This workshop aim to bring together researchers from the UK & Pakistan to share research expertise and develop collaborations relevant to enabling a sustainable energy transition in Pakistan.

Eligible candidates should have obtained their PhD no earlier than 2010. Participants must also have a research or academic position (a permanent post, research contract, or fellowship etc.) at a recognised research institution either in the UK or Pakistan. 

Apply before 23rd April, 2021

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3uZyqWL

Three members of the SBASSE faculty have been awarded the inaugural Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence! These awards mark a new beginning in our institutional culture.

Dr. Tariq's inspirational teaching in the lab and classroom, his courses on developmental biology and genetics are the perfect mix of insight, crystal clarity and futurism. For example, see this video in which he describes the marvelous richness of the fruitfly's eye.

Dr. Zubair's immaculate presentations on signal processing are evidenced by the teaching material he has made public for everyone's consumption. One example is his Machine Learning course. For example, see the candeur with which he describes the mathematically complex problem of duality, delving into its geometrical interpretation. 

Finally, Dr. Momin has broken new grounds in defining the EE100 milieu, a course that brings research problems in engineering right to the doorsteps of our freshmen, truly breaking temporal boundaries. His teaching of Signals and Systems bespeaks a solid grip of the student and pedagogical clarity.

On behalf of all students and Faculty, we’d like to extend congratulations to Drs. Muhammad Tariq, Momin Uppal and Zubair Khalid for their well-deserved recognition. 

The famous character of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and TV shows such as Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) demonstrate the use of science by forensic scientists or criminalists to solve criminal cases. However, how forensic science really work?

The course aims to discuss the scientific principles and techniques behind the work of forensic scientists. It will utilize case studies (from Pakistan and abroad) to shed light on the forensic Lab's role and the Criminalist/forensic scientist in solving crimes. The course will answer questions such as: How did forensic science evolve? How a crime scene is secured, and physical evidence collected, dispatched, stored, and analyzed? How can we use blood stains and patterns to differentiate natural death from murder? How can we collect and develop fingerprints from paper, glass, and metal? How long has someone been dead? What if they have been dead for a long time? Is DNA chemistry so powerful? How can we tell if a fire incident was natural or some fire accelerant was used? How drugs and poisons are analyzed? Can a little piece of a carpet fluff, or a single hair, convict someone? How did J. F. Kenedy die? How did the forensic laboratory helped solve Zainab's murder?

This introductory course aims to make the subject of forensic science clear and comprehensible to a wide variety of students from diverse academic backgrounds. It introduces various aspects of the forensic laboratory and the forensic sciences used in collecting, preserving, and analyzing physical evidence from the crime scene.

Title: Introduction to Forensic Science

Term: Summer I - 2021

Course Outline: Download

Instructor(s): Dr. Muhammad Zaheer

Registration link: Click here

Nanotechnology is all about materials that are significantly smaller than a human eye can see. To put this into perspective, 1 nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter (1 nm = 10-9 m) and a human hair is typically 80,000 – 100,000 nm thick. Such small materials can be formed by scaling down from bulk/microscale to nanoscale dimensions or can be grown atom by atom. The characteristics of materials can potentially change when their dimensions are reduced to nanoscale and in this regime their properties can also be tuned. For example, color of the same material, e.g. gold, at nanoscale can be controlled by their size! Moreover, electrical, magnetic, mechanical and other properties can be altered and enhanced which opens up new avenues of their potential widespread use. This course will provide an overview of nanotechnology and demonstrate why nanoscale regime is different from microscale and bulk regime which results in unique properties.

Applications of nanotechnology will be discussed including the very first known use of nanoscale gold and silver in the 4th century Lycurgus Cup, use of metallic nanoparticles in the medieval Islamic pottery, and stained-glass windows. Modern era applications in electronics, sports, medicine, textiles, energy and environment will also be discussed e.g. light-weight automobile bumpers, golf balls and tennis rackets, sunscreens, faster recharging batteries for handheld devices, and digital displays. The famous “Moore’s law”, predicted by the Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965, will be discussed which is still valid but is it approaching the ultimate limit? These applications are driven by the discovery and synthesis of a diverse range of nanomaterials, development of fabrication technologies capable of producing such materials at small scale, development of tools which can see such small materials and manipulate them as seen in the World’s Smallest Movie by IBM. The course is multidisciplinary in nature and will primarily attract science and engineering students and will include 2-3 short guest lectures from experts in a relevant field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

Title: Introduction to Nanotechnology

Term: Summer I - 2021

Course Outline: Download

Instructor(s): Dr. Salman Noshear Arshad

Registration link: Click here

In the current era of modern technologies and social media, a surge of fake news and misconceptions about food, health, diseases, and other important areas of human life is quite prevalent. Even an educated person can inadvertently fall victim to fake news propaganda if s/he does not have sufficient scientific knowledge. In this multidisciplinary course, students will learn fundamental sciences and modern technologies that will not only equip them against any unscientific myth but also will ensure the safe and secure supply of food to consumers. Students will also apply fundamental and integrated concepts of engineering, biological and physical sciences to understand the nature of food, causes of food deterioration, principles underlying food processing, and improvement of food. This course is designed for everyone who is involved in any domestic and commercial aspect of food such as production, preparation, cooking, processing, handling, and of course consumption.

