LUMS Leverages $4.1M Stacks Grant To Build Novel Academic Programme in Pakistan

The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) leverages the 5 million STX tokens, which are currently equivalent to about PKR 670 million (US$ 4.1 million) donated by Stack, to build a novel academic programme for blockchain, cryptocurrencies, distributed-ledger technology and more.

This academic programme will be focus on emerging markets to create a practical learning environment for its faculty and students.

Muneeb Ali, who is a LUMS 2013 Computer Science alumnus and Founder of Stacks, explains in his recent tweet that "introducing smart contracts for Bitcoin to engineers is a big motivation behind this initiative."

With blockchain technology evolving from a cryptocurrency backend to a platform for supporting a variety of distributed applications, Stack hopes to unleash the full potential of Bitcoin as a programmable base layer. Starting of as a research project at Princeton University in 2013, the local chapter in Pakistan hopes to create more awareness in the market through various community building and advocacy initiatives.

Being proud of his association with the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering, Muneeb Ali also adds that LUMS is a top engineering & research university in South Asia and it is know for its cutting-edge research and innovations.

"Crypto networks are likely the biggest tech resolution since the internet itself. This new collaboration on crypto not just strengthens my association with LUMS but can prepare the next generation of engineers and entrepreneurs to architect the next generation of the internet by leveraging the blockchain technology,” he adds.

While the university has a rich history of being a pioneer in technology and research, it hopes to use this funding to train the next generation of scholars, engineers and entrepreneurs through new interdisciplinary programmes in this area.