Issue Xxviii

The Monthly Newsletter of EME College

ISSUE NO. 28 MONDAY 6TH APRIL 2009

CampBuzz

COLLEGE OF ELECTRICAL & MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

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CampBuzz

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Editorial Board

Maj. M. Salman Rashed EDITOR Malik Basharat Ali Khan, DME CO-EDITORS Rabia Maqbool, DEE Jawwad Ahmed, DME ASSOCIATE EDITORS Aneeqa Ishaq, DEE Saqib Javed, DME Nauman Bashir, DMTS Syed M. Ather Ali, DCE CORRESPONDENTS Uzair Sukhera, DEE Talha Aftab, DCE Anas bin Aqeel, DME Saran Ahmed, DME M. Junaid, DCE GC Sohaib, DME Saad Zafar, DME COMPOSER M. Umar Bilal, DCE PRINTERS College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Printing Press

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THE EDITOR SAYS. . . A respected member of faculty, on the Antitobacco drive, last month:

CampBuzz is back after a very Long March. And while the rest of Pakistan was celebrating the ides of March for some sinister judicial reasons, we at EME College

“...I am against smoking myself...Main dunya se cigarettes pee pee kar khatam karna chahta hoon…”

found reasons to celebrate as well. Obviously, the arrival of spring was the centre of our attentions. Flowers blossomed and trees turned green once more. And of course, the fun fair cum spring festival brought a much needed buzz around the college. We take a look back at the event and the festivities in this edition of CampBuzz. The change we aimed to bring from the last issue was very much welcomed by all corners, and we hope to build on that. You will, hopefully, continue to see improvements in this newsletter. So, watch out for CampBuzz in more inspired ink and on slippery pages. Your feedback in making the publication better is always welcome.

OPINIO

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After the remarkable success of our article writing competition last year, we would soon bring its second edition. Get your pens ready and give your grey cells a

dhakka start now!

I EXPRESS

In this issue, find also a couple of fantastic articles by

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Nauman Bashir and Ahmed Zia. We cover all the events

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at the college, as well as emenents’ participations out of the college. That, and more. Keep reading CampBuzz!

ASME Pages

Student Leadersh

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CELEBRATING SPRING Fun Fair 8 E ENC sium 11 I R E mpo EXP ip Sy Your Articles, news and reviews for the next publication, as well as ideas for the further improvement of CampBuzz are most welcome. Feel free to drop in any of the above at [email protected]

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REFLECTIONS Stopping TB 12

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NUST Student Appointments... ...for the students, or by the students The issue of student appointments is a contentious one. How exactly does the mode of selection affects the performance of the appointments is an altogether different matter. What we wanted to know was the extent of polarization in the opinion on how the appointments are made. So we surveyed a bunch of random individuals on what they think as to whether student appointments should be selected by the college authorities or by the students themselves. I believe that student appointments should be selected by the students. I mean, we have to look what the job of these guys is, and I think that it is to form a link between the students and the administration, and only if students choose their representative themselves would their voices be heard properly. In any case, that is what democracy is all about!

I think what I am going to say goes against popular opinion, but I sincerely think that NUST college appointments must be made by the college administration. This I believe because I think that the appointments should be based on merit, and the college people would have the best idea of the merit. We want the best people for the job, and this is how it should work.

NS Faizan Zafar DE-28 ME

Secondly, I think that when student appointments are made on the basis of a ‘general election’, people with the pertinent abilities are not able to come forward. Only popularity counts, not the capability of the students. Students simply vote for their friends, and not for the ‘right people for the job’.

...definitely by the students... NS Ossama Shabbir DE-27 EE

How do you think should the student appointments be made?

There just aren’t two ways about it! Student representatives must simply be chosen, or elected would be a better word, by the students.

10%

2%

I have heard people ranting about merit possibly being compromised, but this is all rubbish. I know that student elections wouldn’t directly be related to the so-called-merit, but the important thing we must ask ourselves is that why would students elect someone who does not live up to some sort of merit? I think we are old enough to make the choices and bear the responsibility.

88%

Students who get the responsibilities of bearing a certain office in a student council, or as the case here, as JNS or SNS, must be chosen by the students. This I say despite the fact that I am an office bearer myself because I feel it is better that way. Honestly, I think we should find a cross between these two poles, and come to a system in which both the institutions have a part to play in the selection. JNS Jawad Aslam DE-28 ME

NS Abeer Sadiq DE-27 EE

...by the students obviously...apart from the fact that How student appointments are students are represented better made makes little difference to once that happens, I think that any of us. It doesn’t even affect election times are quite fun. I the way things function...I think have had some experience in the status quo should be maincampaigning activities for stutained. I don’t think we should be dent government while I was at wasting time on such things. school, and it was fantastic! NS Khushnood Qadir DE-30 CE

NS Behroaz Javed DE-29 ME

NS Owais Anzar DE-29 Mts

I am not sure, but I do think that student representatives should be chosen in some sort of an election in which all students get a chance to voice their opinion. In most universities, students choose their representatives themselves… NS Qasim DE-28 Mts

