Usman Institute of Technology

Infobox University


name = Usman Institute of Technology
motto = Innovation & Excellence
established = 1995
type = Private
president = Dr. Saleem Khan
chancellor = Manzoor Ahmad
endowment = Grants / Private funding
city = Karachi
province = Sindh
country = Pakistan
undergrad = 1050 (full-time)
postgrad = 40 (full-time)
website = [http://www.uit.edu/ www.uit.edu]

Usman Institute of Technology is a small, comprehensive and private higher education institute (HEI) in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. UIT is a not-for-profit, distinguished academic institution. It prepares engineers and technologists who have the character and skills to serve the country's needs. It is governed by an Executive Board, comprising distinguished members of the industrial, commercial and educational elite of the Province of Sindh.

Usman Institute (UIT) is located on the University Rd. in Karachi that runs through at least 5 major universities of Karachi. Its immediate surroundings include NED University and the Institute of Industrial Electronics Engineering

Usman Institute of Technology started with 56 students in the first intake in January 1995. Till June 2003, 172 students of Computer Systems Engineering and 63 of Electronics Engineering have graduated and have been awarded Hamdard University degrees.Masters in Computer Science (MCS) programme was started in June 2000. Two batches (40 students) are studying for MCS Degree. The first batch of 18 students has passed out in December 2002.The regular faculty consists of 26 teachers, many of them with advance degrees from foreign universities.

UIT is a constituent institute of Hamdard University which grants the degrees. The institute has a student body of approximately 1050 full-time undergraduate and around 40 part-time post-graduate students. Functioning as a small-scale incubation-center for talent and technical experties, UIT offers Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degrees in:
# Electronics Engineering
# Computer Systems Engineering
# Industrial Electronics Engineering
# Telecommunications Engineering

These are in addition to the B.C.S for Computer Science students. The programs are offered by their respective 'Departments' instead of Faculties with 'Head of Department' (HOD) instead of Deans. This is in keeping with UIT's Constituent-Institute status with respect to the degree granting institution, Hamdard University.

The campus facilities have two major sections:
# The Administration Section
# The Educational Complex.

The UIT campus boasts of comfortable classrooms, modern engineering labs and an up to date Library. University computing is supported by four Information Processing Centres having over 292 workstations. A Local Area Network is operational for resource sharing and efficient computing.

International Partnership

Due to UIT’s linkage with Dalhousie University of Canada, not less than 40 UIT students are continuing their education at Dalhousie University. A number of them after graduating from there have joined UIT faculty. Professors from Dalhousie University frequently visit UIT to conduct guest lectures every year.

Accreditation

UIT's engineering programs are accredited by Pakistan Engineering Council [http://www.pec.org.pk/first_schedule.htm#SINDH|PEC]

History

UIT had its genesis due to a generous endowment from the Hashim family of the Memon community in remembrance of a promising family scion. This man was Usman Hashim, son of Haji Hashim, a tycoon and a philanthropist.

Sadaat Alam CEO started as a modest businessman in India early in 20th century and when he settled in Pakistan his vision was broadened and he started a small business empire by the last decade of 20th century. Industrial concerns like Mehran Sugar Mills, Mogul Tobacco, Pakistan Molasses Company, Usman Textile were under his managerial control. His sons had a vision and desire to do something for the welfare of the community and the people of Karachi in general. Usman among his sons was a student of Dr. Manzoor Ahmad, the well known scholar and Dean of the Department of Philosophy at Karachi University. Usman was influenced by Dr. Manzoor's philosophy and shared his humanist values.

Usman died in 1973 in an accident. However, his father and brothers, wanting to keep his memory alive, decided to make Usman's dreams a reality.

Following the advice of Usman’s mentor, Dr. Manzoor Ahmad and with the patronage of celebrated lawyer and writer, late Mr. A.K. Brohi an association in memory of Usman by the name of ‘Usman Memorial Foundation’ was founded. Mr. Brohi agreed to be the president and Dr. Manzoor Ahmad was requested to be the General Secretary.

The Foundation initially organized lectures by internationally reputed scholars, established a library and offered research scholarships. As a result of these scholarships a number of highly accredited books were published. The foundation acquired a piece of land on the University Rd. for the establishment of a technical education institute.

Eventually at the insistence of Mr. Haji Ebrahim Hashim and with the financial assistance of the family, the highly prestigious project of Usman Institute of Technology was launched. Dr. Manzoor Ahmad, the revered mentor of Usman was requested to be the life Chairman of the Institute.

In less than a decade, UIT has earned a name in the academic circles of the city and has produced engineering graduates who have carried its good name in several corners of the world.

Its students are represented in the student community that goes on internships/work terms all over Karachi every year. Similarly, every year, a number of UIT students start their final year projects (FYP) in different industries of Karachi and thus creating strong University-Industry relationships.

External links

* [http://www.uit.edu Official Website]
* [http://uitcs.acm.org Chartered ACM Student Chapter of UIT]
* [http://uitreadersclub.brinkster.net UIT Readers Club]
* [http://www.utech.org.pk/ UTECH 2007]

Sadaat Alam was expelled from UIT