With high hopes: Bahria University students graduate with their heads held high

866 students awarded degrees at convocation ceremony

KARACHI: A total of 866 students of bachelors, masters and doctorate programmes were awarded degrees at the 13th convocation ceremony of Bahria University's (BU) Karachi campus and the 7th convocation of the Pakistan Navy School of Logistics.

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah attended the ceremony as the chief guest and conferred degrees on the graduating batch at the BU campus. The students were awarded degrees in the programmes of management sciences, earth and environment sciences, electrical engineering, software engineering and professional psychology. Of the total 866 students of both undergraduate and graduate programmes, 259 degrees in absentia were conferred on students. Other than BU, 35 degrees were also awarded to students graduating in supply chain management from Pakistan Navy School of Logistics.

At the convocation ceremony, 32 students were awarded gold medals while 23 were awarded silver medals, all of whom achieved top positions in their respective disciplines. Addressing the students, parents, senior naval officers and attendees of the convocation, university pro-chancellor Admiral Zakaullah congratulated the graduating students on their success. "Universities have gained significant importance as they help impart requisite education and foster competencies to make better and more productive citizens," he said.

Universities in today's life need to expand strategic networking with multinational corporations, public and private sector and research-based institutions, he added. He was of the opinion that there is a need to equip students with knowledge to help them become effective in their workplaces, both nationally and internationally.

Recalling the time when the university started in 2000, BU rector Admiral (retd) Tanveer Faiz said the varsity started with only 750 students and now it has more than 14,500 students at their campuses in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. "Universities have a greater role to play in the economic development of the nation," he said, adding that the varsity has international links with 14 universities around the globe.

Muhammad Tariq was awarded a gold medal for completing his masters of science in telecom and networking from BU. He had earlier completed his bachelors in physics from University of Karachi. "I wanted to do something in physics and I am happy that I did my specialisation in this [field]," he said. Another gold medalist from the electrical engineering department, Labib Chauhan, was excited after receiving the award. "I want to pursue my career in this field but I also have an interest in supply chain management," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2016.