Universities? I heard someone say that students choose the office-bearers in APS (Army Public School) in our campus... NS Ahmad Rasheed DE-29 ME

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Comrades in thick and thin

SKIING AT RATTU NS Abdullah Sharif For skiing, a trip to the Army High Altitude School, Rattu (Gilgit), was organized by the Sports and Adventure Society. A total of 22 students and a faculty member left the college on 22nd February. After 24 hours of dangerous journey they reached Gurikot beyond which they had to travel on foot for at least 21 km due to record snow fall and land sliding. After a tiring and extremely enjoyable walk of about 5 hours, the adventurous team finally got to its destination on the 24th of February. The team members were greeted by Maj Fasih upon their arrival at the Army High Altitude School. After taking a little rest they were taken to the Nursery Slope to learn the basics of skiing. In the following two days, 5 more sessions were carried out including 3 late evening sessions until the adventurers finally gained sufficient proficiency in skiing. On their last evening at Rattu, Commandant AHAS, Rattu, hosted a farewell dinner for the visiting adventurers and presented souvenirs. The return journey started on the 26th of February. The students got back to the college on 28th February and found the experience one of a kind.

MOVIE NIGHT TUESDAY 17TH MARCH By our Correspondent, NS Talha Aftab On the night of 17th March, the first movie night of the new semester was organised by the AKS club. The movie shown in the auditorium was “Valkyrie”. Starring Tom Cruise, the movie was about an assassination plot organised against Adolph Hitler during the Second World War. The movie was a fine choice; it kept the audience engrossed throughout, who enjoyed the storyline and some powerful acting. It was time well spent on our part , and we thank the AKS for putting in this effort.

INTER SPECIES DRAMATICS COMPETITION 2009 By our Correspondent, NS Talha Aftab The “Intra College Dramatics Competition” was held on Thursday, 19th March in the Auditorium. This competition has a reputation for being entertaining and it was evident from the heavy student turnout that they anticipated something good. They were not to be disappointed. The contest featured extremely entertaining performances all round. Participation was dominated by the GC’s and their spirited antics made us laugh hard throughout the event. Thoroughly enjoying each twist and turn, the audience didn’t hide their appreciation, and whooped and cheered with all their might. Chief Guest for the occasion was the patron-in-chief of SPAL, Brig. Akhtar Nawaz and he adjudged that the play ‘GHAJINI’, made by seniors from DE27, to be the winner. In his concluding speech he stressed the importance of quality humour, while at the same time lauding the participants for their courage, citing that it is a big deal to have the confidence to come up on stage and deliver in front of scrutinizing eyes. For us, the public at large, the event was a treat, and perhaps our appreciation of every act will serve as just reward for all the performers.

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The Original Sin: Adam’s fall and Man’s Ascent! (Part I) NS Nouman Bashir These black patterns of lines and curves, usually called alphabets that you are going to gaze at for a few minutes might transform the way you think. These little pieces of wonder that give you knowledge and make you able to comprehend many things that you don’t might just uproot the classical concepts you have about our father Adam, and his fall from heavens to earth. Again, like always, nothing is fabricated! My humble opinions and conclusions might be erroneous but if you have the audacity to challenge what’s written in the Quran, you have the right to remain silent, because then I won’t be able to help you. I envision you to challenge the way you perceive the fall of Adam, for many of you might have never thought about it! And like always, it’s never too late. The common belief about the fall of Adam teems with negativity. Though Muslims have never stressed upon the negative side of the story as much as the Christians, and they don’t have the concept of “Original Sin” but generally Adam’s fall is taught to be the result of God’s attribute of anger. I do not dare to disagree with religious theologians, but I wish to share with you a hint of His attribute of love, forgiveness and wisdom. Let’s start with the creation of universe. According to Quranic references (7:54) and authentic Hadeeths, God simply said “Be” and from nothingness, everything evolved. Moreover, it took just 6 days to create this entire plethora of galaxies and endless space between them. “Be” He said and nonbeing uncovered Atoms to galaxies, “being” discovered! They say it all took six days The cosmos, the fashioner and His ways! The amazement reaches its peak, when we find out that Adam’s clay was knead for 40 days. The whole universe was made in 6, and Adam’s clay was knead for 40 days! Imagine the attention and the focus. And after perfecting the molded clay, “He breathed His spirit unto Him” – (38:72 Quran). He had created the entire universe from nothingness, and it triggered and transformed from nonbeing to being, with just an order “Be” but there was something missing. There was nothing that was “OF” Him!

