LAHORE: Information Technology University (ITU) held its first convocation at its Burki Road campus on Sunday. Degrees were awarded to 139 graduates in bachelors and masters programmes in electrical engineering and computer science. Those awarded masters in computer science degree were from the following batches: 2012-2014, 2013-15, 2014-16, and 2015-17. Bachelors of electrical engineering and computer science graduates given degrees on Sunday were from the batch of 2013-17. Gold medals were presented to Amna Batool (MSCS), Hafiz Ahmed Awais (MSCS), Anam Akram (MSCS), Usama Bin Shakeel (MSCS), Hafiz Hashim Imtiaz (BSEE) and Ammar Ahmed (BSCS). On the occasion, the ground braking of the university’s new campus building also took place. Punjab Governor Rafiq Rajwana was the chief guest. Addressing the students, Rajwana said that in the prevailing conditions there was a dire need to promote positivity. “We must all do our best to curtail negativity and create islands of hopes in this sea of disappointment.” He said efforts were required to provide social justice to the under privileged citizens. “Let us all work to promote social responsibility in ourselves and others we know. We have to work together to keep the national flag high, and to strive hard for the country,” he said, “The future of the nation is in the hands of our youth. All political parties are committed to the cause of the country’s development. All political leaders are patriots as we are all proud of our Pakistani identity.” ITU Vice Chancellor Dr Umar Saif congratulated the graduates and said that the university took a lot of pride in sending its first batch of graduates to the market. He said the ITU’s main objective was to promote a culture of research and entrepreneurship among our students. “We will strive to advance innovation and research in the areas of science, technology and engineering,” he said. Presenting the university’s report, he said that ITU faculty members had so far won Rs.700 million in competitive research grants, published 465 papers in top journals and conferences and made technology that solved local problems in Pakistan. He added that ITU had become one of the first universities in the world to enter into a formal partnership with EdX (MIT and Harvard University online course platforms) to introduce online learning in two masters programmes (Development Studies and Data Sciences). With a special focus on entrepreneurship, ITU and PITB had jointly established a startup incubator, ‘Plan9’, that has graduated over 160 startups and have bootstrapped a culture of tech startups in Pakistan, he stated. Prof Adil Najam from Boston University received ITU’s first honourary doctorate degree for his contributions in science, climate change and sustainable development. Prof. Nergis Mavalvala from MIT received the first international technology award titled, ‘Lahore Technology Award’. The award has been institutionalised by the ITU Syndicate on her role in the team that discovered gravitational waves. Minister for Higher Education Syed Ali Gillani, and PHEC Chairman Nizamuddin were also present on the occasion. Published in Daily Times, December 18th 2017.