.89 with 168 citations. Most of the papers lie in the W-Category journal in HEC (HJRS) system. This work is a contribution to the field of applied Mathematics and Mathematical Epidemiology. This volume of research is very informative for scientists, medical specialists and researchers to design the control strategy for infected diseases, etc.

Dr. Farman is also a reviewer of several Web of Science Journals (Scientific Reports, IEEE Access Journal, Chines Journal of Physics, AIP Advances, Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems Series S, (IJAAC)), Numerical Method in Partial differential equation and Mathematical Method in applied sciences.

He also participated as a guest speaker in an Academia International Conference on Mathematics and Mathematics Education held in Turkey. The event attracted more than 100 participants and 50+ speakers from all over the world. Dr. Farman presented on “Application of Fractional Order Techniques on Diabetes Model” and discussed the impact of fractional operator to control the diabetes without defining any other parameters and the link between glucose insulin system at different fractional values.

Dr. Farman was also a Guest Editor for the Symmetry Journal’s special issue on “Symmetry Analysis of Fractional Differential Equations with New Kernels”. The goal of the issue was to publish papers on the symmetry analysis of fractional differential equations using power-law, exponential-decay, Mittag–Leffler and hybrid kernels. The symmetry plays an essential role in computational science and its analysis is a powerful tool that enables the user to construct exact solutions of a given differential equation in a fairly systematic way. This special issue addressed many subjects, ranging from new kernels to applications of symmetry.

For more information, contact:
The University of Lahore
1 – KM Defence Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-111-865-865, +92-42-35322501 +92-42-35321761
Email: info@uol.edu.pk
Website: www.uol.edu.pk

Lahore, March 21, 2022 (PPI-OT): Dr. Rabia Akhtar (Director, Center for Security, Strategy and Policy Research (CSSPR)) on January 11, 2022, gave a talk at the Pak-Afghan Youth Forum, Islamabad. In her talk, she looked at the intellectual landscape that shapes the knowledge on, and narrative about, Afghanistan and Pak-Afghan relations.

She lamented the lack of knowledge-production on Afghanistan and Pakistan, something that is a major cause of the ever-widening misperceptions between the two countries. She argued that efforts need to be made to create a Pak-Afghan intelligentsia that is open, willing to acknowledge past mistakes, and keen to explore opportunities in the future. Apropos of the youth, Dr. Akhtar said the shared future of the two countries depends on how much the youth is empowered, equipped, and facilitated. She further stated that disengagement is not an option, simply because there are forces out there to exploit this divide and apathy.

Appreciating the Government of Pakistan for taking initiatives like the Allama Iqbal Education Scholarship, Dr. Akhtar said education is the most powerful way through which Pak-Afghan relations could be recalibrated, with a view to taking advantage of the forces of connectivity and integration.

Further, while discussing some of the challenges to Pak-Afghan relations, Dr. Akhtar highlighted the need for effectively communicating red lines. With reference to Pakistan, she said the presence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan and that country’s refusal to recognize the Pak-Afghan border are veritable irritants. Moreover, she stressed that false expectations were created about the Taliban both inside and outside of Pakistan.

On the Taliban, Dr. Akhtar asserted that they have to show the world their changed version. Absent that, she argued, Taliban and Afghanistan will stand to lose immensely. As for Pakistan, she argued that it stands to lose if Afghanistan remains unstable.

In addition, she talked about the brewing rivalry between China and the United States. In that regard, she said Pakistan will not be asked to join a particular camp, primarily because it does not have the capacity to do so. Last but not least, she contended that because their destinies are tied together, Pakistanis and Afghans must become each other’s ambassadors.

For more information, contact:
The University of Lahore
1 – KM Defence Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-111-865-865, +92-42-35322501 +92-42-35321761
Email: info@uol.edu.pk
Website: www.uol.edu.pk

Lahore, March 21, 2022 (PPI-OT): Starting university can cause a lot of anxiety among students because of their unfamiliarity with its environment. In order to eradicate anxieties and boost students’ motivation, departments at The University of Lahore (UOL) conducted elucidatory orientation sessions between February 12 and 19, 2022.