The universe made looked so brim He needed someone “OF” Him He kneaded clay for forty days The God, the breath and His ways! Adam was made because God decided to place a vicegerent on earth. He informed angels of this endeavor and they objected, “What! Will you place therein one, who will do corruption and shed blood, while we glorify you in praise and call you holy” – (2:30 Quran). God replied that He simply knew something that they did not. How could the angels grasp His wisdom and what was He about to do? Perhaps at this point, God offered trust. Heavens, earth and mountains were called upon by the Almighty and offered the trust. But they simply refused! And now God turned to His lover, Adam. How could Adam not accept? (33:72 Quran). His beloved offered him this “burden” that even heavens, earth and mountains could not bear, but what is burden and pain in love? Can a lover ever say no! Now my Master, offered trust Mountains, earth and heavens high None could bear it but the dust The beloved, the lover and his cry! Adam’s children, including you and me were then taken out from his loins and addressed at the Covenant of Alast (7:172 Quran). We all testified that He indeed is our Lord, the creator and the fashioner! From His loins like drops from flask Adam’s progeny was addressed “Am I not your Lord” He asked The assembly, the query and the yes! Now comes the actual part, by this time God had created Eve, as Adam’s companion and they were allowed to wander free in paradise and do what they wanted to but the only thing He asked of them, was to refrain from this “tree” (2:35 Quran) else they’d be great wrongdoers” (zaalimun in Arabic/unjust). Interesting to note here is that whilst offering trust, at 33:72 (as mentioned above) God declared Adam a “wrongdoer” (unjust/zaalim). And of course, trust had been offered before this episode of He asking him to refrain from this apparent “tree”. He calls Adam a “wrongdoer” and He then asks him not to be a wrongdoer? And then punishes Him for how He actually designed Him? Is there a hidden meaning? Ponder yourself! TO BE CONTINUED...

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ASME Pages Student Leadership Seminar held at EME College By Hamza Bokhari, Degree 28. The ASME Student Chapter of the College organized a Student Leadership Seminar (SLS), held from February 27th to March 2nd. Student Sections from NED Univerisity, Karachi; Quaid-e-Awam University, Nawabshah; GIK Institute, Topi; UET, Lahore; UET, Peshawar and the host Student Section of College of EME, NUST participated.

dience as well as from the judges. In the third phase, participants were given a case study to work on and audience votes and the judges’ decisions were weighted equally in selecting the SDOB Vice-Chair.

A team-building exercise was held in the CAE Lab with each student section planning and organizing an imaginary event. The NED University team won this exercise. This was followed by SpeedDesign Contest, The event was planned to fulfill three goals:  To provide an opportunity for the ASME members in which participants had to design a football in defrom all over the country to compete with each other signing software. UET Lahore won this contest. in different contests. The next  To train future leaders for the industry. day, all the  To select members and Vice-Chair for the Student participants District Operating Board (SDOB). were taken to Attock The participants arrived on the 27th and were enterOil Refintained with a movie at the Auditorium. The Seminar ery, Morproceedings started on the 28th. Student Section Advigah for an sor Asst. Prof. Raja Amer Azim gave the opening adeducational dress to the participants. An introduction to SLS was trip. Immegiven by Mr. Fawad Kiramat, Chair of SDOB. This diately afwas followed by thought provoking presentations by ter the trip, Dr. Jamil, HOD Mechanical Department, PIEAS and Digital Design and Oral Presentation competitions Mr. Shakir Ayub from Ultimate CAD Solutions on were held. Participants had to justify their design for a leadership training. rock collecting Robot in DigitalDesign and give a Phase I of SDOB started off with students from each presentation on a technical topic in Oral Guard Presstudent section giving presentations on ‘How and Why entations Contest, with the winners chosen to be sent I became an ASME member’ and ‘Why I want to be- to compete in Student Professional Development Conference (SPDC), being held in Singapore in April, come an SDOB member’. Hamza Bokhari of EME College was selected as a SDOB member from EME 2009. Umer Ilyas from EME College won the DigiCollege. The winners from this phase were promoted talDesign competition. Oral Presentation contest was to Phase II of the competition. This phase consisted of won by Ali Safdar Cheema from UET Lahore. members competing for a place in the Executive committee of SDOB. Participants gave their presentations The closing ceremony was presided over by the Comon ‘why I want to become SDOB Team Leader’ ‘my mandant EME College. He shared his thoughts on achievements as ASME Student Leader’ and. This leadership techniques helpful to Engineers. He also phase was marked with extraordinary enthusiasm and praised the ASME Student Section for organizing such oratory skills shown by the participants. Each partician important event successfully and gave his blessings pant confidently defended his ideas and plans in face of razor sharp, but constructive criticism from the au- to all the participants in the Seminar.

