Taking the structured course

Professor Dr Muhammad Akram Tahir is chairman of the Building and Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore. A former student of UET from where he obtained his BSc in Civil Engineering, Dr Tahir later completed his MSc and PhD in Structural Engineering from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). "I joined the Civil Engineering Department as a lecturer in 1983 and was promoted to the position of professor in 2000. A new programme "Architectural Engineering and Design" was started by the UET in 2000 with the subsequent creation of a department by the same name in 2004. I was appointed as its first chairman and am glad to have successfully accomplished all the targets set by the university," he says. Talking about the university's main goals, he asserts: "UET strives to provide high quality engineering and technology education while creating and disseminating knowledge to uplift the economic conditions of its graduates and promote the economy of the nation through technological advancement. The university's PhD programmes are expanding and a lot of progress is being made both in quality and quantity," he says. When asked about UET's role especially in the architectural engineering department, Dr Tahir elaborates: "Architectural engineering is a multidisciplinary programme which takes its input from several other programmes such as architecture, civil, mechanical, electrical and environmental engineering. The graduates are trained to solve the problems related to modern-age buildings. Our graduates are successfully working in building industry within Pakistan as well as outside the country. Their success in the private field is exemplary which  speaks of the vision of the university leadership who created new engineering disciplines at the start of the 21st century. The response of the public sector, however, is poor as it has so far not been able to amend its job specifications to include our graduates in its list." Elaborating on the relevance of better architectural engineering and planning in our society Dr Tahir says that "We are a country with education, health and job facilities concentrated at a few spots, i.e., in major cities. As a result of this there is a continued migration of population from the rural areas to the cities. We need housing for the new migrants in the areas which are already overpopulated and it adds to our other problems such as traffic congestion, etc. New housing also brings up an increased demand for the country that is already facing an acute shortage of electricity. The architectural engineers in association with architects can strive for a solution to this problem by providing energy-efficient housing. Then modern commercial and industrial buildings as well as office buildings also consume a lot of energy for creating a conducive environment for efficient working; the solution is again to design and construct energy-efficient buildings. Architectural engineers will play a leading role in this context too. Creating new architecture is a sign of innovation, but what about already constructed architecture, especially old buildings? Dr Tahir believes that mankind has worked very hard to reach the stage that we are living in today. "The old buildings are pieces of art and items of our grand history. Graduates in architecture and architectural engineering are provided basic knowledge in the conservation and restoration of such buildings. However, it is a costly activity and lack of funding may bring the historical pieces of building art to ruin," he says. Asked about students' attitudes, Dr Tahir says that present-day students have access to huge data banks in libraries and on the Internet and yet they don't like to read. They listen to and record the lectures with due care and attention but don't ask useful questions. "Still, I will have to say that students these days are far more disciplined and polite. They just do not allocate proper or sufficient time towards their studies that's all." Giving his view on the government's reluctant approach towards the issue of education and research Dr Tahir says, "We are already lagging behind the developing world. The Shaukat Aziz government spent huge amounts of money for the development of higher education. But it is sad that we have to face cuts in educational budgets which of course will inflict severe punishment to the progress of education and technology. "However, we are looking at a cyclic problem — no economy without education and no quality education without a good economy! It is always difficult to overcome such a situation. But that is the job of the national leadership." Giving his opinion about the devolving of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr Tahir says: "HEC is not being demolished. It's just that its functions and duties are being transferred to the higher education departments of the provinces."