Dr. Momin Uppal from the Department of Electrical Engineering has received the HEC Best University Teacher Award for the year 2021. The entire LUMS community is proud of Dr. Momin’s achievement and wishes him the heartiest congratulations!

Commenting on the news of his achievement, Dr. Uppal said “I am proud to have received the honor and the recognition. But more than anything, I am humbled since the "I" is nothing but only one little piece in the galaxy of stars that we call SSE and LUMS.” This achievement also complements his leadership in research addressing national grand challenges with a truly interdisciplinary focus. Reflecting on his decade-long tenure as a teacher he added, “If there is one thing that a decade of teaching has taught me is that I have much more to learn. I continue to learn, I continue to move, and I continue trying to do what I cannot.”

Dr. Momin’s brings advanced engineering problems to freshman students, freeing his pedagogy from temporal limitations, and blends invention with discovery and applied fundamental principles and algorithmic tools to solve grand challenges. Dr. Momin is also the recipient of the LUMS Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award 2021 (university-wide award), and the LUMS’ Department of Electrical Engineering Distinguished Teaching Award 2019.

Dr. Momin Uppal is a tenured associate professor of electrical engineering at Lahore University of Management Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2010. At SBASSE, he serves as the director of the Advanced Communications (AdCom) Lab and the Smart Data Systems and Applications (SDSA) Lab. He has published over 50 papers in leading IEEE Journals and Conferences and has two US patents to his name. He is currently leading an Rs. 220 million multi-PI projects from the HEC that broadly deals with the use of technology and data-driven decision-making to save our cities. His research interests lie in urban computing, statistical signal processing, machine learning for wireless communications, back-scatter communications, and environmental sensing using radio signals.

Find out more about Dr. Momin’s research projects here. 

Note from the Dean

On behalf of the whole community, please accept my heartiest congratulations for winning HEC's national Best Teacher Award for the year 2021. You continue to inspire me with your comprehensive leadership in teaching, research, and professional contributions to the discipline of electrical engineering, and science and technology. 

The way you've blended invention with discovery and applied fundamental principles and algorithmic tools to solving grand challenges and importantly, carrying your students in this odyssey, is trailblazing. I often find this ghazal to be a succinct summary of the qualities of an ideal teacher and one can see all these in your personality.

غلامِ همتِ آن رندِ عافیت سوزم
که در گداصفتی کیمیاگری داند

Momin, keep shining!

~ Muhammad Sabieh Anwar

 

Founded by Syed Muhammad Abbas, an alumnus of the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering, Movin Wheels (Private) Limited is a Lahore based company established in 2020, that has been developing locally assembled, affordable products to help transport companies record and analyse their drivers’ performance while transporting precious commodities across the nation.

The core team of Movin Wheels. Dr. Syed Muhammad Abbas stands in the middle.

We recently chatted with Dr. Syed Abbas at his office. He runs his company with the help of a small team, that according to Dr. Abbas is “the best in class” at what they do. Rising to the scene just a few weeks prior to the covid-19 pandemic, Movin Wheels has survived through what many startups may consider their worst nightmare – a global market collapse. The company’s secret sauce to success was their focus on one product at a time, and keeping a deliberate check on their business expansion. This, according to Dr. Abbas, helped them save capital and continue with whatever resources they had in difficult times.

A look inside the office.

Two years and a lot of trucks later, Movin Wheels is now a major supplier of transport analytics technology to Shell, a global petroleum behemoth! It is delightfully humbling to learn that equipment from a small workshop in their office, assembled and put together by a local resource is making its way to top-tier companies, making the transport of their commodities safer and more reliable.

A team member works on adding components to a device, to the specifications provided by a client.

A family of products created in-house by Movin Wheels, that are being used by their clients.

Speaking of LUMS, Dr. Abbas vividly remembers his child like dreams when first entering through the gates of the institute. He fondly recalls his time with Dr. Abubakr Muhammad and would like to thank him for his extended support and trust that encouraged Dr. Abbas to understand deeper technical workings of electrical engineering.

