“I shall do something for my students, no matter what”, declares Dr. Muhammad Jahangir Ikram, while reminiscing about the development of portable kits for electrical engineering students at SBASSE. Over the past two decades at LUMS, Dr. Ikram has had the good fortune of teaching about four thousand computer science and electrical engineering students. This immersion into the teaching endeavor shapes his personality. 

Popular among his students for his engaging pedagogical strategies, Dr. Ikram’s approach to teaching pivots on the most important agenda of ‘hands-on learning’. The coveted digital-analog training system, a precipitate of Dr. Ikram’s knowledge and passion for electronics, is an intricate piece of machinery designed to help his students experiment with state monitors, input/output connectors, function generators and a surfeit of logic switches. The device is a treat for his students allowing them to obtain a concrete feel for how electronic components work together and get familiar with experimentation. It has been 12 years since the first iteration of this trainer kit came to the light and the system is still in use today.

Recalling his olden days of teaching at the School, Dr. Ikram vividly remembers one of his undergraduate students taking up to seven courses from him. “It was also very common for my students to have studied four courses from me”, he warmly recalled, while sitting comfortably near the granite facade of SBASSE. His office shelves are populated with awards gathered over the years, one of which reads “Award for Excellence in Teaching”, bestowed upon him after being selected from a group of 15 odd world-class teachers. But according to Dr. Ikram, his biggest award in life are his students who excel in all walks of life and in electronic design in particular. 

In the summer of 2020, Dr. Ikram and his team created portable kits for electrical engineering students. These kits were the result of arduous work by his team throughout the grueling summer heat. The kits were successfully developed and deployed later that year. “I like students to have practical experience. I do not like [relying only on] simulations” – and indeed he has lived these words throughout his years in academia.

Dr. Muhammad Jahangir Ikram is an Associate Professor at SBASSE and teaches both computer science and electrical engineering at the School. 

The original story of the launch of the kits is available to read here.