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Fun Fair: Spring Festival 2009 By NS Ather Ali Associate Editor March, the month of beautiful and blistering flowers and colours, which marks the beginning of the most liked season on earth, also brings some festivities and events wrapped with it, diverse to every culture and tradition. This march became more special and eventful for the College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering along with all the fuss and activity going on. Society for Promotion of Arts and Literature (SPAL), after a break of almost two years organized yet another main event for the college’s tasteful audience, and on Sunday, March 29, a Spring festival and Funfair was held.

the party. This time, SPAL went a step further and students from other universities were also cordially invited to have fun with Emenents.

sufferer must bribe the ‘police’ to get out of the jail. It was an amusing sight to see some really cool ‘hot pursuits’ through the sports ground with the police ambitiously chasing a ‘suspect’. Unusual for a strictly formal armed Add to that a number of escape atforces’ college with a mighty legacy, tempts as well and all this made the jail stall one of the busiest ones throughout The event was not only  the day. For some romantic typos and ‘secret admirers’, a group of ASG stumemorable and diffi­ dents setup the song dedication and flower dedication stalls with the apparcult to erase off one’s  ent goal of “help you say something to memory, it also set a  your I-like-you-in-that-special-way”. difficult benchmark  Who knows, maybe someone finally had a chance to say something to the for the future ones to  one they ’admired’ so fondly. Well, come and surpass.  Arrangements for one of the biggest March comes after the Valentine month Great event!  extracurricular events held in the colafter all, doesn’t it? lege started weeks before the actual happening date, and everyone was invited to put in his or her part to the event was as much fun as one could make this joyful event, even more suc- have asked for: students and other cessful. SPAL called out for student/ members of the college family arranged faculty/anyone-in-EME managed stalls stalls portraying various aspects of our for the funfair, and the response was society, as well as how we like to have overwhelming: with over thirty stalls to fun. From mehndi stalls, where friends grace the funfair, many enjoyed best of chose to get a fellow peer in his/her both worlds. The actual event kicked ‘mehndi ceremony’ with another friend off at 10:30HRS with students and to stalls of Islamic literature and holy their family, faculty members and their scriptures, one got everything he or she peers, armed forces personnel posted in would ask for having a good time. SenEME College along with their families, ior students setup a so called ‘EME students from other NUST schools JAIL’ in which one could have anyone Celebrations underway (NBS, SEECS, MCS etc.) invited to join abducted into it by paying off, and the

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Amidst these, some really innovative stalls were also laid out by our brilliant students: not only do they study well enough to get some 4.0’s, they can pump out a lot of ideas for interactive entertainment as well: the funfair saw a ‘Khota’ stall: a real amusement with a donkey cart, giving rides to ones interested in having a taste of some ‘desi sawari’. A similar stall also present was the wheelbarrow stall, where a similar feat was being achieved with the help of a brick moving wheelbarrow. Stalls for food and other miscellaneous edibles were also readily available in ample amount, to keep the hungry tummies filled.

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over. The movie was a pleasure to watch and everyone enjoyed the movie, which helped wear off the tiredness from all day’s constant adrenaline push.

during the entire course of the event making sure nothing unpleasant takes place. Also, SPAL setup an administration camp where one could contact for any technical or miscellaneous help The biggest party event ran for a he/she might need. A lost and full twelve hours, through the found counter was also formed day till the very night, with the to make sure no one lost any eventual conclusion of the event valuable items. at 2100 HRS. Apart from the fun and enjoyOverall, SPAL once again pulled off a great and admirable event, with everything as good as it could get and no short comings, and made sure that everyone knows how much of a fun and great place College of EME can be, along with it’s strong academic excellence. Campbuzz congratulates whole of the SPAL team, the students, faculty and everyone ment aspect of the event, SPAL else who participated for making made sure everything goes as this funfair ’09 an event, not planned. The Security measures only difficult to forget, but also, taken, with so sensitive law and great benchmark for the future order situation in our country ones to come. were impeccable as everyone The fun didn’t stop on the stalls was comand all that: the best of the lot pletely was about to come as a grand scrutinized bonfire and open air movie was and given arranged after sunset. Tired from a security the day activities, the students clearance sat Around a blazing bonfire, before enand sang songs, and cracked tering the jokes. Group singing contests college and enjoyment with peers was premises, at its peak here, when everyone Armed was treated with a great anime Forces movie, “BOLD” which was Staff was shown at the open air movie on the night, right after the funfair was watch

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Success Story!!!

Sorry Dude...

Photos by our Correspondent NS Saran Ahmed

Two of the students came up with a stall of traditional dress, food and music items of Gilgit and Chitral at the funfair. The Northern Areas of Pakistan, especially the valleys like Gilgit and Chitral have always fascinated people by its beautiful cultural values. Hand-woven dress items, particularly traditional foods and unique tops of music have attracted, and continue to do so, thousands of domestic and foreign tourists towards itself. Keeping in view this significance, two of the students of the College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, GC S. Mohiuddin and GC Ahsan Jameel (both DE29 CE) decided to put a glimpse of that culture on display for us right in the college at the Fun Fair. Their stall was among the very successful ones around, receiving a lot of appreciation from all round. The two students arranged a stall of traditional dress items like the “shoqa”, “chugha”, traditional caps and coats. They also managed to come up with a host of traditional culinary delicacies like “Mul”, “Shirkringe”, “Brud”, “Rishok”. Visitors to their stall would also know about the other interesting objects at their stall as well. Among these was their presenta-

tion of mesmerizing folk music. All this to manage would have taken a lot of their effort and energy as they would have had to arrange the commodities at display all the way from Gilgit and Chitral especially for the Fun Fair.

