Day: May 8, 2023

Islamabad, May 08, 2023 (PPI-OT): Undergraduate students of the NUST Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE) have achieved an extraordinary feat on the global stage by securing second place in the First International fib YMG Competition, organised by the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib). The fib advocates for the sustainable and innovative use of structural concrete worldwide.

The competition, aimed at international students by the FIB Young Members Group, intended to identify innovative solutions in concrete and construction and evaluated on technical merits, creativity, sustainability, and practicality. The event provided a platform for students to showcase their skills and network with professionals in the concrete industry, recognizing excellence in concrete technology and design.

The exceptional team of undergraduate students, comprising Fazal Hussain, Shayan Ali Khan, Ameer Hamza, and Fazal Rehman, under the supervision of Associate Professor Rao Arsalan Khushnood (HoD Research SCEE), emerged victorious amidst stiff competition from 100 top teams from 45 countries. Remarkably, they were the only undergraduate team to achieve this notable feat, showcasing their exceptional skills and dedication to their craft.

The competition consisted of three phases and two awards, and the team qualified for all of them, ultimately securing both the most public likes and best project awards. Their innovative project focused on lightweight infill panels made from bloated and processed indigenous Pakistani clays, setting new benchmarks in civil engineering. The panels have the potential to replace kiln-fired bricks, reducing CO2 emissions in developing countries while also decreasing the cost of steel in buildings by up to 13% due to their lightweight and better seismic response.

Their ground-breaking idea has received global and national recognition, demonstrating their unwavering commitment to maturing the concept further and establishing a successful startup that could revolutionize the construction industry in Pakistan. The team’s accomplishment is significant, considering they were the only undergraduate team and the sole representatives from Pakistan, highlighting the excellence of NUST’s education and research. The team’s success is a testament to their hard work, perseverance, and innovation, and it is a remarkable milestone of which we are immensely proud. We look forward to seeing them achieve even greater accomplishments and set new standards in civil engineering in the future.

For more information, contact:

Director Press and Media Release

National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)

NUST Campus, H-12, Islamabad, Pakistan

UAN: +92-51-111-11-6878

Tel: +92-51-90851381

Fax: +92-51-90851382

Email: prnust@gmail.com

Website: www.nust.edu.pk

Lahore, May 08, 2023 (PPI-OT): Aside from its strong focus on academic excellence, The University of Lahore (UOL) encourages its students to participate in extracurricular activities including sports. By doing so, the university is nurturing the physical and mental wellbeing of its students and preparing them to become well-rounded individuals who are ready to face the challenges of the real world. Recently, the UOL students truly excelled and demonstrated their exceptional talents by winning a total of 36 medals, including 14 gold, 15 silver, and 7 bronze in the Higher Education Commission-Intervarsity 2022-23. This yearly championship is a highly competitive event that brings together some of the best athletes from universities across Pakistan. However, this is a really proud moment for the UOL that really cares about the holistic development of its students.

Since its establishment, the university has proven itself to be a pioneer in providing quality education and sports opportunities to students. By providing sports-based scholarships, UOL under the supervision of Ms Farzana Raoof (Director, Sports and Culture) continues its philanthropic work of making quality education accessible to deserving youth with high athletic talents to represent UOL nationally and internationally. The UOL players competed against athletes from universities all over Pakistan in 2022-23 and won medals in various regions.

Ski

The UOL’s ski team competed against universities from across the country and won a bronze medal in the intervarsity contest held in Naltar Gilgit Baltistan. The event was organised by Karakarum University and supervised by the HEC.

Rowing

The UOL’s Rowing females’ team won the gold medal in the intervarsity competition organised by Women University Rawalpindi in the Fall Semester of 2023, beating over 30 other universities. The team, led by head coach Saharat Shehzad, has consistently shown a passion for winning. Their performance earned them a spot in the national championship, with four players – Nabila, Saiqa, Tayyaba, and Tahira – selected to represent UOL.

The males’ team also won a bronze medal in the All Pakistan Intervarsity 2023 competition, competing against 17 universities from across the country. They also achieved an overall 3rd position in the competition. Four male players, Habibullah, Abdul Malik Khan Khilji, Ehsan Iqbal, and Hamza, were selected from the UOL to participate in the national championship.

Archery women’s team

The UOL women’s archery team, consisting of four archers, won a bronze medal at the intervarsity women’s championship held at DOW University Karachi from January 26-30, 2023. The team was led by head coach Ijlal Uddin and competed against 19 teams from across Pakistan. Additionally, one female player and two male players were selected to represent the HEC team at the 2023 Archery National Championship. The female player is Nosheen Zaffar and the male players are Sheryar and Arslan.

