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”.