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Youth Leadership Symposium From the 23rd to the 25th of January this year, GIKI hosted the first Youth Leadership Symposium. The event was held in collaboration with the FLP (Future Leaders of Pakistan) and the GIKI WES (Women’s Engineering Society). Obviously some of us Emenents HAD to go! So on Friday (23rd), we, namely: Yusra Farhat Ullah(29ME), Salman Asghar(28MTS), Sana Mehmood(27EE), Sohaib Qureshi(29ME), Qurat ul Ain(27CE), Nouman Bashir (29MTS) and Fatma Faruq(29CE) set off towards Topi accompanied by Director SPAL Ms Sumera Batool.

By NS Nauman Bashir, Associate Editor

Transport was arranged by GIKI and so we got a glimpse of the multitude of other students attending the event with us. We arrived around noon and were free to roam around till evening since we unanimously decided to skip the screening of “The Dark Knight”. Rested and settled, we set out for the first session, “Developing the Why?” First, we were introduced to the FLP, an organization that aims to foster leadership in Pakistani Youth and provide them with appropriate resources and guidance. We were also introduced to the GIKI WES. We were all divided randomly into groups of five or six. So here we were sitting with unfamiliar people, in an unfamiliar auditorium, listening to an unfamiliar man (Mr Naveed Mirza)! This interactive session required that each group come up with solutions for problems facing Pakistan and present them. Incidentally all of us Emenents were chosen as group leaders by our group members! Nouman, Yusra, Salman, and Sohaib even went on stage to present, out of all the many other talented students! This successful session demanded a good night’s rest, which some of us got! Day 2 began at 9:30, with the session “the magic of self direction”. Groggy and hungry, we still dived right into this personal workshop on goal setting. Eventually it too led to another audience wide discussion on Pakistan! Clearly our youth is really concerned and this concern is eagerly expressed only in verbosity!!! After a short break, the next session introduced us to 3 guest speakers: Mr Ahsan Iqbal (PMLN), Ms Ferzana Raja (PPPP) and Dr Ferzana Bari (Human Rights Activist) and. each of them talked about their personal struggles and what Pakistani leaders need.

This somewhat exhilarating session was followed by a Q\A between the audience and speakers. Some of us got a bit carried away, obviously! The last session was a primer on leadership skills; everything a leader should be in one presentation. Next up was “Entertainment Night”, which we skipped in favor of a very heated discussion on, you guessed it, Pakistan, amongst ourselves. Day 3 began with a summary session, followed by “Entrepreneurship Club Presentation” (a wing of the FLP), where we learnt how to not only make a business plan but all the basic tools for business start up. This session ended and we were rushed for an YLS photograph and then back to home. Overall the food was good; we had coupons for lunch and dinner and access to the cafeteria which we frequented religiously. The accommodation was satisfactory but the organization and management not so much. We returned motivated with a transient yet deeper appreciation for EME, and anxiety over having lost some of our luggage (which GIKI returned to us later). The best part of the whole experience was the company and the knowledge we gained from our sessions; we can all be someone greater and bigger than what we deem ourselves to be, we only have to try hard enough!

Let’s help Stop TB Together! 24th March was marked World Tuberculosis Day. TB accounts for approximately 2 million deaths annually, and there are about 10 million new cases of the disease worldwide. NS Ahmed Zia, 28 ME They say it starts by a cough and spreads like a pandemic. They say the disease is dominant in Asia, with Pakistan as one of the largest contributors to the disease. They have named the vicious bacterium-spread disease as Tuberculosis or TB in short. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) someone is infected by TB every second, enveloping about one-third of the world’s population. In the ongoing essay I would be discussing some steps towards the curtailment of TB in Pakistan. I would be opening my essay by discussing the role of the government in preventing the spread of TB to the role of anti-TB professionals and patients individually. I will be discussing how every person can connect through an invisible yet powerful chain to help stop TB in Pakistan. Firstly and most importantly we must cater for the barriers which face a common person in accessing the programs intended to help curb TB. These might include physical and financial barriers along with social and cultural hurdles that can slow down the progress towards effective anti-TB cure strategies. All the aforementioned hindrances are directly related to the policies underlined by the ruling government of the country. Therefore it is the responsibility of the Pakistani government to extend their full support towards any new development underway to promote the anti-TB campaign. Social Barriers are the most common problem in our male-dominated society, but the revolutionary change seems to be in our near future! Secondly and equally importantly are the steps to expand our existing network of National TB Control programs, or NTP’s for short, in the areas where the probability of this epidemic is at a higher risk. This in turn can be achieved by continuously updating and reviewing the statistics regarding the incidence, prevalence and death-rates associated with the disease. This study can be further strengthened by assessing the pace at which the disease of the victim is diagnosed before the diseased is treated properly. The treatment centres must be made fully computerized according to the international standards with softwares developed that can keep the updated information mentioned above in an organized manner. These data can be individually collected from the far flung areas of Pakistan, like remote areas of Baluchistan and Frontier where the risk of the pandemic breaking due to refugees and natural disasters is greater and then can be centralized through the network (so developed) to the main NTP centre in Pakistan. This head-NTP can then have all the vital information

