PM announces Rs 100 million for IST

Prime Minister (PM) Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday announced Rs 100 million would be allotted for the Endowment Fund for the welfare of the students of the Institute of Space Technology, and the building of an Information Technology Block or Information Technology Laboratory, as the management considered suitable for the Institute.
This announcement was made while the PM addressed the convocation ceremony of the Institute of Space Technology (IST). He also conferred degrees on the successful students of the Institute and also gave away gold medals to the position holders in various fields of space technology. The PM said that it was a matter of pride to see the Institution emerge as a seat of learning within a short span of nine years which reflected the hard work and selfless devotion of the Institute’s management and faculty.
He said Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), had recently launched a communication satellite PAKSAT – 1R with China’s help. “A large number of our engineers worked closely with their Chinese counterparts during all the stages of designing, manufacturing and development of this satellite,” the Prime Minister added.
The prime minister urged the IST graduates to work diligently in their professional endeavours and extensively employ space technology applications for the socio-economic development of the country. He said the present democratic government had recently approved ‘Pakistan’s Space Program – 2040’, which clearly set up the milestones to be achieved in Pakistan’s quest for Space Technology and the launching of PAKSAT – 1R was only the beginning of a long journey. Gilani said technological development played a major role in the sustainable socio-economic development and security of the country. “In Pakistan, space technology applications are being increasingly used in the fields of communication, environmental studies, agriculture, water and disaster management & mitigation; and of course national security,” the Prime Minister observed.
He expressed satisfaction over the high employment rate of the graduates of IST which was obviously the result of the high standards of education imparted there. “It must be a source of motivation for the students and I hope that the new graduates will do their best in their endeavors and contribute to their country’s development,” said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also gave away gold medals to the position holders. First Position President Gold Medal was given to Tanzeel-ur-Rehman from Aero Space Engineering and Ubaid Bashir Awan from Communication System Engineering.
In the category of Best Projects Vice Chancellor Gold Medal, Best Projects Aero Space Engineering Medal was given to Tanzeel-ur-Rehman and Hamdan Ajmal Khan and Best Projects Communication System Engineering Medal was given to Syed Akhlaq Hussain Shah and Ali Ahmad.
Earlier, the vice chancellor of the Institute, in his welcome address, said that it was the most appropriate time and place to recognise and sincerely thank Strategic Plans Division and Higher Education Commission for their great contributions to the development of the Space Technology Institute. He also acknowledged the help and continuous support of Kahuta Research Laboratories, National Engineering and Scientific Commission, and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. He said that the Institute had established links with world renowned universities.
The vice chancellor mentioned one of the Institute’s major endeavours in design and development of a PICO-Satellite on the concept of the CUPESAT project of Stanford University. He explained that it was a small satellite capable of demonstrating new technologies for future missions and large space systems. He further said that following the footprints of SUPARCO, which recently launched PAKSAT – 1R, the IST would be the first Pakistani academic institute to launch a satellite early next year.
The Prime Minister gave away Aerospace Engineering Degrees to Faizan Habib Vance, Ahsan Mansoor Khan, Hamdan Ajmal Khan, Saad Masood, Waqas Bin Faateh, Ammad ud Din, Mudasar Anwer, Ahmad Shah, Hamza Ahmad Mir, Muhammad Junaid, Ahad Shahbaz Khan, Talha Khalid, Majid Saeed, Aisha Zahid, M Irfan Zafar, Muhammad Uzair Rasool, Muwar Hussain Jeelani and Hamid Khan.
Communication Systems Engineering Degrees were awarded by the Prime Minister to Mr. Muhammad Waqar Arshad Cheema, Syed Kamal Mustafa, Mr. Ali Ahmad, Mr. Muhammad Majid Zeshan, Zaddad Ahmad, Hassan Ali, Muhammad Umer Draz, Mohammad Usama Kabbir, Bilal Ahmad Mushtaq, Muhammad Affan Bashir, M Ubaid Bashir Awan, Saif Ali, Talha Shafiq, Atif Ullah, Wasim Hassan, Humza Jamil Pasha, Hareem Iftikhar, Syed Faizan Abbas and Syed Akhlaq Hussain Shah.