Tag: LUMS

Lahore, July 03, 2021 (PPI-OT):For the first time, LUMS has conferred the title of ‘Professor Emeritus’ to six professors for their exemplary service and contributions to the University. Dr. Anjum Nasim from the Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Dr. Arif Zaman from the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering were recognised. In addition, Dr. Anwar Khurshid, Dr. Jamshed H. Hasan Khan, Dr. Ehsan Ul Haque and Dr. Syed Zahoor Hassan from the Suleman Dawood School of Business are part of the inaugural cohort which will receive the prestigious title. All were officially celebrated at the convocation ceremony on June 3, 2021.

Each Professor has a longstanding history with LUMS, and has played pivotal roles in shaping the institution to what it has become today. “LUMS has benefited greatly from the leadership and efforts of these six professors. I hope they will continue providing guidance and wisdom to the LUMS community and take the University to greater heights,” said Syed Babar Ali, Founding Pro Chancellor of LUMS.

Meanwhile, congratulating the cohort, Rector, LUMS, Mr. Shahid Hussain commented, “The commitment of these individuals towards the mission to set up a university par excellence was exemplary and inspiring. This group comprises of dedicated teachers who also had a passion to advance the University’s growth and their students’ learning. Please accept my sincere congratulations on receiving this honour in recognition of your distinguished career. Your hard work and dedication has helped shape this institution into what it is today. You will always be cherished members of the LUMS family.”

“When we started LUMS over three decades ago, we believed it was going to be a difficult journey. It actually turned out to be a wonderful adventure. This was in large part due to the exceptional contribution and service of these individuals who are being given the honorary position of Professor Emeritus. My sincere congratulations to them. We are forever indebted to them,” said Mr. Abdul Razzak Dawood, Pro Chancellor, LUMS.

Vice Chancellor, Dr. Arshad Ahmad added, “A lifetime of exemplary scholarship, teaching and service is personified by each of our emeritus professors. On behalf of the LUMS community, faculty colleagues, members of staff, alumni and our students, please accept our sincere gratitude for your contributions. We hope your long association with LUMS will continue as others follow in your footsteps.”

The title of Professor Emeritus not only recognises a long-standing connection with the University but also exemplary service and leadership. We honour these dedicated professors who will always remain cherished members of the LUMS family and offer our heartiest congratulations to them.

LUMS Inaugural Professors Emeriti

Dr. Ehsan Ul Haque currently teaches at the Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB) and has played a pivotal role in the establishment of LUMS. Along with his role of Professor, Dr. Haque has served in a variety of administrative positions over the last thirty years, ending his administrative stint after serving as the Dean of SDSB. His co-authored book, Principles of Marketing: A South Asian Perspective has become a standard undergraduate marketing text in South Asian countries. Dr. Haque has received several accolades from students and executives alike for his engaging style of case-based teaching and for creating an extraordinary network of professionals.

Dr. Syed Zahoor Hassan earned his PhD from Stanford and worked for a number of leading Silicon Valley companies before joining the core team to set up LUMS. During his longstanding association with the University, he has served as Dean of SDSB and Vice Chancellor of LUMS from 2001 to 2008. He is also responsible for launching the landmark LUMS scholarship initiative, the National Outreach Programme which recently won global accolades for best practices in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Having joined LUMS in 1986, Dr. Jamshed H. Khan has taught a wide range of courses including Total Quality Management, Operations Strategy, and Statistics. He has also designed and delivered numerous executive education programmes for senior executives of local companies and multinationals, as well as small and medium enterprises. His engaging case-based teaching style and extraordinary bond with alumni has set a very high bar for his colleagues to emulate.

Dr. Anjum Nasim joined LUMS in 1986 and over his 24 years of service at LUMS, he served in several academic and administrative capacities. He served as Professor of Economics from 1991-2010 and was the Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences from 2006-08. In 2009, he was appointed as the first Provost of LUMS. Dr. Nasim was also one of the first faculty members to go to McGill University as part of a faculty exchange programme, and it was during his era that research linkages at LUMS were strengthened.

Dr. Arif Zaman joined LUMS in 1994 and served for 22 years on a joint appointment in the Department of Computer Science and Mathematics. He was amongst the founding members of the School of Arts and Sciences. He also served as Dean from 2000 to 2002 and was part of the core team that set up the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering. Dr. Zaman’s work has been published in prestigious journals such as the Annals of Applied Probability and Environmental and Ecological Statistics. He is extremely popular with students and colleagues for being an educator and researcher par excellence.

