The Centre for Urban Informatics, Technology and Policy (CITY) at LUMS is an interdisciplinary research center exploring the intersection of technology, infrastructure, and inclusive urban development. Run by a team of dedicated faculty and researchers, CITY works to generate data-driven insights and innovative policy thinking to help shape equitable cities.

Over the years, CITY has worked across diverse domains examining the dynamics of urban development and growth, such as how regulatory regimes shape the evolution of land and housing; probing issues of urban mobility, including commuter patterns, access disparities, and the lived experience of movement; and delving into the urban environment and public health, where questions of sanitation, climate vulnerability, and infrastructural resilience intersect. Details about CITY research projects can be seen here. 

Now, CITY presents The CITY Atlas!

A beautifully designed visual chronicle of its past three years of research, fieldwork, and community engagement. The Atlas brings together project highlights, data narratives, and reflections that chart CITY’s efforts to make cities more inclusive, informed, and humane.

Step into CITY’s world and explore the Atlas Here. 

In June 2025, three teams of undergraduate students from the Department of Electrical Engineering represented LUMS at the National Engineering Robotics Contest (NERC), held at NUST’s EME college Campus in Islamabad. A joint initiative of NUST and STEM Careers Program by HEC, NERC promotes innovation in robotics and provides a national platform for testing intelligent electromechanical designs.

All three LUMS teams competed in the Indigenous category, where the challenge was to build autonomous robots capable of localizing, identifying, and sorting fruit boxes by color, placing them precisely at designated points on a defined grid.
 

The journey began three months earlier, with the formation of teams made up entirely of first year students. Over the following weeks, they worked through circuit designs, coding challenges, and mechanical adjustments, ultimately building three competition-ready robots and one backup unit. Their commitment, adaptability, and attention to detail carried them through to competition day.

Their efforts paid off! And the team 1 advanced to the final round and secured the Runner-Up Award, receiving a cash prize of PKR 180,000. The award was presented by Lt. Gen. Inayat Hussain (Hilal-e-Imtiaz Military), Chief of Logistic Staff, who served as chief guest. For all teams, especially those new to robotics, the performance was a clear testament to their potential.

This year’s participation builds on the foundation laid in 2023, when an open call invited students from across LUMS to explore robotics; many for the very first time. Read the story here. Since then, continued mentorship and access to hands-on learning opportunities have helped strengthen a growing culture of engineering-led problem solving at the undergraduate level.
 

LUMS’ participation this year was made possible through the consistent guidance and support of Dr. Jahangir Ikram, who mentored the teams through every stage, from recruitment to prototyping. Mr. Mudassar Ejaz, Senior Development Engineer at EE Department, also supported the process by contributing to technical development and managing the logistics of the project. The effort was further enabled by the financial support of Dr. Momin Uppal, Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering.

To mark the achievement, a small celebration was held at the Executive Dining Hall (EDH) at LUMS, attended by the students, their families, Dr. Momin Uppal, and Dr. Walther Schwarzacher, Dean of the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE).

Zawar Hussain, a PhD candidate at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), has been awarded the Best Student Paper Award at the IEEE 7th Global Power, Energy and Communication Conference (GPECOM 2025), held in Bochum, Germany from June 11–13, 2025.

Zawar presented his research on “Joint RIS Leasing and Energy Management for Delay-Tolerant 6G Networks”, which is now published in the IEEE Xplore digital library. The paper explores innovative approaches to energy-efficient wireless communication in the context of next-generation 6G networks.
Read the paper on IEEE Xplore.
 

Reflecting on the experience, Zawar shared that presenting to an international audience and engaging with experts in the field of wireless communications was both enriching and inspiring. “The discussions offered new perspectives that will further shape my future work,” he noted.

He expressed his sincere appreciation to LUMS, particularly the Dean SBASSE, Dr. Walther Schwarzacher and Dr. Momin Uppal, the Chair of the Electrical Engineering Department, for supporting his participation, and extended heartfelt thanks to his supervisor, Dr. Naveed Ul Hassan, and co-supervisor, Dr. Ijaz Haider Naqvi, for their mentorship throughout the project.

We’re proud of Zawar and look forward to seeing where this journey takes him next.
 

At LUMS, the skies were not the limit but the starting point. On 13–14 September 2025, the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), in collaboration with SUPARCO, SPADES, the Department of Electrical Engineering, RESOLVE-SUPARCO, and the Space Research Center (SRC-UCP), hosted SPACE CAMP 2025, a first-of-its-kind training camp in Pakistan that placed the science of satellites directly into the hands of students. Sixty carefully selected participants arrived with curiosity and left with the experience of building and launching model satellites, decoding flight data, and working alongside the country’s leading space scientists.

The camp offered a rare opportunity to follow the full lifecycle of a satellite, from design and assembly to launch and data analysis. With CANSAT and EYASSAT training kits, ground station setups, and flight model assemblies, students engaged in the intricate processes that underpin modern space missions.

"This is the kind of exposure we wished we had as students,” remarked a SUPARCO trainer, capturing the transformative nature of the experience.

Guiding the participants were mentors who bridged theory and practice. From SUPARCO, experts including Dr. Muhammad Waseem, Mr. Ahsan Rafiq, Dr. Amad Ul Hassen, and Ms. Zahra Shuja Kazmi shared their expertise, while academic partners such as Dr. Kamran Saleem and Dr. Shakeel ur Rehman ensured the exercises were firmly rooted in scientific principles. Their combined mentorship not only strengthened technical skills but also encouraged students to imagine futures in aerospace, robotics, and satellite systems.

The closing ceremony carried both celebration and symbolism. The Director General of SUPARCO, Dr. Irfan Aslam, attended the event and presented souvenirs to LUMS leadership and faculty, including a historic image of the university captured by Pakistan’s first satellite. 

Certificates were also awarded to participants, recognising their successful completion of the programme and welcoming them into a growing community of young space enthusiasts.

The impact of SPACE CAMP 2025 extends well beyond its two days. For many, it was their first encounter with satellite hardware; for others, it was a moment of affirmation that their aspirations in space technology are both valid and achievable.

For LUMS, the camp reaffirmed its role as a national leader in science and innovation. By working with SUPARCO and its partners, SBASSE is equipping students with frontier skills while shaping Pakistan’s future in space exploration. And as the final prototype descended under its parachute during the camp’s closing simulation, it carried with it more than just data, it carried the aspirations of a new generation determined to reach beyond the horizon.