What keeps you up at night? Have you discovered what makes you happy? Are you driven by a constant barrage of insatiable curiosity to know and learn more? Are you passionate about something? For Ghulam Sarwar, the answer is a resounding yes! This is a glimpse into the story of Mr. Ghulam Sarwar Butt – a passion-driven omnivore for learning.

Belonging to the quiet, suburban city of Renala Khurd, a small town in the Okara district, Mr. Ghulam Sarwar developed a love for physics in his early education days and has always been an avid learner of science. He currently works in the Central Lab at SBASSE, working complicated, state of the art instruments and machines. He too, like many others working in LUMS, is bathed in a vigour for understanding how things work, particularly how instruments work. He fervently pursues hard work and is very fond of troubleshooting problems, finding solutions and coming up with ways, on a self-taught basis, to fix his beautiful machines in the Central Lab. Ghulam Sarwar currently operates 3 main instruments; the Vibrating Sample Magnetometer, Plasma Etcher and the Probe Station, in addition to managing data for gas cylinders to facilitate researchers at the PhysLab and the Central Lab.

However, passion takes a toll on the body and the soul – and it has on Mr. Ghulam Sarwar too. It has made him joyful, lighter – happier. Mr. Sarwar’s friendly personality and his highly enthusiastic and optimistic outlook on life is contagious and can be traced to the buoyancy one experiences when afloat in a sea of like-minded people, innovative research and a very solid support system, that lets one grow personally and professionally. Recalling one of his fondest memories at LUMS, Mr. Sarwar said “Dr. Sabieh and I would sit on the floor of the central lab, legs crossed, figuring out a way to fix the vacuum pump on the notorious Vibrating Sample Magnetometer.” Mr. Ghulam Sarwar believes that innovation requires freedom and facility. He feels that LUMS has a very strong support system that enables this facility by encouraging exploration of problems and a complete freedom to finding solutions. “I credit Dr. Sabieh Anwar for providing me with this enabling environment and making this workplace a happy place!”, Mr. Sarwar shared.

Mr. Ghulam Sarwar hails from Renala Khurd, a small suburban city within the Okara district, where he completed his matriculation. He went on to complete his FSc from his neighbouring city of Okara, BSc from FCCU Lahore and MSc in Physics from GCU Lahore. He didn’t stop there and continued to pursue higher education from the University of The Punjab where he completed his MPhil in micro electronic engineering and semiconductor physics. Mr. Sarwar is currently pursuing his PhD from GCU Lahore in piezoelectric materials, while working at LUMS as a Scientific Officer at the Central Lab in SBASSE.