Dr. Anwar Khurshid has been a Professor of Organisation and Technology Management at SDSB, and has held the position of Dean, School of Arts and Sciences from 2003 to 2006 and Associate Dean of the MBA programme from 1998 to 2000. He designed, developed and conducted several Executive Development Programmes at LUMS as well as for organisations in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and India.

For more information, contact:
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
D.H.A. Lahore Cantt. 54792
Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-35608000
Fax: +92-42-35725048
Website: www.lums.edu.pk

Lahore, July 02, 2021 (PPI-OT):The Electrical Engineering Department (EED) at Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), LUMS, held a specialised training session for Integrated Circuit (IC) Design focused on the layout of an operational amplifier in 180nm Bipolar CMOS and Deep-Trench (BCD) High Voltage Process. The training, conducted from June 21-25, 2021, was planned for the scientists and engineers of the National Electronics Complex of Pakistan (NECOP).

The training was conducted by Dr. Awais Bin Altaf, Assistant Professor at SBASSE and was attended by 10 NECOP participants. The training lasted five days, with eight hours per day dedicated to training focused on the layout design, design rule check, layout vs schematic, post-layout simulation, and final sign-off process for the chip fabrication (taepout). The trainees performed all these tasks in the Embedded Lab in EED using industry-standard Cadence and Mentor Graphics CAD tools for the IC design. This training will help bridge the gap between industry and academia and will lead to future joint collaborative efforts in the area of IC design.

The NECOP participants also engaged with the EED external relation committee and discussed mutual projects of interest during their visit. The training was concluded with a closing ceremony chaired by Dr. Abubakr Muhammad, Head of Department, EED, and Dr. Sabieh Anwar, Dean, SBASSE.

For more information, contact:
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
D.H.A. Lahore Cantt. 54792
Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-35608000
Fax: +92-42-35725048
Website: www.lums.edu.pk

Lahore, June 28, 2021 (PPI-OT): Honouring the broader LUMS community, the University has been shortlisted for the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards Asia 2021. These awards commend outstanding leadership and institutional performance and celebrate Asia’s higher education institutional excellence. For this year’s THE Asia Awards, a record number of over 200 institutions from across the continent submitted their best and most inspirational stories. The THE Awards Asia 2021 consist of ten categories in total, out of which LUMS has been shortlisted for ‘Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year’. This particular category recognises a teaching and learning strategy that is distinctive and innovative which has enhanced both the student and staff experience and reflects the institution’s core values.

Vice Chancellor, Dr. Ahmad Arshad, said, “We are delighted to receive the distinction of being shortlisted. This recognition speaks loudly to our faculty’s pedagogical expertise and the emphasis we place on offering a personalised educational experience. Our Learning Without Borders framework unifies our teachers who continue to reimagine their roles by working closely with other disciplines and engage students as partners in research and teaching.”

Making quality education accessible is a founding principle at LUMS that is personified by the National Outreach Programme and accordingly, the teaching and learning strategy of the University is aimed to privilege diversity. LUMS’ innovative educational approaches that are geared towards increasing access to quality learning are also manifested in its Centres. For example, The LUMS Learning Institute with its unique focus on faculty development, research on teaching and pedagogical partnerships, is one of a kind in the country. In fact, the pedagogical partnership programme – the first of its kind in South Asia – aims to offer students paid partnership experiences to encourage collaboration among the students, the staff and the faculty.

Similarly, the Centre for Continuing Education Studies provides access to lifelong learning just as the Rausing Executive Development Centre has an enormous footprint on improving management practices in the country. LUMSx is another recent innovation to amplify online learning with exemplary courses at par with international benchmarks. The final winners of each of the ten categories will be announced at the THE Live Asia ceremony, scheduled to take place at the end of this year.

For more information, contact:
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
D.H.A. Lahore Cantt. 54792
Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-35608000
Fax: +92-42-35725048
Website: www.lums.edu.pk

Lahore, June 28, 2021 (PPI-OT): Recently LUMS was named in Times Higher Education’s World’s Best Small Universities 2020 list. In addition, the 2022 QS World University Rankings has LUMS ranked amongst the top 651-700 universities in the world. QS or Quacquarelli Symonds University Rankings are one of the most prestigious and recognised international university rankings in the world. The assessment criteria for universities follows six key metrics; academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty to student ratio, citations per faculty, ratio of international faculty members and ratio of international students. Once again, LUMS’ strongest performance indicator was employer reputation. This is an extension of the University’s presence in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2020 as the ‘top ranked university in Pakistan’.

