ISLAMABAD, Oct 04 (SANA): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani announced Rs.10 crore for the Endowment Fund meant for the welfare of the students of Institute of Space Technology, and building of Information Technology Block or Information Technology Laboratory, as the management consider suitable for the Institute.
This was stated by the Prime Minister while addressing the convocation ceremony of the Institute of Space Technology here on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister conferred degrees on the successful students of the Institute and also gave away gold medals to the position holders in various fields of space technology.
The Prime Minister said that it was a matter of satisfaction to see this Institution emerge as a seat of learning within a short span of nine years which reflected the hard work and selfless devotion of the Institute’s management and faculty.
The Prime Minister said that National Space Agency, known as SUPARCO, recently launched a communication satellite PAK SAT 1R with the help of our Chinese friends. “A large number of our engineers worked closely with their Chinese counterparts during all the stages of designing, manufacturing and development of this satellite”, the Prime Minister added.
The Prime Minister urged the IST graduates to work diligently in their professional endeavours to promote and extensively employ space technology applications for socio-economic development of the country.
The Prime Minister said that the present democratic Government had recently approved ‘Pakistan’s Space Program—2040’, which clearly set up the milestones to be achieved in our quest for Space Technology and Launching of PAKSAT – 1R was indeed, only the beginning of a long journey.
The Prime Minister said that technological development played a major role in sustainable socio-economic development and security of the country. “In Pakistan, space technology applications are being increasingly used in the fields of communication, environmental studies, agriculture, water and disaster management & mitigation; and of course national security”, the Prime Minister observed.
The Prime Minister expressed the satisfaction about the high employment rate of the graduates of IST which was obviously the result of the high standards of education imparted. “It must be a source of motivation for the students and I hope that the new graduates will do their best in their endeavors and contribute to the national development”, said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister gave away gold medals to the position holders. First Position-President Gold Medal was given to Mr. Tanzeel-ur-Rehman, Aero Space Engineering and Mr. Ubaid Bashir Awan, Communication System Engineering.
In the category of Best Projects Vice Chancellor Gold Medal, Best Projects Aero Space Engineering Medal was given to Mr. Tazeel-ur-Rehman and Mr. Hamdan Ajmal Khan and Best Project Communication System Engineering Medal was given to Syed Akhlaq Hussain Shah and Mr. Ali Ahmad.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the Institute, in his welcome address, said that it was the most appropriate time and place to recognize and sincerely thank Strategic Plans Division and High Education Commission for their great contributions to the development of the Space Technology Institute. He also acknowledged the help and continuous support of KRL, NESCOM and PAEC. He said that the Institute had established links with world renowned universities of Europe and Asia, including China, Korea, UK, France to name a few.
The Vice Chancellor mentioned one of the Institute’s major endeavours in design and development of a PICO-Satellite on the concept of CUPESAT project of Stanford University. He explained that it was a small satellite capable of demonstrating new technologies for future missions and large space systems. He further said that following the footprints of Pakistan National Space Agency, SUPARCO, which recently launched PAKSAT.
The IST would Insha Allah be the first Pakistani academic institute to launch a satellite early next year.
The Prime Minister gave away Aerospace Engineering Degree to Mr. Faizan Habib Vance, Mr. Ahsan Mansoor Khan, Mr. Hamdan Ajmal Khan, Mr. Saad Masood, Mr. Waqas Bin Faateh, Mr. Ammad ud Din, Mr. Mudasar Anwer, Mr. ahmad Shah, Mr. Hamza Ahmad Mir, Mr. Muhammad Junaid, Mr. Ahad Shahbaz Khan, Mr. Talha Khalid, Mr. Majid Saeed, Ms. Aisha Zahid, Mr. M. Irfan Zafar, Mr. Muhammad Uzair rasool, Mr. Muwar Hussain Jeelani and Mr. Hamid Khan.
Communication Systems Engineering Degree was awarded by the Prime Minister to Mr. Muhammad Waqar Arshad Cheema, Syed Kamal Mustafa, Mr. Ali Ahmad, Mr. Muhammad Majid Zeshan, Mr. Zaddad Ahmad, Mr. Hassan Ali, Mr. Muhammad Umer Draz, Mr. Mohammad Usama Kabbir, Mr. Bilal Ahmad Mushtaq, Mr. Muhammad Affan Bashir, Mr. M. Ubaid Bashir Awan, Mr. Saif Ali, Mr. Talha Shafiq, Mr. Atif Ullah, Mr. Wasim Hassan, Mr. Humza Jamil Pasha, Ms. Hareem Iftikhar, Syed Faizan Abbas and Syed Akhlaq Hussain Shah.