When remarking on a message for new and existing students at SBASSE, he asserted that the students are in great hands at LUMS, to the credit of an extremely approachable and supportive faculty and encourages students to pursue their tinkering in the laboratories and try to learn as much as they can by asking questions from their instructors.

To learn more about SBASSE alumni, please visit this link: www.sbasse.lums.edu.pk/alumni

Data defined on the 2-dimensional surface of the 2-sphere arise whenever the underlying configuration of the problem has a spherical geometry. Hence, such data has inherent angular dependence and is encountered in various fields of science and engineering, such as wireless communication, 3D beamforming, computer graphics, medical imaging, acoustics, geodesy, quantum chemistry, cosmology, astronomy and planetary sciences. Examples of data on the sphere include gravitational, topographic and magnetic fields of the planets, cosmic microwave background (CMB), a relic radiation from the Big Bang, pouring down on us from space, electromagnetic radiation pattern of an antenna array in spherical geometry, acoustic signal received using spherical configuration of microphones etc. As opposed to 1D and multidimensional Euclidean domain data, which are defined on flat Euclidean domains, spherical data is defined on a curved domain due to which extension of Euclidean domain analysis and processing techniques to the spherical domain is not a trivial task. However, over the years, a lot of methods developed for Euclidean domain signals/data have been carefully extended to process data on the sphere to serve the needs of above-mentioned applications and scientific areas. This course provides a thorough introduction to the theoretical foundations of data analysis, processing and learning on the sphere. Furthermore, the students will also learn to visualize the data in the spatial (spherical) and harmonic domain using Matlab.

COURSE PREREQUISITE(S):

Pre-requisites: None

Co-requisites: None

The students are expected to have a basic understanding of linear algebra, vector spaces, Hilbert spaces and functional analysis.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

In broad brush, this course aims to:

• Provide a thorough introduction to both fundamental and advanced topics related to data representation on the sphere in both the spatial and harmonic domains.

• Provide understanding of Hilbert space of spherical signals and different subspaces

• understand the notion of rotation of the data and its formulation in both the spatial and spectral domain.

• Provide a detailed review of Slepian spatial-spectral concentration problem and its applications.

• Develop computationally efficient methods to analyze and process data on the sphere.

• Train the students to Implement convolution neural networks on the sphere and carry out so-called geometric deep learning.

• Apply these data analysis methods in 2-3 application areas.

It gives me immense pleasure to announce the new holder of the Chair of the Electrical Engineering Department. Dr. Momin Uppal it is. 

Dr. Uppal is a tenured Associate Professor in the department. A prolific researcher, honored teacher and insightful intellectual, Dr. Uppal received his MS and PhD in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, United States. He has been associated with LUMS since 2010. 

Dr. Uppal's research lies at the intersection, and forefront, of signal processing, communications, machine learning, optimization and recently, through a Grand Challenges Fund grant, leads a multi-institution consortium on data driven policy making for sustainable urban living. He is a member of the Smart Data, Systems and Applications Laboratory in the School and with his colleagues, spearheads diverse projects aimed at using technology for a better life. This video presentation summarizes some of Dr. Uppal's widely appealing work.

I also like to mention that Dr. Uppal's teaching and course design have won not only institutional but also national recognition. As convener of the School's Appointment, Promotions and Tenure Committee, he also plays a crucial role in ascertaining our collective ambition to leave a mark on global research and learning. 

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Momin Uppal as the new Chair of the EE Department. His tenure period is from 12 September 2022 to 31 August 2025.

This also brings me to thank from the core of my heart Dr. Abubakr Muhammad's contributions to lifting the Electrical Engineering Department and making it an example for all the rest of us---an example of futurism, breaking barriers of orthodoxy, and a welcome synthesis of "life, data and sustainability". 

