Two days Workshop at Mehran University, Pakistan - for and by the students

Recently, a workshop on "Antenna Design and Fabrication" was held at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET), Jamshoro, Pakistan on 3-4 Sep 12 . However, this was no ordinary workshop because not only were the participants students but the organisers and instructors for the event were also students.

Pinkesh Kumar Rajani, Ahsan Memon, Daniyal Akhtar, Anum Talpur and Natasha Baloch who are studying in the third year of Bachelor of Telecommunication Engineering program at MUET undertook an internship during the summer vacations on the design and fabrication of antennae in the Department of Telecommunication Engineering under the supervision of Mr. Riaz Ahmed Soomro, a Lecturer in the department. After successful completion of the internship, IEEE Communications Society student members at MUET suggested these students to conduct a workshop to share their knowledge with their fellow students and requested the IEEE Communication Society - Karachi Chapter (ComSoc-Khi), to support the workshop , which the society willingly agreed to.

The workshop, organised by the Department of Telecommunication Engineering in collaboration with ComSoc-Khi, was a two day event and accommodated fifty (50) participants. The participation fee was used to arrange in-part for the reading material and refreshments for the participants while the remaining costs were borne by ComSoc-Khi. The low cost for the workshop meant that is was especially attractable for students and it was only due to logistical reasons the number of participants was kept to fifty even though the organisers received considerably greater number of applications for participation.

IEEE ComSoc-Khi Chairman and Dean Faculty of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering (FEECE) at MUET, Prof. Dr. Bhawani Shankar Chowdhry, while addressing the participants said that the ComSoc-Khi is one of the most active chapters of IEEE Communications Society and that the chapter has expanded from its base in Karachi in the south, to Sukkur in the north of the Sindh province of Pakistan, within his current tenure. He further said that ComSoc-Khi will always encourage and support "student workshops" because it provides students with an excellent opportunity to learn and share technical knowledge with their peers.

The Chairman, Department of Telecommunication Engineering, Prof. Dr. Aftab Ahmed Memon, was at hand to present shields and certificates as token of appreciation to Engr. Riaz Ahmed Soomro and instructors. He also pledged to support such events in future. The student organisers, instructors and participants thanked Prof. Dr. Aftab Ahmed Memon for making available to them resources from the department for use in the workshop.

Engr. Syed M. Zafi S. Shah,  Secretary, ComSoc Karachi Chapter, Pakistan