LUMS’ prominence in these global rankings speaks of the University’s quality of teaching and research. Sharing his thoughts on the recognition, Dr. Arshad Ahmad, Vice Chancellor LUMS, said, “The University has ranked between number 151-200 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject and at 121 in the Asia University Rankings. These rankings reaffirm that in a relatively short time span, LUMS has built a reputation as a leading educational institution in Pakistan and beyond. I congratulate our faculty and staff as well as our students, whose individual efforts have helped to collectively enhance LUMS reputation we have been acknowledged for.”

For more information, contact:
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
D.H.A. Lahore Cantt. 54792
Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-35608000
Fax: +92-42-35725048
Website: www.lums.edu.pk

Lahore, June 28, 2021 (PPI-OT): This is what a no borders education at the Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences can do to an economist at the World Bank; make you think big and develop games for social change. Mariam Nusrat Adil, (MS Economics 2010), is a budding entrepreneur and the Founder of GRID (Gaming Revolution for International Development). Her work with GRID has gained Adil a spot on the Forbes 2021 The Next 1000 List. The Forbes list features bold and inspiring entrepreneurs on their way to breakthrough success. It showcases the ambitious sole proprietors, self-funded shops and pre-revenue startups in USA with under USD10 million in revenue or funding and limitless ambition and drive. Names for the list are handpicked by top business minds and entrepreneurial superstars.

Adil is currently working as an Education Specialist with the World Bank MENA team and is an EdTech Fellow with the World Bank Education GP. Her initiative GRID employs Pakistani game developers to produce games that instigate positive behavioural changes. By actively producing games that have a deeper meaning behind them, she hopes to further social education in Pakistan. Downloads of her games have exceeded 15k, with a majority of games that can be played on low-level smartphones as well. In addition to that, she offers these games in 4 regional languages.

Adil has received many accolades for her initiative as a young female entrepreneur- most notably, the Clinton Global Initiative University Alum Award, which was presented on-stage by President Bill Clinton. A number of media companies have also noticed her work, which has been featured in articles in Huffington Post, Global Voices, and Washington Business Journal among many others. Her team is currently working on an initiative called Breshna. The goal is to make content creation a possibility for everyone- educator or student. The platform does this by allowing users to make games without learning how to code. The team expects 200k paying users alongside 2 million consumers.

With such a multi-faceted portfolio at hand, we spoke to Adil about her time at LUMS and how her journey has been so far in the business world.

What did you do after graduation from LUMS?

I graduated from LUMS in June 2010 and joined the World Bank Pakistan Country office as a consultant in August 2010. I moved to Washington DC to work at the World Bank HQ and pursued a second Master’s degree from George Washington University (GWU) in 2013. GRID was born as an idea during my time as a student at GWU, and I applied to the Clinton Global Initiative.

How did the idea of GRID and making purposeful games come to you? What was the process of setting up GRID and what were some of the challenges you faced?

I founded GRID at the age of 28 with an aim to unleash the power of video games to educate, engage and empower people. Having grown up playing games such as Sim City, I knew games leave an impression on our brains that transcends the boundaries of the virtual world. I found myself wondering that if a game on building cities could teach urban planning, could games focusing on environmental awareness promote climate action? Could those about women rights promote equality? Could the ethics of animal welfare be taught through humane education?

What was your reaction on being featured on the Forbes Next 1000 List?

I felt immensely grateful and humbled to be on the Forbes Next 1000 List. Moments like these are testament to the passion, purpose and perseverance that my team and I have poured into GRID but they are also the perfect refuelling stations during our entrepreneurial journey! It’s a time to pause, celebrate the win and then return to our mission with renewed commitment and conviction. This is just the beginning and we are thrilled about the potential of the journey.

How can GRID be used here in Pakistan? Do you think it can change the learning mindset of our public?

Absolutely. Given their interactive and iterative nature, games appeal to human psychology in a way most other communication tools don’t. At GRID, we aim to create games that can provide lifelong learning opportunities to individuals and help them make better decisions about their lives, their health, their money, their children’s future and their environment, all while having a good time. We make games that are not just a tool for entertainment but also have the ability to inspire and influence people in a positive way.

Particularly for Pakistan, GRID games are built to be context-vigilant games (in local languages) for low-end smartphones, so we can ensure inclusive international access and sustainable impact. Three of our games are in Urdu: MoHiM, KritterKneads and CoronaCombat.

How do you think the future of learning will change with the current COVID situation and educational institutions switching to virtual or hybrid models?

As the global pandemic shut down schools almost overnight, educational establishments faced the challenge of converting curriculum into remote lesson plans, a trial even for those who are technologically adept. Teachers have faced difficulties in keeping students engaged online. The pandemic has thrown a spotlight on the importance of EdTech in education service delivery. There is a unique opportunity to leverage the power of video games to transform the learning experience. With our initiative Breshna, we are taking it a step further; we are empowering teachers not only as consumers of EdTech solutions but also creators! Breshna will allow any teacher, with no coding or design skills, to create their own video games aligned with their lesson plans.

