KARACHI: The 28th Convocation of the Pakistan Navy Engineering College (PNEC) was held today at Bahria Auditorium. Minister for Science and Technology Rana Tanveer Hussain was the Chief Guest at the occasion. On arrival, the Chief Guest was received by Rector NUST Lt General (Retd) Naweed Zaman and Commander Karachi Rear Admiral Farrokh Ahmad. 361 graduates were awarded degrees at the convocation out of which 80 received Masters Degrees. To acknowledge the outstanding academic performance of students in their respective disciplines, 39 medals were also awarded to the position holders which included 20 President gold medals, six Chief of the Naval Staff Gold Medals, 7 Chancellors’ Silver Medals and 6 Rector gold medals. While addressing the ceremony, Rana Tanveer Hussain congratulated the graduating students for having successfully completed their professional studies. He appreciated the role of PNEC in continuously producing quality engineers for the country as well as navies of 14 other brotherly countries. He said that the efforts of naval educational institutes in grooming their students academically, professionally, morally, intellectually and physically are laudable. He also commended the role of NUST in promoting engineering education and said that it is successfully achieving its mission of becoming a research-led university with a focus on technology, innovation and community service. He added that the government was also focusing on the development of technology and promotion of research culture in the country. Earlier in his welcome address, Rear Admiral Dr. Nassar Ikram, Commandant PNEC apprised the audience that 33 PNEC graduates have been selected for employment and have already been sent to China for professional development and training. He pointed out proudly that QS World University Rankings has placed NUST in top 100 world universities. NUST has been ranked number one university in HEC standing of 2015 and is also among the top 20 universities in Asia according to the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) ranking. A large number of parents of graduating students and naval officers attended the ceremony.