NUST Pays Tribute to Civil Award Recipients
NUST held a celebratory event for its distinguished faculty members and alumni who have been conferred the prestigious Pakistan Civil Awards 2024-25 by the President Islamic Republic of Pakistan, H.E Mr Asif Ali Zardari.
Rector NUST Dr Muhammad Zahid Latif extended his heartiest felicitations to the esteemed faculty, terming the conferment of awards a well-deserved recognition of their meritorious contributions to higher education and beyond, and a matter of immense pride for the university. He also emphasised that in today’s rapidly evolving and competitive global landscape, investing in education is a must. It is therefore essential, he said, to not only produce highly competent individuals but also cultivate critical thinkers fully capable of driving sustainable national progress. In their remarks, the awardees thanked the Rector and the university community for their acknowledgement and credited the supportive NUST environment for their success.
Prof Dr Rafia Mumtaz, Pride of Performance, is Professor & Associate Dean of the Faculty of Computing at NUST and a Visiting Professor at Coventry University, UK, with multiple prestigious teaching and research awards, including HEC Best University Teacher Award 2022. She has secured around 24 prestigious research grants and published 93 high-impact papers with an H-index of 33 and over 4000 citations. Dr Rafia Mumtaz stands as a role model for women in science in Pakistan, with exceptional contributions in teaching, research, innovation, and institutional development.
Prof Dr Muhammad Moazam Fraz, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, has over 21 years of professional excellence, leading advancements in Artificial Intelligence, IT, and Data Science with a profound societal impact in healthcare, agriculture, and security. He has secured 16 competitive research grants worth over Rs 250 million, producing two books and more than 150 international publications, with a cumulative impact factor of 320+.
Prof Dr Usman Qamar, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, is Professor of Data Science and Head of the Department of Computer & Software Engineering at NUST, and has also served as Visiting Professor at Cranfield University and University of Manchester, UK. With over 200 published research articles and 5 authored books, including 3 textbooks with Springer, he ranks among the most cited scholars worldwide in Data Science and Generative AI.
Prof Dr Sarah Qureshi, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, is an alumna of NUST. She is inventor of “A Low-Noise Supersonic Engine for Commercial Aircraft” (Patents granted in the US US11614053B2 and the UK GB2582529B). She also set up Pakistan’s first commercial jet engine R&D Company Aero Engine Craft Private Limited with her father Masood Latif Qureshi, making her one of the very few women engine inventors in the history of the world.