Prof Dr. Fazal Ahmad Khalid, Rector Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology said here on Thursday that President Dr. Arif Alvi, who is the Chancellor of the Institute, has appreciated the contribution made and role of G.I.K in promoting higher education in the fields of engineering services and initiating new academic disciplines like Artificial Intelligence and Data Science.
The Rector shared the details of his meeting with President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi in continuation of the earlier meeting held on October 20, 2021. Mr. Shakil Durrani, Executive Director SOPREST, Sardar Aminullah Khan, Pro-Rector (Admin and Finance) and Prof Dr. Wasim A. Khan, Pro-Rector (Academics) also attended the briefing at the President’s House, Islamabad.
“The meeting at the Presidency was aimed to discuss academic and research programmes of the Institute and to highlight the future and strategic planning for the next few years.” said Prof Khalid.
The Chancellor was informed that the Institute is in the process of establishing a smart campus through technology shifts that would facilitate the adaptation of new educational and operating models and transform its strategic direction, Prof Khalid said, adding that in the post-COVID-19 environment, the digitization process has gained importance and it needs to be facilitated.
President appreciated performance of GIK during the briefing given to him on GIK Institute. Briefing included the Academic structure, programs, induction of the students, Research and Development, digital infrastructure initiatives towards transforming GIK into smart Campus.
Recent activities were also explained that included completion of last semester, new semester started from February, 2022, measures adopted for management of Covid-19, safeguards for health and safety of the students and implementation of SOPs in the light of guidance issued by NCOC and other agencies.
Progress on the decisions taken in the 1st briefing held at President House on 20th October, 2021 was reviewed. The Rector apprised the President about the actions taken on the decisions. It included a detailed briefing given to the Chancellor about academic activities and programmes, student’s intake, achievements, ranking, future vision, students-teacher ratio, International Advisory Board (IAB), plan about new campus at Islamabad, student’s employability, digital transformation initiatives of the Institute, scholarships, interactions with global institutions, Industry-Academia collaboration, future challenges, research and development prospects, increasing number of female students’ , contribution toward achieving the UN Strategic Development Goals (SDGs) and use of social media for marketing and expanding the outreach.
The President took deep interest in the digital initiatives of the Institute, steps for increasing the online content in education, use of Augmented and Virtual Reality, development of smart classrooms, establishment of centre on the issues relating to Climate Change, Water Resources Management and future programs for expansion of the Institute.
The President advised the representative of the HEC to expedite policy guidelines on different matter such as introduction of Associate Degree Programs, studies for determining the Technology gaps and consequential actions, for promoting technology based development of the country. The President appreciated the progress made on various decision and quality education imparted to the talented students on basis of merit that will go a long way in development of HR and producing engineers much needed for development of the county and also expressed the need to increase the number of graduate engineers.
