Receiving a Distinguished Teaching Award or Outstanding Service Award is one of the highest recognitions for faculty at any academic department. The Department of Electrical Engineering at LUMS congratulates Dr. Ijaz Naqvi and Dr. Muhammad Tahir for receiving respectively the Outstanding Service and Distinguished Teaching awards for the period 2018-2021.

In the several nominations received by colleagues this year for Dr. Ijaz Naqvi, some have fondly called him the 'godfather' and the 'guardian angel' of our graduate programs. MS and Ph.D. programs at EE started in 2012 with Dr. Naqvi's involvement from conception to launch. Some years later, he assumed the leadership role of the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC), which he holds until today. The graduate programs went from strength to strength under Dr. Naqvi's leadership, with the growth of our student body, courses, and graduate streams. From day-to-day issues of the graduate students regarding enrollment and course selection to advisement and well-being, he has dedicated himself to lending unbounded services to MS and Ph.D. students. COVID has brought bigger and newer challenges for the students spanning health, accessibility, academics, and financial issues. Dr. Ijaz and his GPC colleagues have dedicated countless hours to resolving individual cases and helped them sail through this difficult period. He has been active on many fronts at the school- and university-level graduate program initiatives. Together with Dr. Naveed-ul-Hassan, he spearheaded a year-long effort in 2021 from which have emerged several proposals for new MS programs for the department and the school. Dr. Naqvi is an internationally recognized researcher in advanced communication systems and a brilliant teacher. His last offering on battery management systems is a window into the brave new world of electric vehicles, renewables, IoT's and complex engineering design. A silent contributor and an extremely humble person, Dr. Ijaz dedicates his achievements to all of his colleagues at EE DGPC and to the hardworking EE staff.

Dr. Muhammad Tahir is someone who is truly, as they say, 'a sage on the stage' and 'a guide on the side' for our undergraduate and graduate students. In addition to brilliant classroom teaching, Dr. Tahir is being recognized for his extraordinary mentorship to both graduate and undergraduate students. The summer research training that he voluntarily organizes every year is a brilliant demonstration of how to blend undergraduate teaching and mentorship with cutting-edge research. Cultivating active student engagement both inside and outside of the classroom, he is a popular instructor who remains the go-to person that the department's undergraduate students turn to for advice. Dr. Tahir is a brilliant researcher in the hot areas of decision theory and statistical inference. He applies his mathematical and engineering skills to urban planning, transportation, biomedical systems, and acoustics. He has been a leader in offering outstanding services to the university, most visibly as the convener of our department's undergraduate program committee. Whether one wants to conduct a survey, organize a student orientation session, track a student’s parents in an emergency or convey a message, Tahir’s office is usually the chair’s first stop before ringing any other office. Like Dr. Ijaz, Dr. Tahir is a role model for excellence in academic scholarship, innovative teaching, and selfless service. He is an avid reader of philosophy, science, and Urdu poetry.  

The department would like to thank our colleagues from the two awards committees, both led by Dr. Jahangir Ikram. The teaching award nomination has been made with the help of Dr. Momin Uppal, Dr. Adeel Pasha, and Dr. Zubair Khalid. The service award nomination has been made with the help of previous awardees Dr. Nadeem Khan and Dr. Wasif Tanveer Khan.