Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE) successfully completed a decade of its establishment on January 29, 2018. The 10 years celebrations of the School were held during the 18th Annual Advisory Board Meeting of the School which took place from January 29 to February 1, 2018.
The 18th Annual Advisory Board Meeting of the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE) was opened by the Vice Chancellor LUMS, Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi sharing an update on the latest developments at LUMS, followed by Dean SBASSE, Dr. Shahid Masud presenting a response to last year’s Advisory Board Report. The Department Chairs of SBASSE shared the vision, research and achievements of their respective faculty members and students.
Chairperson of the SBASSE Advisory Board, Prof. Sally Benson led the session, ‘Ten-years round up’ and achievements of SBASSE and planning for the next ten years. The Advisory Board also met with the students, faculty, administrative and lab staff of SBASSE.
An update on the new engineering programmes was shared by the Department Chair of the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering department, Dr. Basit Yameen. A report on promotion and tenure cases of the faculty of SBASSE was given by the convener of the School Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Committee, Prof. Robert Jaffe.
Dr. Muhammad Abubakr, Director of the Centre for Water Informatics and Technology presented an update on the Centre’s activities and its future direction. A proposal for the new Centre of Energy was presented by Dr. Naveed Arshad, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Computer Science.
The Advisory Board Members also met the Deans of the other schools at LUMS: Dr. Jawad Syed, Dean, Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB); Dr. Kamran Asdar Ali, Dean, Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences (MGHSS) and Dr. Martin Lau, Dean, Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law (SAHSOL). Prof. Robert Jaffe delivered the Salam Memorial Lecture, 'The Time of Your Life (and other times)'.
PhD and MS students of SBASSE networked with the Advisory Board members and presented their ongoing research in the areas of Biology, Computer Science, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Mathematics, Electrical Engineering and Physics.
A new lab resource, the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was inaugurated by the Advisory Board Members. This long sought fundamental facility for LUMS will boost research in diverse areas of science and is the latest example of Syed Babar Ali’s continued support for research and education at LUMS. This facility will help in improving the education standards and establishing research in areas of structural biology, drug discovery, vaccine development, metabolomics and synthetic chemistry.
During the Advisory Board Meeting, an industry academia roundtable on infectious diseases, 'Advancement of Clinical, Translational and Basic Research on Infectious Diseases to Improve Public Health in Pakistan' was held on January 31, 2018. The discussion, which identified several areas of potential collaboration between academia and industry, and academia and government sector to improve the situation of dealing with infectious diseases in Pakistan, was attended by a number of thought leaders from the Punjab government, pharmaceutical industry, and local hospitals in addition to LUMS SBASSE faculty and Advisory Board members.
