Instructor's Biography
Education:
PhD in Engineering - 1997
University of Warwick, Coventry, England
Thesis: Feedforward neural networks with constrained weights
Commonwealth Scholarship - 1993-96
MS in Electrical Engineering - 1987
Moore School of Electrical Engineering,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Thesis: MOCVD reactor for growing epitaxial germanium films
Research Assistantship - 1985-87
BS in Electrical Engineering (Honors), Magna Cum Laude - 1985
Wilkes College, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Project: Liquid crystal optical switch for use in fiber-optics
Senior project published in IEEE 1985 Student Papers, IEEE Press, New York, NY
Sigma Xi Research Recognition Award - 1985
Nada Vujica Memorial International Student Award - 1985
Electrical Engineering Achievement Award - 1985
Walter S. Carpenter Merit Scholarship - 1982-85
Professor’s Work Experience:
Professor - College of Computer Science & Engineering, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia
February 2007 - Present
Professor of Computer Science, University of Management and Technology, Lahore
April 2003 - September 2005
Offices of Admissions, Alumni/Placements, Media/Advertisement/Promotion
May 2005 - August 2005
Developed a new positioning strategy and implemented it through a Web/print-media campaign that established UMT as a provider of high-quality education and resulted in significant improvements in the quality as well as the quantity of the student intake for Fall 2005 as compared with that for Fall 2004.
Founding Dean - School of Science and Technology
May 2003 - January 2005
played a key role in reorienting the university that resulted in a move away from a teaching-only model to a more conventional research/teaching one; a new school-based structure; a shift from a trimester-based academic calendar to a semester-based one. Managed all areas of the new school, including four academic departments, computer center, academic support unit, and alumni and placement affairs, following are the key events/activities that took place during the 1 3/4 year tenure:
1. A new, unified undergraduate program offering majors in five areas was launched
2. Graduate degrees that required both coursework and research were started
3. New laboratories in Computer Networking, Chemistry, Garments, and Knitting/Weaving were developed
4. A Garment Productivity Center came into operation
5. Groundwork for a Center for Software Usability was completed for a February 2005 launch
6. Collaborative research proposals with peer universities were submitted to funding agencies
7. Cross-registration of graduate courses with NU-FAST starting in Spring 2005
8. Four senior and six junior faculty members joined the school, one of which has since become the Pro-Rector of the University and the other the successor Dean of the School of Science and Technology.
All this resulted in an appreciable increase in the stature of the school as indicated by the significant increase in the quality of the incoming students at the undergraduate as well as graduate level.
Consultant - Virtual University, Lahore
December 2001 - June 2002
Developed the very first course that was offered by the Virtual University - a unique institution that offers four-year degrees throughout Pakistan and the Middle East through television and the Web, that course - rated the best by a wide margin during its first offering - is currently in its tenth run.
Visiting Lecturer in Computer Science - Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore
August 2001 - November 2001
Taught an introductory course in computing, the video recordings of that course were later used in an on-line version of the course - probably the first offering of its kind in Pakistan. Led the effort that reviewed, renewed and streamlined the undergraduate curriculum for Computer Science majors
CTO - KASB & Company Limited, Lahore
June 2000 - June 2001
KASB - one of the largest corporate finance and equity players in Pakistan - is currently assisting over 500 institutional and individual clients from outside of Pakistan in making investments in the local markets. They have had almost a decade-long relationship with Merrill Lynch and have worked on many joint-ventures with them. I played a multifaceted role there that consisted mainly of launching and monitoring new IT-related businesses.
I was the founding CEO of KASB TechVentures (Private) Limited - an independent company that assisted entrepreneurs in transforming their innovative Internet ideas into world-class businesses by accelerating growth, reducing risk, and enhancing value. I also founded SenSync Media (Private) Limited - a multimedia development studio - to support the operations of TechVentures portfolio companies. Both companies folded in June 2001 due to adverse industry conditions.
Founder - Innofy
May 2000
Conceived the idea and implementation strategy for a new offshore software development company-Innofy, wrote a compelling business plan and presented it to two of the most successful business groups in Pakistan and gained promises of US$4 million investment from both. Later, abandoned the Innofy project (immediately after receiving the second offer of investment!) for a more challenging opportunity - an IT business incubator
Senior Manager - Techlogix, Lahore
April 1999 - April 2000
Techlogix - then a 55-person software company with offices in Boston, San Jose, and Lahore - was focused on the rapid development of innovative eBiz solutions for American clients. I played a multifaceted role there:
Technical & Managerial Process Development
Restructured the roles and responsibilities for technical team members. Developed a corporate methodology for rapidly developing Internet applications, institutionalized various processes to improve the software development process and the management of the organization
Quality Function Development
Initiated, assembled, and managed the corporate quality function. Trained the team in developing and maintaining software quality assurance processes
Quality Management System
devised a long term plan, based on ISO9001, CMM, and People-CMM, for continuously improving the quality of products developed at Techlogix. Initiated the development of an Intranet application for developing and maintaining processes and collecting the data generated by those processes
Human Resource Development & Knowledge Management
managed the human resource development function. Instituted a performance management system and a process for supervisor evaluations established the corporate Intranet and organized a series of internal seminars to institutionalize the sharing of knowledge. Established a library
Relationship and Project Management
managed the development of eCommerce and other projects Whiteflash.com, a diamond and jewelry eBoutique; UniPakStocks.com, an online stock trading site; Techlogix.com, the corporate marketing site; QuikCash Plus, a web-based commerce application.