Football female’s team

The UOL females’ football team got the silver medal and secured the 2nd position in the All Pakistan Intervarsity held at Iqra University Karachi under the supervision of the HEC. They defeated Punjab University with a score of 2-0 in the semifinals.

Fencing

The UOL fencing team, led by coach Mujadid Hussain, won the silver medal and secured 2nd place among all universities in Pakistan in the All Pakistan Intervarsity Fencing Championship held at Swabi University. UOL received a total of six medals in the championship.

Other achievements

Mehek Gul, a UOL student, won a gold medal and emerged in the 1st position in the district women’s chess championship by competing against players from all over the district.

Athletics

The athletics team participated in the 2022 Intervarsity hosted by Comsats University Islamabad at Punjab Stadium from November 15 to 18, 2022. While, UOL athletics team won 12 medals including gold, silver and bronze by competition 76 universities across Pakistan and placed their name on the top of board and got overall bronze medal

Rifle shooting

The male’s shooting team participated in intervarsity 2022 from November 22 and 23 at Pakistan Navy shooting Range, PNS bahadir karsaz karachi. This event was hosted by NED University of Engineering and Technology Karachi. The shooting team won 1 silver medal and 2 bronze medals, achieving an overall win of large number of bronze medals among all universities in Pakistan. Their impressive performance earned them the chance to represent the HEC team in the nationals, with 3 players selected from the UOL shooting team.

International representation

The UOL always welcomes talented athletes to the sports department and promotes them internationally to represent UOL and Pakistan. Mr Zorez Shabkhez, a top player from the UOL chess team, participated in an international chess championship in Iran on March 3, 2023, accompanied by his coach, Mohd Zahid. Mr Zorez received the Best Foreign Player award and made UOL proud by representing them at an international level. UOL athletes give credit to Mrs Raoof, Mr Aqeel Rana (Assistant Sports Director), Mr Hamza Minhas and Mr Javeed (Sports Managers) and coaches for their success in national and international events.

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, May 08, 2023 (PPI-OT): Pakistan has numerous freshwater systems, such as the Indus, Chenab, Ravi, Jhelum, Sutlej, and Kabul. These aquatic systems have been providing drinking water for centuries. But, in recent decades, due to rapid industrial growth and agricultural activities, these water bodies have become contaminated because of untreated sewerage, industrial waste, and agricultural waste.

Mr Aamir Amanat Ali Khan (Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences) at the University of Lahore (UOL), along with his fellow researchers, worked on a review article to explore the contamination of different rivers in Pakistan. They explored available studies, particularly those related to heavy metal pollution in different rivers in Pakistan, and scrutinised the pollution levels of rivers in Pakistan concerning heavy metals. Their article revealed that the primary source of heavy metal contamination in Pakistan’s rivers is wastewater discharged from urban, industrial, and agricultural facilities. The contaminated water contains hazardous amounts of heavy metals mixed in the freshwater ecosystem, causing deleterious impacts on marine life and humans.

Mr Khan also gave a brief account of the examination in which samples of sediments, water, and fish were gathered from significant streams (Kabul, Chenab, Upper and Lower Indus) from all over Pakistan and dissected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), and atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS), separately. A biological hazard investigation of silt uncovered that cadmium (Cd) poisoning represented a hazard index of high in Chenab and the upper Indus, significant in the lower Indus, and moderate in Kabul. Fish tissue utilisation for arsenic (As) surpassed security levels for anglers for entire streams, whereas cadmium (Cd) surpassed security levels at Chenab and Upper Indus, and lead (Pb) for Chenab anglers.

Mr Khan and his team also found that some parts of freshwaters, such as the River Ravi, Chenab, Kabul, were highly contaminated, and they imposed negative impacts on fish and human health. The River Ravi, receiving a huge amount of industrial and sewage wastewater from urban centres and industries in Central Punjab, was highly contaminated compared to other rivers in Pakistan. The condition of River Indus was found to be better due to the enormous volume of water flow and the low number of industrial units along with it. According to their research exploration, freshwater fish from the River Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum are consumable for humans.

According to Mr Khan and his team, remediation of heavy metals requires special attention to protect soil quality, air quality, water quality, and human and animal health. Physical and chemical-heavy metal remediation technologies can be used, but they are expensive, time-consuming, and release additional waste into the environment. They recommended that the wastewater should be treated before discharge into freshwater streams and rivers to lessen the harmful impacts of heavy metals on marine life and human beings.

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