LAHORE: As many as 2,957 students were awarded degrees at the 33rd annual convocation of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) on Tuesday.
FederalMinisterforPlanning,Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal was the chief guest and the High Commissioner of Bangladesh, HE Muhammad Iqbal Hussain Khan, Deputy High Commissioner Fazal Lohani Babu, and other distinguished diplomatic, academic and administrative personalities also attended the ceremony.
Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Munir presided over the convocation as chancellor under the powers delegated by the governor.
Addressing the convocation, Mr Iqbal said that UET would be transformed into one of Pakistan’s leading research centres through the establishment of centres of excellence and state-of-the-art laboratories.
He said engineering education was a fundamental pillar of national development and UET graduates had consistently played a sig-nificant role in Pakistan’s progress.
Highlighting the importance of political stability for sustainable economic growth and investment, Mr Iqbal said investors preferred economies offering peace, stability and continuity of policies. He proposed a political charter for the next 10 years, urging political forces to resolve differences within constitutional and democratic parameters.
Prof Munir requested an increase in the university’s budget to facilitate the completion of ongoing development projects and the launch of new research initiatives.Highlighting UET’s achievements over the past two years, he said that UET Lahore had secured 201st position globally in engineering and technology in the QS rankings, 192nd in the Asian University Rankings and 603rd in the QS Sustainability Ranking.
He said the university’s annual budget had increased from Rs5.4 billion to Rs8.5 billion, with approximately 70pc of its financial requirements being generated through its own resources. He further stated that scholarships worth Rs1.4 billion were being provided to approximately 9,000 students during the current year. Over the past two years, student enrolment had doubled from 12,500 to 25,000, while 64 new academic programmes had also been introduced. The graduating class included 22 international students, he said.
Addressing the graduating students, Prof Munir urged young graduates to embrace artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and emerging technologies to help transform Pakistan into a knowledge-based economy.
Students from UET’s main campus Lahore and its campuses in Kala Shah Kaku, Faisalabad, Narowal and Gujranwala received degrees.