regarding the control and spread of the disease and in turn can easily communicate with its international counterparts to keep the treatment facilities updated. Thirdly, the treatment related to the TB should not only be restricted to the NTP centre, but should on a broader perspective, provide its training facilities to the staff of the other local private and government hospitals. Most of the people in Pakistan are not very rich or some might have a particular hospital related to them free like the railway hospital etc that the patients feel more comfortable to go to. Therefore the staff of some of the selected clinics must be properly trained by the anti-TB professionals. The staff must possess the skills of proper communications with the patients and the higher authorities to eliminate the risk of a communication gap hindering the development towards TB cure. The attitude of the staff with their patients plays a key role in development of such communication skills. They must be soft -spoken and tolerant- a trait seriously lacking in Pakistan. The staff must monitor the daily intake of the patients properly so as to prevent them from developing a resistance to the drugs. If by any means a person is overdosed, he/she might develop a resistance to the disease- a symptom called MDR-TB abbreviated for Multi-drug Resistant TB. The MDR-TB then has to be treated by a second line dose of drugs. But the main objective of the NTP or any other clinic or centre must be to properly diagnose the disease first to get the patient the required medication. Otherwise it would just result in a waste of time and energy of both the patients and the staff, not to mention the financial burden on the already poverty-stricken patient. At the same time it is the duty and sole responsibility of the patient to fully co-operate with the doctors and staff in taking the required medications. The patient must abstain from smoking, as smoking and other drugs have shown the disease to have worsened over time. The staff must make sure before the patient is diagnosed with TB that the patient is not suffering from diseases like AIDS. AIDS, abbreviated Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, attacks the immune system of the body and weakens it. The TB patient already has the lungs infected to an extent

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that the diseased coughs very now and then. Thus AIDS augments in worsening the already TB-stricken patient and causes the cure difficult and death most certain. The staff must be trained to properly conceal the identity of the patient in this regard and keep it as a confidential record to treat the patient accordingly only and must not dispense the information to any other unreliable sources. If not, the patients that are diagnosed in future will hesitate to let the staff check if they are HIV positive or not which will result in hampering the treatment of the disease. Fourthly, it is the responsibility of the concerned authorities to be vigilant of the fact that the disease of TB is prevalent in refugee camps and prisons. This might be the case when there is some kind of war or a natural disaster and the people are living in a group where the chances of this disease multiplying are enormous. Thus the required staff must be properly equipped and trained for these uncommon situations that may arise anytime. The disease can also be spread through the in-

Lastly, cure of TB can be accelerated by running campaigns and displaying slogans throughout Pakistan. Special Questionnaires can be made and distributed to the schools and colleges of the entire country to access the symptoms in people so that they may be treated accordingly. Awareness regarding common diseases like TB and HIV should be imparted to the students through interactive presentations by the professionals to the students. More research affiliated works in order to have the up-to-date cure against TB must be facilitated in universities of Pakistan. Today Pakistan is facing an economic crisis as is any other country of the world. Amidst the crisis, proper facilities regarding TB are truly a difficult task. But we hope that as the dust settles down, every concerned authority will be able to see through the eyes of the sufferers and help provide them with affordable and timely treatment that would not only relieve their sufferings, but would also help in alleviating the socio-economic burden on our country!

LIVING IN A DIGITAL MESS By Uzair Sukhera DE-27 EE Living in this era of “technology” one happens to come across several bizarre scenarios, which simply do not seem to make sense. Internet is the rule of law in this era and most up to date professionals in computers happen to be engineers in Pakistan. Almost everyone knows that the job postings are mostly announced online; in fact many smart people would join the online hiring portals and subscribe to mailing lists to stay abreast of these openings, yet most of our engineers appear totally naïve when it comes to the maintaining of mailing lists. In this entire college, full of engineers, we hardly have any mailing lists (yahoo groups etc) of which all the students of a class are part of. Working with the officer in-charge placement office I have had a good deal of experience of the total chaos we have in our college. Seeing from this end of the world my fellow engineers seem to be living in a world almost a decade back! Yes, its true. Let me be specific in quoting examples. I have been trying to ask the students from various disciplines to work on improving their yahoo groups. Now most of the classes have separate groups for separate sections: it seems like they prefer to live in close clan societies! Groups are configured not to accept mails from nonmembers, making it impossible to mail them any urgent news regarding some job opening. The most interesting part is that the mailing list of 27 computers is the most flawed of all! Mails sent to their yahoo group address simply get lost in the communication network backbone or maybe routers all over have been configured not to forward mails from placement office to 27 Computers! Its not only the group of 27 Computers in serious trouble, the Mechanical 27 hasn’t really been able to bring all the class fel-