The orientation sessions helped new undergraduate, MPhil and PhD fresh students to understand the nature of the University, the educational opportunities available to them, its values, functions, and its central objective as an academic enterprise.

HoD, DOVS gives briefing on the BS in Optometry program

On February 14, 2022, Dr. Khizar Bashir (HoD, Optometry and Vision Sciences) delivered a comprehensive speech about the specialty of BS in Optometry and Vision Sciences. He elucidated how beneficial this degree is in serving humanity, and the necessity of being an optometrist, who fills roughly 70% of an ophthalmology department’s duty. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmed (Associate Dean, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences) spoke on behalf of Dr. Amir Gilani (Dean, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences) and explained the 5-year program, the courses, credit hours, attendance and rules of conduct.

Director IMBB appreciates students, families

The orientation sessions for IMBB’s undergraduate and postgraduate students were organized on February 14 and February 21, 2022, respectively. Mr. Zeeshan Haider (Admission Incharge IMBB) briefly guided the students about the university, department/institute, its policies, the faculty members, the grading system, general conduct and behavior during their stay at the department. Certain queries related to examination policies, grading systems, attendance, and other issues were also addressed during the event. Dr. Ahsan Sattar Sheikh (Director, IMBB) gave the concluding remarks and formally thanked the students and their families for attending the orientation sessions. He also conveyed his best compliments and wished all the students a successful stay at IMBB on behalf of the honourable Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ashraf (Pro-Rector IMBB/CRiMM).

Ms. Aisha Kashif leads LBS’ week long session

For the Lahore Business School (LBS), it was a week-long orientation session for its newly enrolled students conducted under Ms. Aisha Kashif’s (Assistant Professor, LBS) supervision. The week comprised sessions in which faculty members spoke on different topics, including: public speaking, balancing studies with extra-curricular activities, grading system, presentation skills, personal grooming, etiquettes/ manners, Moodle, and SLATE training. During the closing session, a student satisfaction survey was conducted to obtain feedback from students that would guide the organizing team in making future adjustments.

CS and IT emphasizes practical learning

The orientation session at the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology (CS and IT) highlighted the degree programs being offered with emphasis on practical learning. The students were asked to link themselves to the industry early enough in order to enhance their practical skills. Moreover, the faculty members gave academic advice about the outlines, career prospects, rules and regulations.

Chemistry holds two sessions

The Department of Chemistry held two orientation sessions on February 15, 2022 and February 19, 2022, led by Mr. Zahid Ali (Lecturer) and Ms. Aimon Saleem (Lecturer) respectively. The orientation sessions were presided over by Dr. Arif Nazir (HoD, Chemistry). Moreover, university rules and regulations were shared with the students, and they were advised to integrate into the university culture for their own well-being. Graduate students were told to be research-oriented and target to publish in reputable journals.

Mathematics emphasizes time management

Mr. Jawad (BS Coordinator) supervised the session at the Mathematics and Statistics Department. The students were informed about the grading system for exams and various scholarships opportunities available. They were further advised to manage their time effectively, setup timelines for getting work done in each of their courses, and to work hard in order to achieve good grades.

Senior faculty attend the session of Education Dept.

On February 14, 2022, Dr. Tanver Iqbal (Assistant Professor, Program Advisor) gave a brief introduction of the university and detailed information regarding the department. Professor Dr. Muhammad Saeed (Head of Department), Dr. Muhammad Hameed Nawaz (Associate Professor), Dr. Khalid Rashid (Assistant Professor), Dr. Musarrat Javaid (Assistant Professor), and Dr. Mehwish Gull (Assistant Professor) also attended the event. The orientation program for MPhil and PhD students was organized on February 19, 2022. Dr. Gull and Dr. Nawaz formally welcomed the students and gave introduction about the institute, code of conduct and course outlines etc.