Dr. Abubakr has led the launch of a new masters program, has invited industrially sponsored technology-oriented graduate students, catalyzed discussions on robotics, biomedical systems, machine learning and AI, earth systems, and led numerous other initiatives meant to support Faculty, staff and students. 

I have truly benefitted from his friendship and advice on all matters related to the School and the Department and as he submerges himself into his primary lifelong ambitions of research in his Centre for Water Informatics, teaching, and scholarship, uninterrupted by the many administrative matters, we will all continue benefiting from his leadership. Thank you Abubakr. Hard for me to express how much I am indebted to your support.

Finally, my thanks to the EE Chair Search Committee (Profs. Nauman Ahmad Zaffar, Hassan Jaleel and Tauqeer Abbas) for their wholesome recommendations, from which this decision is drawn.

Warm regards

---Muhammad Sabieh Anwar
Professor Physics, Ahmad Dawood Chair and Dean
Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering

The first batch of students enrolled in the EE 200 – Sophomore Design Studio Course, offered by the department of Electrical Engineering, got the opportunity to design, ensemble and finally exhibit their paper shredders on 12th December, 2022. Invented to destroy anti-Nazi leaflets, this seemingly common machine requires great precisions and mechanics. Something Qasim Fareed, one of the students enrolled in this course, agrees to while talking about his project. His peers seemed surprised to learn that he had “only” made a paper shredder the entire semester. Little do they know how much effort goes into creating this machine.  “I have a newfound respect for people who make things by hand. Its insanely difficult to measure everything precisely and create. Even making the walls stand straight can be challenging. Our walls are still tilted to the right”, Qasim states while pointing at the paper shredder he built with his course mate, Qasim Ali.  

It is safe to say Dr Talha Manzoor succeeded with his goal of instilling a “makers” spirit in the students. He noticed that EE students had little exposure to mechanical design at early stages of their academic programme. With this in mind, Dr Talha designed a course that presents students with an open-ended problem at the start of the course and encourages them to come up with their own solution. This EE course is accessible to all, and had students with major in Mathematics and Physics this time. While working on their projects, the students learnt to fabricate a circuit and use different softwares and tools that are generally not accessible to sophomores. They were required to include some features like having a breaker, wastebasket to collect the debris and ability to deal with potential paper jams. The students were assigned to build a mechanical paper shredder that worked without any programming.

Text BoxSolving the complexity did not limit their creativity, whether it was choosing the name or designing the machine. One project focused on the compatibility of the machine to make it mobile, while another student gave his shredder an unusual pyramid shape to make it unique and prevent hazards by increasing the distance between the blades and where the paper is inserted.  Every shredder had its own name, but the most intriguing one was perhaps QADO, standing for Quintessential A5 Destruction Object. Only Qasim Fareed and Qasim Ali would be able to tell the story behind the acronym that sounds like bottle gourd in Urdu. Despite having multiple assignments, quizzes and exams in the coming days, the students seemed excited about their projects and were motivated to continue with mechanics in their further studies. Given the success of the course, Dr Talha looks forward to run this course again, probably with a different project.  

The Department of Electrical Engineering (EE) at LUMS congratulates Dr. Hassan Abbas Khan for winning the EE Distinguished Teaching Award and Prof. Nauman Ahmad Zaffar for winning the EE Outstanding Service Award for the period 2019-2022. These awards are among the most prestigious forms of recognition for faculty members in any academic department.

Dr. Hassan Abbas Khan has been recognized for his exemplary student mentorship, brilliant classroom teaching, and excellent contributions to enhancing the department's curricular offerings. Through popular course offerings in renewable energy systems and electricity markets, and his own outstanding, impactful research achievements in the domain of DC microgrids and rural electrification, Dr. Hassan has inspired countless mentees to successfully pursue research that is locally driven yet globally relevant. His students acknowledge that his brilliant classroom teaching, driven by his enthusiasm, instills a fascination for course content. Besides being a distinguished teacher, students consistently refer to Dr. Hassan as an exceptional mentor in the classroom and beyond – even on the cricket field a student recalls him hitting "for a huge six over mid-wicket". One student shared their experience, "When I think of Dr. Hassan, I think about how nature put a mentor my way who made me pursue the right things at the right time.". Another student shares, "Teachers like Dr. Hassan, who not only teach academics but who mentor students for a life, are an asset for LUMS." – Dr. Hassan, we couldn't agree more. Keep shining!

