For a better future: Dr Yasir Radio Lab inaugurated at FUUAST

Facility named after slain KU professor Dr Waheedur Rehman, who was popularly known as Yasir Rizvi.

KARACHI: Back in 2012, when a television lab was inaugurated at the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology (Fuuast), the slain associate professor of University of Karachi (KU), Dr Yasir Rizvi, decided there was also a need for a radio lab in the varsity's Abdul Haq Campus.

Praising the work and character of the professor, Fuuast acting vice-chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser described Yasir as a bridge between the Urdu varsity and KU. "We want the students to also have practical knowledge when they graduate," he said, in his address at the inauguration ceremony of Dr Yasir Radio Lab at Fuuast.



"The first thought, the first step and the first brick are always the most difficult ones. That initiative was taken by Yasir," said Seemi Naghma, another faculty member, explaining why the facility was named after the late professor. The lab is fully equipped but needs technical staff, supervisors and monitoring staff, she added.

"In almost every private university, students have the opportunity to practice what they study," said the project manager, Irfan Aziz. "In public-sector universities, however, the situation is completely different."

Mass communication is a practical subject and students should be trained to meet the demands of the media houses, he reasoned. "Our aim is to make our students competent and able to address demands of the industry," he hoped.



The radio lab comprises two rooms — one for recording and the other for mixing, with a multi-track recording system, two dedicated servers for voice editing and two local voice recorders for sound proof recording, which keep the recording 75 per cent sound proof.

To make assignments and news, students need to monitor news channels and keep themselves updated. "A 40-inch TV screen is installed in the system, which will be further extended to a separate monitoring cell for a dozen students," explained the project manager.

The facility still requires a few basic items to be completely functional. "Internet connection is needed that will help the supervisors upload our recorded programmes on the university website and start live streaming of the shows," he said.

"Dr Adibul Hasan Rizvi gave me the inspiration to work for my institute and develop it," said Professor Dr Tauseef Ahmed Khan, the chairperson of the mass communications department.

A member of the nominating committee, Nasir Abbas, was of belief that universities are not only responsible for providing education, but are also meant to educate the system. "This was Yasir's dream and he would have been sitting in the front row if he was alive," he said with teary eyes.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2015.