23rd convocation of FAST-NU held

Fast-National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences for maintaining the high standard of academic excellence to date has been producing best quality of graduates who are polished and now have become good human beings, patriots and true professionals to serve the country in various fields.
These were the remarks of Dr Amir Muhammad, Rector, National University of Computer & Emerging Science, while addressing 23rd convocation of FAST-NU as chief guest, held at the main campus of the varsity here on Saturday.
Forty-one BBA graduates, 98 Telecom Engineering graduates, 6 Computer Engineering graduates; 121 Bachelors of Computer Science graduates; 16 Masters in Computer Science, 37 Masters in Software Project Management and 16 Masters of Business Administration graduates received the degrees. Dr Amir Muhammad congratulated graduates on achieving the landmark of their life and their parents on this memorable event.
He said that the university management is engaged in a ceaseless endeavour to set new standards and seek new horizons in technical education and to produce graduates with new orientations who are capable and prepared to stimulate and lead the industrial transformation of the country. He advised the graduates to be sincere for the country as country is facing very hard times. The youth need to do the right job with dignity and hard work.
It is my considered opinion that in the ultimate analysis our most urgent need is scientists, engineers, technologists and managers with a sense of good governance, creativity, self-reliance, entrepreneur spirit, and professional integrity, Dr Amir Muhammad underscored. The total number of recipients who got the degrees of Bachelor is 266 and Masters is 69.
Bachelors' degrees were awarded in 4 disciplines, ie Telecom Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Business Administration. Masters degrees were awarded in 3 disciplines, ie Computer Science, Management Science and Software Project Management. Dr Amir Muhammad, Rector, National University of Computer & Emerging Science was the chief guest at the convocation.
Gold, silver and bronze medals were also awarded to the position holders. Ariba Tahir received gold medal and Noor Us Sahar received silver medal in BBA. In the BS programme of (Telecom Engineering) Muhammad Noman received gold medal, Muhammad Faraz and Anum Naeem received silver medal and Hameeda Nawaz received bronze medals. In the BS programme of Computer Science Taha Rafiq, Faisal Ali and Farrukh Ahmed received the gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively. In MS Software Project Management Ghulam Mujtaba received gold medal, Arsalan Ahmed received silver medal and Waqas Mahmood received bronze medal. In MBA programme Sandeep Kumar received gold medal and Rashmina Salim Lalani received silver medal.
Earlier, Director FAST-NU Dr Asim-ur-Rehman congratulated students with telling them your never-ending struggle starts now. We believe that education is not about filling a bucket, it is about lighting a fire - a fire to seek knowledge, excellence, and lifelong learning, Dr Asim Said.
He mentioned that graduates of FAST-NU stand with pride in establishing a key role in revolutionising and reshaping the IT industry of Pakistan. Many of our graduates are pursuing higher studies in reputable Universities abroad. A few have earned PhD and are now faculty members in Universities in USA and Canada.
Sharing the details of various achievements of FAST-NU, Dr Asim said that we have been pursuing research as a matter of national priority. He said last year they had the 2nd International Conference on Information and Emerging Technologies (ICIET) 2010 at this campus with the active support and collaboration of Higher Education Commission.
The conference was followed by a unique "Doctoral Symposium" to showcase the research of graduate students pursuing Ph.D. degrees, he said, adding the conference received overwhelming response from academic circles as it attracted 267research papers, out of which 74 were presented in the 2-day conference, featuring eight technical sessions.
He informed that in 2010 a total of 50 research papers were published at Karachi campus alone. This includes 36 conference papers, 12 journal publications, one book chapter and a book. He noted that this year they are expected to produce our first PhD graduate besides 5 of the currently enrolled students have already reached the advance stage of their PhD programme. Senator Nisar Memon, Dr Abdul Wahab, Chancellor Mohammed Ali Jinnah University were also present on this occasion.