Prof. Nauman Ahmad Zaffar is no stranger to excellence. His impactful applied research has resulted in several successful technology startups and active engagements with the local industry and public-sector organizations. His engagement has made him an integral part of the department's external relations and outreach efforts. Prof. Nauman helped raise funds from a corporate donor to create the EE Technology Development Fund - an instrument that aims to support the triple helix model of innovation for solving local challenges. Most recently, he single-handedly secured a donor commitment to support perpetual merit scholarships for the soon-to-be launched graduate program in Power Engineering and Smart Grids. He led the school's undergraduate curriculum committee for many years, was the founding member of the Sarsabz LUMS initiative, helped LUMS move towards solarization, and was part of the team that helped secure the Mitsubishi grant to support power electronics teaching in the department. Prof. Nauman is a strong proponent of a solid scientific foundation in engineering teaching - a practical demonstration he has propagated by successfully conducting "Teach the Teachers" workshops at other universities in the country. Prof. Nauman is a stellar example of how a Professor of Practice adds outstanding value to an academic program. He inspires countless mentees, several of whom are now part of the SSE faculty. Prof. Nauman, we are lucky to have you in our ranks.

The department is, as always, indebted to Dr. Jahangir Ikram for leading the deliberations on both the Teaching and the Service Award committees. The department is also grateful to previous award winners, Dr. Nadeem Khan and Dr. Ijaz Naqvi, for serving on the Service Award committee and to Dr. Imran Cheema and Dr. Muhammad Tahir for their service to the Teaching Award committee.

Dr Momin Uppal, Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering (EE), kickstarted this week with the delightful news of Dr Hafsa Qamar joining EE as an Associate Professor on Monday, April 3rd, 2023. 
Dr Hafsa obtained her PhD from Arizona State University as a Fulbright Scholar. Her research focused on power electronics, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems, specifically on developing novel pulse with modulation (PWM) methods for improving the performance of powertrains for electric vehicles and grid-connected photovoltaic converters.  
To understand the specifics of her research, we must take a step back to understand the role of inverters in energy conversion. Whenever we use renewable energy, we need to convert DC power to AC power, which is used in our power grids. Dr Hafsa’s doctoral research focused on improving the efficiency, quality and reliability of the inverter used for this conversion process. She did so by introducing new PWM methods - techniques used to control the amount of power supplied to electronic devices. She and her team obtained up to 99% efficiency. Dr Hafsa is particularly interested in implementing her research on electric vehicles to improve their power efficiency.       
With LUMS housing some of the country's leading researchers in electric vehicles, it is no surprise that Dr Hafsa feels right at home. This is, in fact, not her first time at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering. In 2017, before leaving for her PhD in the USA, she worked as a research assistant with Dr Naveed Arshad, Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science. Though short, she shares that “the RA-ship here at LUMS gave me an idea of how research should be conducted, which really helped me during my PhD”. She vividly recalls how much she liked the environment and how supportive people were. “I had already decided that I would join LUMS after completing my PhD. Eventually, that dream came true.” Dr Hafsa shares while talking about applying to LUMS. 

Dr Hafsa is eagerly looking forward to starting teaching in Fall 2023. Besides teaching existing courses, she plans to design a new course on electric vehicles, an area she feels needs more education and research in Pakistan. Until Fall, she will be continuing her PhD research. 
As Dr Momin put it beautifully in Dr Hafsa’s welcome email to the EE faculty, “Needless to say, Hafsa’s arrival further strengthens the School’s energy and power cluster’s focus on making a difference”. 
 