lows on one single group: it appears to me as if they aren’t much interested in useful mails. The only well organized groups are of 27 Mechatronics and 27 Electrical: both having almost all the class on-board. This doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone gets all the mails! The email address of 27 Mechatronics group seems too tedious to get hold of. You have to see every time if you have entered all the scores (“-“) correctly. So we are left alone with 27 Electrical’s yahoo group. Phew! We have one living example in which no problems are registered. All relevant information gets through “unharmed” or without being “bounced back”. The dimensions of this digital mess extend much beyond. The traditional flow of information from the Cadet Battalion is still through the Staff (reminds me of postmen). News regarding the closing of college due to strikes, for example, or that of the start of semester is conveyed through the “traditional-old-fashionedIONs”. Emails seem to be a thing of next century here! Most funny situation occurs when I ask my fellow SNS about the change of uniform to summer uniform and they tell me they don’t know it: I end up informing them that Army has taken off sweaters. Gosh! Do these college appointments do anything worthwhile or not is a separate issue but at-least the Cadet Battalion can do us a favor by passing on info to our “representatives”. Welcome to the world with digital-divide. We have technology but we don’t know how to use it or even worst of all do not want to use it! Those who feel concerned with this mail and want to bring a difference are most welcome to contact the writer and we can help bridge the digital divide through the ICT and Entrepreneurship Club. contact: [email protected]

HOD Basic Sciences and Humanities Brig Dr. Muhammad Rafiq Dhillon Brig Dr. Muhammad Rafique Dhillon, who has a wealth of experience, is an internationally known mathematician and intellectual. He was interviewed by the Editor, CampBuzz, and he very kindly let us have an insight into his life. Born in District Gujranwala, Dr. Dhillon did his matric from District Council High School Sakrand, District Nawabshah, Sindh. Later on, he joined Govt. College Nawabshah for F.Sc and from the same institution he did his B.Sc. After his B.Sc he joined University of Sindh, Jamshoro to pursue his Masters in Applied Mathematics, and was awarded the degree in 1972.

or presented in international conferences.

On 2nd February 2004, he got retired from the Army, and NUST inducted him as Professor and Head of Department. Now his journey at EME College has entered 18th year. He has also authored a book at EME College titled“Ordinary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems” and it is being taught at other engineering universities as well.

Dr. Dhillon was posted to Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul in 1985, and he continued to serve there till 1992. There, he was Incharge of the PMA Computer Club, and was responsible for computerized assessment of all the cadets. During his stay at the PMA he authored a book titled “Essentials of Mathematics” which is still being used by the cadets there. In 1992 he was posted to the College of Army Educa- Dr. Dhillon got married in 1978 in Gujrantion, Upper Topa Murree Hills, on promo- wala. He is blessed with two sons and a daughter. His elder son is a Networks Ention to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. gineer and is associated with HITEC University, while the younger one, Captain Mohsin Rafique is a courageous Army officer and a renowned basketball player. He has been famous at Military College Jhelum and PMA for his three-pointers in basketball.

Brig Dhillon joined Pakistan Military Academy Kakul as a cadet in 1973 and was commissioned in 1974 in the Army Education Corps (AEC). He has the distinction of serving the country’s premier institution, Military College Jhelum (MCJ) from 1975 to 1978. The initial class he taught there has five Major Generals today, serving at very apprised appointments of the Pakistan Army. In 1993 Lt Gen ® Syed Shujaat Hussain, the then Rector NUST, and Brig Syed He was recommended by the Army to do Raza Hussain (later Maj Gen), the then M.Phil. in Mathematics from Quaid-i- Commandant EME College, came to know Azam University, Islamabad in 1979. He about Dr. Dhillon. They approached MS was fortunate enough to have a supervisor Branch GHQ and got him posted to the like Professor Dr. Asghar Qadir (presently College of E&ME, which he joined on DG NUST CAMP) at the Quaid-i-Azam 24th November 1993. He is the founding University. Dr. Qadir also rightly judged Head of Department and pioneer of the the credentials of Dr. Dhillon, and soon Department of Basic Sciences and Huafter the completion of M.Phil, recom- manities, with Mathematics as its backmended him to GHQ for a permission to bone. On his promotion to the rank of do PhD, keeping in view the research po- Colonel and later on Brigadier, EME Coltential and the direction in which Dr. Dhil- lege resisted his posting out so that they lon was heading. GHQ too was pleased to could make optimum use of his abilities. In give a green signal, and Dr. Dhillon con- 1997 he was desperately required as First tinued his research, and submitted his PhD Principal of the newly established Army thesis in 1985. After successful evaluation Public College, Multan, and the then Corps by foreign subject experts, he was awarded Commander Multan, Lt Gen Salahuddin Ph.D. in July 1986. His main focus was in Tirmizi moved heaven and earth to get the field of Relativistic Astrophysics, and him. However, Rector NUST and Comhe presented his PhD research work in 4th mandant EME College were keener to reMarcel Grossman Meeting on General tain him in order to benefit from his experRelativity, Rome, in June 1985. Remarka- tise. After a lot of struggle they were evenbly, 85% of his research work has been tually successful in getting his posting orpublished abroad in international journals der to Multan cancelled.

