KARACHI: Over 1,700 students received their degrees and certificates at the 27th Hamdard University (HU) convocation held on Saturday at its Madinat al-Hikmah campus.

As many as 40 students were awarded gold medals in recognition of their outstanding performance.

Prof Dr Syed Mohammad Mubin and Hafiz Imran Nawaz were given the Best Teacher Award and the Best Researcher Award, respectively.

In his welcome address, Vice Chancellor Prof Syed Shabib-ul-Hasan spoke of university`s progress in recent years, highlighting that the institution currently offered over 100 programmes being run by seven faculties as per the guidelines of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and other professional and regulatory bodies.

`The faculty of engineering, sciences and technology has set up a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, which is equipped with the latest technology,` he said, adding that last year the faculty members produced 294 research papers that were published in HEC-recognised peer-reviewed journals.

Varsity Chancellor Sadia Rashid urged the graduating students to renew their commitment towards serving the nation as per the vision of Hakim Mohammed Said, the founder of HU, and forge ahead in life with confidence.

`Please keep in mind that you should never fail to grasp the opportunities and at the same time meet the challenges with confidence,` she remarked.

In his speech, former federal minister Javed Jabbar recalled with fondness his association with Hakim Said. He praised HU`s performance, stating that unlike most universities that retreat into their shells, Hamdard`s research projects had a lot ofrelevancefor the wider world.

He was of the opinion that HU`s graduates and alumni should count themselves as fortunate because they have received higher education, that too at an institution like Hamdard.

`Just imagine how lucky you are; you have received higher education in a country in which dozens of millions of children never go to school,` he said.

TheproceedingswereconductedbyRegistrar Kaleem A. Ghias. Advocate Anwar Ahmed presentedthevote ofthanks.