How did LUMS prepare you for these achievements?

Going to LUMS was a dream that my father shared with me since I was in grade three. He had taken an executive course at LUMS and was very impressed by its academic standards. He was determined to send me to the London School of Economics (LSE) and LUMS, and later work at the World Bank. This became my dream career path. It is my absolute honour that I fulfilled all three milestones; BSc Economics from LSE, MS from LUMS and an Education Specialist at the World Bank. My George Washington Masters and GRID are cherries on top.

At LUMS, I learnt three values that have been the driving force behind my professional journey; passion, purpose and perseverance. I left LUMS with a prestigious Economics degree, but even more so with a strong work ethic, an ability to hustle, a hunger for learning and with friendships that have lasted across decades and borders. My roommates were bridesmaids at my wedding in 2019, nine years after we graduated!

It’s been 35 years since LUMS was established, what do think has been its biggest achievement as a university in Pakistan?

LUMS breeds go-getters. The greatest achievement of this university has been to create a culture of empowerment so that each student, irrespective of their financial background or colour of their skin, is able to not only have high ambitions but also develop the rigour and discipline to follow through.

What are your future plans?

Our vision is to unleash the power of video games for positive change! I am committed to transforming the video game industry with the “No Code 4 Purposeful Games” movement, which not only changes how we use games but also how we make them (with no-code).

We are building in public, with our community, and for a mission that inspires us! We welcome the LUMS community to join us as we change the world, one game at a time! We are launching Breshna on July 15, 2021 with a game jam that anyone around the world can participate in, for free!

You can find it at: https://breshna.gamingfordev.com and nbsp;

Prior to Adil, three LUMS graduates have been featured by Forbes lists of entrepreneurs to look out for. Fiza Farhan (BSc 2007) was the first one from LUMS to be given this accolade in 2015 in the category of Social Entrepreneurs. More recently, alumni Muhammad Owais Qureshi (BSc 2014) and Zohaib Ali (BSc 2014) have been featured in this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 for their start-up, Dastgyr, a B2B E-commerce Marketplace.

For more information, contact:
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
D.H.A. Lahore Cantt. 54792
Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-35608000
Fax: +92-42-35725048
Website: www.lums.edu.pk

Lahore, June 18, 2021 (PPI-OT):We welcome rankings when they come, but they are not our primary motive,” expresses Dr. Arshad Ahmad, Vice Chancellor LUMS, during an interview on the local TV channel, AAJ News. The news segment was focused on the recently announced Asia University Rankings 2021 by the Times Higher Education (THE), which featured 16 Pakistani universities, including LUMS. Dr. Ahmad was invited by the channel for a discussion on the accomplishment.

Dr. Ahmad extended his congratulations to all the institutes that had made it to the list. He then emphasised how rewarding the experience of dispersing education is, irrespective of the rankings. He stated that each faculty member at the University teaches innumerable students, out of which if even a few write to them later, on how LUMS or the faculty impacted them in some way, it is very rewarding. “It shows us that the work we are doing is meaningful; and if we can change their lives, then we are certainly doing something right.” Dr. Ahmad then expressed his gratitude and honour that LUMS had passed the strict criteria set by THE had been chosen among the finest institutions in Asia.

The 2021 Asia University Rankings reveal the best colleges and universities in the continent, featuring institutions from 30 territories. THE Rankings use 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators, designed to provide the most comprehensive comparisons, and reflect the priorities of Asian institutions. The performance indicators are grouped into five broad areas, including teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income.

Among the various aspects of the criteria the Rankings are based on, an important one is a balanced gender ratio. Dr. Ahmad talked about how over 40% of the student body at LUMS is female; a ratio that is gradually becoming more balanced in the educational institutions of Pakistan. “At LUMS, we promote gender balance not only in our students but in our faculty and senior administration as well,” stated Dr. Ahmad, as he congratulated the women occupying the various leadership roles at the University.

Highlighting the diversity at LUMS, Dr. Ahmad then emphasised the ‘no borders’ agenda of the University. The goal is to make quality education accessible for all the students who deserve it, regardless of their socio-economic background. “We make sure that talented students are never excluded,” he expressed. At the end of the interview, Dr. Ahmad stated that a university should be run based on its predefined core values and goals. If a university sticks to its principles, rankings will undoubtedly follow.

For more information, contact:
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
D.H.A. Lahore Cantt. 54792
Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-35608000
Fax: +92-42-35725048
Website: www.lums.edu.pk