Technical Consulting for an Expert System
Acted as the technical consultant for a team building a vehicle occupancy detection system, this system initially used neural networks, but now uses automatically generated decision trees.
Operations Management
managed the computing services team. Reorganized the work environment to improve productivity, performed the day to day administrative and managerial tasks
Assistant Professor - University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore
March 1990 - April 1999
Taught courses in circuit analysis, computing, control systems, electronics, and engineering mathematics, coordinated the modernization of the decade-old undergraduate curriculum in electrical engineering (1997-98), prepared the first draft of the curriculum for the new computer engineering option (1998), in addition, provided consulting services to the local software industry in designing expert systems and in establishing quality improvement programs Details of consulting assignments are as follows:
Improvement of the Software Development Operation. Systems, Lahore
November 1998 - February 1999
proposed a long-term strategy and outlined a staged-plan for improving the software development operation of the organization. Following were the main contributions:
1. Initiated stage-1 by first helping in the selection of a scaled-down version of the Personal Software Process, and then piloting it in a small team.
2. Guided a team in developing a proposal for an organizational improvement initiative based on the CMM and the People-CMM models.
Quality Management System Plan CresSoft - Corporate Office, Lahore
July - August 1997
created a 5-year plan for the company-wide installation of TickIT (ISO 9001), the CMM, and the People-CMM models. Following were the main contributions:
1. Identified the roles and skill profiles for the personnel required for the standards installation teams, assisted in their recruitment, and organized a program for their training, both as a team and as individuals.
2. Created a company-wide information resource on quality standards, and initiated the development of a web-based data-collection mechanism for the use of the standards effort.
Preference Card Predictor CresSoft - Business Systems, Lahore
November 1996 - April 1998
developed an expert system for predicting the future preferences of the pilots of a major American airline. This system is to be used by the airline for forecasting its staffing and training requirements. Following were the main contributions:
1. Defined achievable goals, selected the appropriate prediction technology, and outlined an evolutionary procedure for empirically synthesizing the system.
2. Defined the component-based architecture and designed the components.
3. Proposed the high level design and provided guidance in the prototyping of two new products based on the Preference Card Predictor technology:
i. Training Resource Forecaster for forecasting the training resources required at any point in time over a 9-18 month future horizon.
ii. Preference Card Assistant for assisting the pilots in filling preference cards in such a fashion that their career growth is optimized.
4. Proposed the high level design of a related product, the Long Term Forecaster, for forecasting the hiring schedule for pilots over a 10 year period.
Assistant Engineer - Descon Electro Systems, Lahore
May 1989 - March 1990
Designed and commissioned instrument systems for chemical plants. Specialized in the installation of Programmable Logic Controllers and also developed microcomputer based annunciators, data loggers, and PID controllers.
Project Engineer - IC Sensors, Milpitas, California
May 1988 - February 1989
Developed acceleration and pressure sensing systems for automotive and general-purpose usage, responsibilities ranged from requirements analysis to design and prototyping to planning of testing strategy and training of production personnel.
Research Fellow - Center for Sensor Technologies, University of Pennsylvania
September 1985 - February 1988
Designed and constructed an MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) reactor for the growth of epitaxial germanium films for use in photo-detectors. Did extensive characterization of these germanium films with X-ray diffraction
Research Associate - Wilkes College
May 1985 - August 1985
Developed logic gates based on liquid crystal devices. Also explored phased array optical antennas, optical amplifiers and modulators - all employing LCD technology
Engineering Assistant - RCA New Products Division, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
May 1984 - August 1984
Evaluated SPICE simulation software and related CAD/CAE tools. Also developed specifications and testing procedures for components used in CCD cameras.
Teaching Assistant - Wilkes College & Universities of Pennsylvania & Warwick
September 1983 - May 1986, January 1995 - May 1996 (part-time throughout)
Provided laboratory instruction, developed computer programs, and graded assignments etc. for various engineering courses.
Live-in Counselor - Project Upward Bound, Wilkes College
May 1983 - July 1983
Counseled disadvantaged high school students in personal and academic matters, and organized various activities for them.