The youthful semiconductor industry in Pakistan is budding with opportunities. A growing number of national startups in the space now provide our youth with a chance to contribute to a global industry that has surpassed 500 billion US dollars in market size.

The LUMS' MS in Digital Embedded Systems (DES) aims to train students that are ready for this market. We are pleased to announce that 10xEngineers Technologies Private Limited is initiating the Semiconductor Industry Fellowships (SIF) program. Through the fellowship, 10xEngineers will provide merit-based tuition fee support to students into the LUMS' MS DES program from Fall 2023. The fellowships may also provide an employment opportunity at 10xEngineers - an opportunity not to be missed!

Be a part of Pakistan's semiconductor revolution. Apply now! (Weblink to the application)

The Electrical Engineering (EE) department at LUMS is set to launch a new program in Spring 2024 called “Masters in Power Engineering and Smart Grids (MS PESG).” This will be the third MS program offered by the department, following the success of MS Electrical Engineering and MS Digital and Embedded Systems. This exciting new initiative is backed by the creation of an endowment fund to recognize exceptional students joining the MS PESG program. The well-established ecosystem in the field of smart grids at the Department of Electrical Engineering convinced donors to contribute to the generous endowment fund of 25 million rupees.
Led by a team of faculty members, including Dr. Hassan Abbas Khan, Dr. Nauman Zaffar Butt, Dr. Naveed Arshad, Dr. Raheel Zafar, Prof. Nauman Ahmad Zaffar,  and Dr. Naveed Ul Hassan, the MS PESG program will be open to local and international students. EE department has assimilated the academic support with all the resources required for this program, and leading courses are already being offered. A recent successful course, titled Junior design studio on electric vehicles, exemplifies the well-established ecosystem. 
The MS PESG initiative stems from the research already being done at the EE department, supported by the student body. The university aspires for the students to extend their contribution, which will ultimately translate into concrete solutions to global problems.

Objectives of the new MS PESG program
Dr. Momin Uppal, Associate Professor and Chair of the EE department at LUMS explained that the program was instigated after realizing the discernible need for specialized knowledge in multiple areas, including modernizing the grid (such as contriving the smart grids), sensing technologies, data analytics, machine learning, and renewable energy aspect. Another compelling indicator is BS and MS students’ rising interest towards specialization in this area. 

The MS PESG program aims to enable students to be well-versed in these essential areas, with a focus on addressing open problems and research challenges. For instance, with multiple energy sources now available, including traditional generation, renewable energies generated by private companies, and solar panels in homes, how do all these and the reverse meeting aspect impact the grid? It requires substantial analysis to solve this enigma. Another challenge is investigating whether the traditional grid is the best option for the electrification of rural areas. Microgrids powered by renewable energy sources could provide a viable solution for villages that are currently inaccessible to the national grid due to distance. 

 
The Endowment Fund 
The endowment fund created to support the MS PESG program is a significant component of this initiative. Unlike existing scholarships, which are generally need-based, this fund is designed to also recognize merit and to reward excellence. An anonymous individual donor has provided the funds, which are transformed into an endowment fund with the donor’s consent to remain sustainable. The fund has received PKR 15 million, and the remaining PKR 10 Million will be transferred by the end of August 2023.
Upholding the general understanding of an endowment fund, the principal amount would be invested, with the proceeds being utilized to confer merit-based tuition-fee scholarships to MS PESG students for two years. This funding model is much needed for breeding excellence in this specialized area in Pakistan. It will enable exceptional students to participate in a world-class program. They will have the opportunity to be part of an academic milieu and work on impactful research with the brilliant EE faculty.
Dr. Momin encourages other institutes to adopt similar funding models, provided donors are confident in their abilities to deliver and see the value in what they are doing. The fact that the dignitary provided the endowment is a privilege that shows faith and confidence in the capabilities and potential of the people at LUMS.