KARACHI - Sindh Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Tariq Rafi alongwith Vice Chancellor (VC) of Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) Dr Mujeeb Sahrai inaugurated the Artificial Intelligence Computing Lab (AI Lab) at SMIU’s IT Tower on Monday. The lab was set up with the grant provided by Sindh HEC under its Laboratory Strengthening Programme. The lab will provide hands-on experience to SMIU’s students in their final year as well as in postgraduate programmes with the help of the latest AI technologies. Chairman Sindh HEC Dr Tariq Rafi in his speech said it was the core responsibility of Sindh HEC to provide the latest facilities of information technology to universities of Sindh province.
“No doubt, Sindh Madressatul Islam University has special status for all of us due to its affiliation with the founder of Pakistan-Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, this is why we are preferring SMIU to contribute to its development,” Dr Tariq Rafi said and added that the Sindh HEC will provide further support to SMIU for expansion of its AI lab. Besides, training to its heads of different departments and deans will be provided as they could learn about financial and administrative matters.” Highlighting the role of the Sindh government, especially of its Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah for the improvement of higher education in the province, the Sindh HEC chairman said the CM of Sindh is fully aware of the matters of all higher educational institutions of the province, that is why he supports Sindh HEC to foster performance and progress of higher education in Sindh.
Praising the role of Dr Mujeeb Sahrai for the development of SMIU, Dr Tariq Rafi said he has great respect for Dr Sahrai because his services for the betterment of higher education are commendable.
Dr Mujeeb Sahrai said this is the age of AI; therefore, it was a need of the hour to develop such labs for academic and research work. We have to prepare our young generations according to the demands and challenges of the present day most competitive era, he added. He said artificial intelligence has become a very important technology. He said that it is changing the entire world by bringing miracles in all fields of life. “SMIU while understating the need for AI has established a lab for the benefit of SMIU’s students and teachers for their research work,” Dr Sahrai.
He further remarked that Sindh HEC’s chairman Dr Tariq Rafi has always extended his full support to SMIU to strengthen its academic, administrative and research work. He said that after HEC Pakistan, Sindh HEC is doing a marvelous job in the country under the leadership of Dr Tariq Rafi. He also highlighted the role of Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah by saying that he has saved the major universities of Sindh from closure including the University of Karachi, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam and other engineering universities by increasing their budget. Dean Faculty of Information Technology Dr Aftab Ahmed Shaikh and Chairperson Department of Artificial Intelligence Dr Mansoor Ahmed Khuhro also talked about the importance of the AI Lab. The inauguration session was attended by deans, chairpersons of academic departments, faculty, heads of different administrative departments and officers. Syeda Wajiha Naim, Lecturer at Department of Software Engineering of SMIU conducted the proceedings.