Title: Introduction to Food Science

Term: Summer I - 2021

Course Outline: Download

Instructor(s): Dr. Muhammad Saeed

Registration link: Click here

Dr. Salman Noshear Arshad has been granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor. An academician in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Department, Dr. Salman's work focuses on leveraging nanostructures, particularly fibers, for higher performance in energy storage, photocatalysis and environmental remediation. These nanomaterials are heterostructures with novel designs and enhanced functionality. Over the years he has led a focused investigative stream on materials engineering in SBASSE and has recently published important results in ChemistrySelect, RSC Advances ChemChatChem and Synthetic Metals. 

Dr. Salman has played an important role in facilitating usage of shared experimental research facilities common to all users in the Central Labs at SBASSE. He has also partnered with the industry on various projects. A recent example is his ambition to improve the wear resistance, longevity, and splendor of ornamental materials and jewelry. He teaches physical chemistry, polymers and nanotechnology and is celebrated as a motivated and methodical teacher. 

Furthermore, Dr. Salman leads the debate on helping Pakistan make the much-needed energy transition, towards sustainability and greener future. For example, recently, he partnered with researchers in the University of Glasgow, fomenting technical and policy-oriented discussions on this topic, in a recent British Council sponsored Workshop.

Green always wins. Biofuel does indeed offer a lot of value over its fossilized counterpart. Due to the renewable nature of biomass, such fuels are infinitely sustainable, unlike fossil fuels. Furthermore, the by-products of biofuels are generally safer, non-toxic, and non-polluting as well. Therefore, it is a genuine pleasure to announce the recent successes of the chemistry department in biomass conversion, led by Dr. Muhammad Zaheer from the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, at SBASSE.

Being at the forefront of biomass research does have its perks. The Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering received spades of funding from the HEC for two research projects focusing on converting biomass into fuels and chemicals. While it may appear like wizardry, we would argue it is even grander in its scale. Our esteemed researchers used crop residue and waste to produce valuable chemicals through catalysis. Utilizing waste in such an effective manner can be a real boon for our weary economy.

It does not end there either. Effective utilization of biomass opens realms of possibilities for their chemicals and by-products. For instance, the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering has developed a novel catalyst that does not require any external oxidant to convert the lignin (organic substance usually found in wood) content of biomass into bio-oil. Thus, as a side product, this reaction produces pulp which can further be used for papermaking. Surely that is it, right? Nope. Biomass is the gift that keeps on giving. In collaboration with Dr. Ali Rauf, also from the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, the researchers at SBASSE have decided to utilize this pulp to produce bioethanol or even hydrogen, both excellent fuels for various processes.

In the right hands, biomass has turned out to be an absolute treasure-trove. There are always plans for future projects, scientists tinkering away and day night to unlock all the secrets of bio-mass valorization and unleash its untapped potential. Currently, they are working on a project to simultaneously convert crop residues and plastic waste into liquid fuels, which is under review for grants from HEC-CPEC and other sources. It seems nothing less than alchemy except it is environmentally friendly too.

The Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering is making great strides in biomass research. A team of the brightest minds in Pakistan is working together to achieve sustainable, pollution-free fuels and chemicals for Pakistan, adding much-needed economic value to our country. With partnerships at world-class institutions such as the DALIAN Institute of Chemical Physics; the sky's the limit.

It's a matter of great pleasure that we've recruited two outstanding faculty members in the Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering at SBASSE, LUMS.

Dr. Tauqeer Abbas, PhD from North Dakota University, works in the areas of ionic liquids and eutectic solvents and their use for water cleaning, wastewater remediation and detoxification.  He arrives in LUMS after a post-doctoral stint at the University of Nevada's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. 

Dr. Faheem Hassan Akhtar completed his PhD from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. His expertise is in using membranes and polymers for separation of gaseous mixtures. This is a massively important, energy-hungry and crucial area for improving chemical processes and improving the environment. 

Both of these additions to our community would accelerate our mission to devise ways to make the climate cleaner, intervene positively with the industry and train a new generation of chemical engineers in modern trends.

SBASSE family welcomes Drs. Tauqeer and Faheem!

Dr. Tauqeer Abbas, Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering has been selected to the editorial board of the Journal of Ionic Liquids, a prestigious frontline journal capturing state-of-the-art in ionic liquids. 

The Journal of Ionic Liquids is a high-quality international journal that reports academic and industrial research in the field of ionic liquids with a focus on fundamental measurements, molecular simulations, processes, and products. It is the only journal primarily dedicated to articles based on ionic liquids research.

Dr. Tauqeer now joins the ranks of 38 world-class researchers emanating from 15 different countries that are part of the editorial team.

You can learn more about the journal and its editorial team here: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-ionic-liquids/editorial-board 

We may not be able to completely geoengineer the planet, but we can certainly think about ways to make our air more breathable, water more drinkable and land cleaner and greener. This is an introductory course that centres on fundamental chemical principles and processes that help understand and solve environmental challenges related to atmosphere, water and soil pollution. Students will also learn about the effects of anthropogenic activities on the chemistry of the Earth. Specific topics include air pollution (smog, particulate matter, greenhouse gases, ozone), water contaminants and purification, toxic organic chemicals and metals in the environment.

Join Dr. Tauqeer Abbas to explore the fascinating possibilities of how we can make our planet a cleaner, greener place.

Register for the course here: https://bit.ly/3l6kDKC

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