Software Engineering addresses discipline issues

Dr. Yasir Mahmood (Assistant Professor) and Mr. Junaid Aziz (Assistant Professor) led the orientation session of the Department of Software Engineering (DoSE) held on February 14, 2022. It began with an introduction of the DoSE faculty and continued with an explanation of academic programs, degree requirements, and general discipline rules (governing the display of identity cards, smoking restrictions, outsider visits, restrictions on celebrating private parties, job prospects, and governing student life at UOL).

For more information, contact:
The University of Lahore
1 – KM Defence Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-111-865-865, +92-42-35322501 +92-42-35321761
Email: info@uol.edu.pk
Website: www.uol.edu.pk

Lahore, March 21, 2022 (PPI-OT): Who thought that a young boy named Naqibullah Mashwani, son of Ammanuddin from Kunar, Afghanistan, will achieve all his dream by breaking the stereotypes and move to Pakistan for his further education? Mr. Mashwani’s journey has had many ups and downs. However, with his dedication and quest for learning more, he didn’t lose hope.

The expedition at the University of Lahore is remarkable and commendable. In conversation with The Spectacle, Mr. Mashwani spoke his heart out.

Spectacle: Share a little about your Educational Background?

Mr. Mashwani: I graduated from Oxford Public High School Lower Dir, KPK in 2016. After that, I returned to my homeland and got enrolled into one of the top schools in Kabul named Rahman Baba High School where Afghan government provided me the facility of hostel. I completed my 10th, 11th and 12th classes from Oxford School.

Spectacle: What were your plans after 12th class?

Mr. Mashwani: When I finished my 12 years of education, my desire was to have my university education abroad. I also did a bit of teaching before coming to Pakistan.

Spectacle: Tell us more about you working experience in Kabul.

Mr. Mashwani: In January 2018, I gave demo at Kabul English Language Center (KELC) and got selected as an ESL Instructor. I worked there till February 2020 which was a good learning experience. At the same time, I was applying for many scholarship opportunities here and there.

Spectacle: How did you get Allama Iqbal Scholarship Program?

Mr. Mashwani: I gave an exam for Allama Iqbal Scholarship Program and got selected for studying at the University of Lahore. The government of Pakistan is offering scholarships to Afghan youth in various fields with the aim of strengthening the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The scholarship covers living allowance, books, and hostel dues and fees.

The day I saw my name shortlisted is unforgettable because I had gotten what I had been longing for; a free scholarship, a top university and desirable field i.e. International Relations (IR).

Spectacle: Share about your experience at the UOL and why you chose IR?

Mr. Mashwani: I joined The University of Lahore in 2021 and chose the field of International Relations (IR) as my major because it’s my favourite and secondly due to the weak foreign policy of my country that I intend to contribute to. The experience at UOL has been so good. Dr. Rabia Akhtar (HoD, School of Integrated Social Sciences) has been so kind, supportive and golden hearted. Mr. Zeeshan Ali (Research Associate, UOL) also motivated me to perfect my English communication skills. On top of that, all my Punjabi classmates have made me feel like their brother and countryman. They always cooperated with me and made my life comfortable.

Spectacle: You have written a book at such a young age, tell more about it.

Mr. Mashwani: When I finished my first semester at University of Lahore, I got three months’ vacation and that was a chance for me to achieve something again. I wrote a basic English conversation book which was published by “Mayar Kitab Koor” through Dir Adabi Tolana (DAT) in Lower Dir, KPK. It was the first English book ever published by this foundation.

One of my childhood friends called me and asked me to teach his students a special English course for three months. I taught them practical English system “inter-com”. However, some of the disciples were not familiar with English learning. Therefore, I made my mind to write an easy and small book to assist such students. The book consists of 200 fundamental English questions and published more than 300 copies that I sold out in just three days.

Spectacle: Any message to fellow students?

Mr. Mashwani: I would like to say that there’s nothing hard and impossible to attain. Whatever you want to be in life and achieve depend on how you spend your time and how you think of your success. Work hard and achieve your goals because nothing is impossible.

For more information, contact:

The University of Lahore

1 – KM Defence Road, Lahore, Pakistan

Tel: +92-42-111-865-865, +92-42-35322501 +92-42-35321761

Email: info@uol.edu.pk

Website: www.uol.edu.pk