Notwithstanding the response in terms of numbers, NEDian International Convention emerged to be a huge success. Also, it proved to be prelude for 100 year celebrations of the establishment of the NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi.
The 2-day moot which took place on December 28 and 29, 2019 took off from the NED’s old campus situated behind the DJ College in city’s old town area where an extensive group of NEDians had been invited at dinner offering them an opportunity to meet each other after many decades. Over 100 overseas NEdians who had travelled from all over the world also graced the congregation.
Of the Pakistan-based NEDian many rushed to the city from various cities of Pakistan and those who were in the city did not miss the opportunity. They also included some well known politicians who happen to be NED’s old boys like Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, the opposition leader in Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi and members of the National Assembly of Pakistan Najeeb Haroon and Aftab Siddiqi.
This gathering set the tone for the next morning at NED’s main campus on University Road Karachi where hundreds of engineers flocked on the campus with multiple targets in mind. Many arrived with their families and of them numerous were NEDian couples.
This congregation has many aspects for the analysis ranging from financial assistance by well off NEDians, exchange to technological information, conceiving joint ventures with the university, creation of jobs for NED’s fresh graduates down to spreading engineering information.
But one of the major aspects of this convention was that the university which wish to build a liaison with the industry had a huge number of its old boys—working with the industry in Pakistan and abroad and running their own companies—had its some kind of an exclusive industry at hand. This alumni of the NED of which many are in touch with the university on various projects had a prevalence of sense to pay back to their university.
The organizers—the NED Alumni Association led by Engr. Asim Mujtaba and Engr Abbas Sajid—say positive results are supposed to emerge out of the convention from all respects. “This is time for NED alumni to pay back to their university”, he expects.
Optimism apart, maintaining the tempo and running the association will remain to be a gigantic task. Engr. Asim does realize it saying they will try to maintain it leading to grand 100 year celebration of NED University in 2022.
What this gathering of NED’s alumni produced in practical terms will begin appearing in next few months, the congregation did produce two more outcomes; a peep in the history and creation of a new social bond.
Numerous senior engineers whom ER talked to shared their best times of their lives on the campus. They let us enter into in the times when NED university like other universities of the country was the center of multiple activities such as students unions, picnics, all Pakistan student’s tours, musical and social activities, sports and etc. This series of activities had created a different synergy and a bond between the students on the campus.
It is because of the absence of the atmosphere, engineering universities and the engineers say the students need not engineering only but also they should be trained how to win and in case of failure they should have ability to succeed. In other words, the universities especially NED University in this case should take efforts to revive the atmosphere that its alumni once cherished on the campus.
Many senior engineers admitted to have come on the campus after many decades and have recalled their memories shared situations around them uniting them again and thus exploring the ways and means to do something for their university and also for the country.
For instance, we met two engineers who got the admissions on the basis of sports in late 1970s. I won two gold medals and my record is still unbroken, revealed Engr. Idris Khalid, an athlete who passed in 1981 from the Civil Engineering Department of the university.
Like Engr. Khalid, Shah Naeen, a sportsman engineer had similar memories of their times revealing that he had made Sports Admission Policy of NED University which is still intact. This area and the activity had created a huge sprit in old boys of the university which many believe is absent all together.
Of these old boys teeming with the experience say Pakistan should take care of its engineers especially those who are unemployed. “The government spends Rs.25 to 30 lakh per engineer and then they go abroad due to the unemployment at home,” said a senior engineer adding we are giving the world our engineers for