Dr. Dhillon considers Mathematics as the back bone for Engineering and has developed the courses accordingly. He is satisfied with the feedback from the students who go abroad for higher studies after Bachelors at EME College. The students, according to him, have never ever faced any problem regarding Mathematics during their higher studies abroad, because of their strong foundation developed at EME College. Dr. Dhillon is of the view that EME College has grown tremendously in terms of infrastructure, academics, and especially the research culture over the years. He feels the students here are excellent and it is always a pleasure to teach such extraordinarily brilliant students. He always takes pleasure in teaching. He is of the view that when his students are following him, a peculiar type of shine is visible on their faces; he enjoys this shine. In his message to the students, he urges that there are three important things to be kept in mind: Pious Intentions (Nek Niyyat), Hard Work (which nobody else can do for them), and a Positive Attitude. If these three things are followed in letter and spirit, the students will definitely succeed.

ISSUE NO. 28

PAGE 15

CAMPBUZZ

PAGE 16

3RD APDC at EME College

On the Shoulders of Giants...

24th to 26th April 2009 Keeping up with the tradition of high level competition and crowning the intellectual supremacy of the students, the College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering is all set to host the third serving of the All Pakistan Declamation Contest for the year 2009-2010 from the 24th to 26th of this month. A total of 35 teams have registered so far for the event, and universities from all over Pakistan are going to take part with full zeal and zest. A very healthy competition is expected, and we would be treated to a fantastic blend of humorous and serious speeches in both Urdu and English. The Editorial Board of CampBuzz welcomes all the participants and wishes them the very best of luck.

GPAs Announced! GPAs are possibly the worst combination of numbers we encounter in our college life, but they are always dramatic. So when the GPA of the last semester was displayed on the 25th of March, there was much excitement around as students from all departmens and degrees braced for those awful three digits.

I guess GPA is there...

Department of Mechanical Engineering welcomes new faculty member The Department of Mechanical Engineering welcomes a new addition to the faculty in Mr. Raja Abid Rabbani. He comes after a few very respected faculty members like the previous HOD Dr. Ejaz Malik and Dr. Basharat have just left the ranks of the department. It is clear from these names that Mr. Rabbani has to replace that he has very big shoes to fill, and we hope that he would be able to do so in apt manner. He comes having graduated from the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Taxilla. Later he proceeded to Sweden for his higher studies and completed his Masters degree from Luleu University, Sweden.

When our institution was, last year, ranked at a respectable 376 among international universities by the Times Higher Education Universities Ranking, many met this with disbelief. While most of us mock our own institution in flippant self-denial, there are those working tirelessly to bring prestige and laurels to the institution and the country. Dr. Afzaal Malik, Head of the Mechanical Department, stands out in this respect. Barely two months after breaking the news of Dr. Afzaal Malik being awarded the Star Laureate by the South Asian Publications, we are proud to acknowledge that the erudite faculty member is a well sought-after commodity for students interested in research in his areas of expertise. In this regard, CampBuzz has learnt, Muhammad Munawar, a PhD scholar from UET Lahore, got in touch with Dr. Malik to seek his academic blessings for an original research paper on “Minimizing surface roughness in turning process by considering the machine tool condition using Taguchi method”. While this represents the respect accorded to Dr. Malik by students of other institutions, this is also testimony to his exceptional ability. No wonder then, that Dr. Malik is author to over 120 international research papers. Remarkably though, it is not only in Pakistan that Dr. Malik stands out in his field; Students from all over the world, including those from well-reputed international universities attempt to flock to him for guidance. Only recently, a 3rd year undergraduate student from India’s famed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT, Guwahati), M. Usha Kiran, expressed serious interest in carrying out a research internship under Dr. Malik’s guidance in the summers. Similarly, Dr. Michael P Paidoussis, a professor at Canada’s MacGil University, which was ranked 20th in the world in 2008, also shared Dr Malik’s research work. Students’ preference for him as a research instructor is in recognition of Dr. Afzaal Malik’s excellence in the field of Mechanical Engineering, and we should feel honored in having such a giant on whose shoulders to stand on.

LEFT RIGHT LEFT A chorus of banging feet went up at the drill court at EME College on the 2nd of April, as Jauhar and Nishtar Companies locked horns for the Drill Competition. While the sight of a few scores of Gentleman Cadets vying for marching perfection might have been an inspiring one, the level of precision in marching and the coordination the Cadets showed during the competition was truly marvelous. This was witness to the levels of commitment and professionalism EME College infuses in its Cadets. To the feelings of many present there it was the best competition of the decade. After a wonderful display by both sides, it was the Nishtar Company which reigned supreme winning the competition. Havaldar Tazir was declared the Best Drill Instructor.