KARACHI: Habib University has organised an exhibition for its students to showcase capstone projects of the graduating class of 2024 on May 11, 2024.
This year, there were over 70 projects, mobile applications, websites, documentary films and mixed-media installations produced by students graduating from Habib University’s Comparative Humanities, Communication and Design, Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Social Development and Policy, and Computer Science degree programs.
The students further benefit from the interdisciplinary curriculum offered at Habib University as a unique liberal arts institution as was witnessed in the remarkable projects on display. They covered a vast range of topics such as sustainability, education, artificial intelligence, electric power, gender, e-commerce, social issues, fintech, climate, spirituality, cultural heritage and robotics, among others.
In the real world, problems don’t fit neatly within the confines of a single discipline. There is a historical context to every issue, social considerations to be mindful of, engineering and financial constraints to balance, and an array of practical and personal obstacles to manage. In a world defined by rapid technological progress, tomorrow’s innovators need to be able to think flexibly and critically across multiple specialties. They must possess the judgment to decide which tools and concepts are best suited to bring about meaningful change and the communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills to tackle the problems before them.
Every year, final-year students are asked to analyze the most complex challenges around them, apply the knowledge and research skills gained during their degrees, and develop thoughtful, reparative approaches or solutions. Developing these solutions requires our students to act just like today’s corporate problem-solvers and innovators, impactful engineers and computer scientists, modern policymakers, and sensitive scholars and communicators, by connecting and addressing the multifaceted issues of the world they are about to enter into.
From the chips in our smartphones, to the control and robotics technology that drive modern transport, to the processes that ensure the continuity of communications and power; students in the ECE program combine ideas from Computer, Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, to explore the future of technology and to design tomorrow’s innovations. This year’s projects addressed problems in agriculture, healthcare, energy, the environment, and other sectors through the application of technologies such as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Geographic Information Systems, and others.
For example, ECE graduates of 2024, Mustafa Sohail and Murtaza Ali Khokar built a software Satellite Hydro-informatics for Water Resource Assessment in Pakistan aimed at developing a robust decision support system that empowers policy makers in Pakistan with accurate and timely information about the nation’s water resources, mainly the Indus Basin and its rivers.
The students aimed to process publicly available satellite data to extract necessary information about water bodies and then integrate it with ArcGIS1 to allow users to visualize the data effectively. They intend to enable informed decision-making by leveraging hyper-spectral image processing and bridging the data gap in Pakistan’s water resource management.
Meanwhile, Sumaira Khan, Rida Zehra and Daniyal Lightwal built a software for Smart Energy Management Application for Maximizing Renewable Energy Penetration aimed at addressing the challenge of effectively integrating renewable energy into distribution networks while enhancing grid stability and operator decision-making, recognizing the limitations of current energy management methods.
This year’s Computer Science students developed applications that can improve patients’ health, make education accessible, help the common man with financial transparency, and resolve numerous other issues. Muneeb Shafique, Fatima Alvi, Shayan Qadri and Sajeel Alam designed a software application titled Saathi: Your Sustainable Commute Solution, which aimed to address the increasing cost and environmental impact of single-occupancy commuting, focusing on students and corporate employees who form a substantial workforce.
An interdisciplinary project by ECE and CS students Laiba Ahmed, S. M. Hussain, M. Ahmed Atif and S M Daniyal entailed a software application titled Automovers: Autonomous Navigation System For Indoor Delivery Robots, with the primary objective to design, develop, and demonstrate an autonomous intelligent supply transportation system tailored for indoor environments, with a particular focus on a cafeteria setting as a test bench.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024