Volume 1, Issue 1
Review of
Page 27
Academic Department Head
Yes it is! Working engineers from other engineering
disciplines are also opting for industrial engineering because nature of their jobs highly demands for industrial engineering knowledge. Our graduates are successfully serving both in national and multinational organizations.
How do you see the future of IE in Pakistan?
Dr Iftikhar Hussain
Chairman, Industrial Engineering Dept
University of Engineering and Technology
Peshawar, Pakistan
What was the reason and why did you feel the
need to initiate IE program at your university?
Do you think the current situation in your IE department is meeting your expectations and the
demands of Industry?
Industrial Engineering is a discipline which
can contribute a lot towards the optimization and
integration of resources, streamlining of processes,
eliminating waste, meeting targets and improving
quality. With such a powerful combination of various engineering elements coupled with strong management science, it was inevitable to launch an Industrial Engineering (IE) discipline at University of
Engineering and Technology (UET) Peshawar to
produce right people for our manufacturing and service sectors. The UET Peshawar launched the IE
program in September 2006. Our curricula both at
the undergraduate and postgraduate levels are rich
in contents covering manufacturing, optimization,
quality, ergonomics and management.
The future prospects of industrial engineers are
bright not only in Pakistan but also abroad. They are typically found in organizations responsible for managing operations, manufacturing systems, process engineering, automation, supply chain management, quality control, sales,
banking, hospitals, airports etc. Studying industrial engineering is one of the smartest decisions, because it is estimated that demand for these professionals will continue to
rise every year. And these engineers are among the best
paid professionals.
Although Pakistan is a developing country but it
has tremendous potential and opportunities for the industrial activities, which may not be available to many other
countries. Our neighboring countries are on the move forward in the engineering sector, and, if we are to catch
them, we have to invest, improve and put in right place
many things. It is the engineering sector which is considered as a driving force for the economic growth of a country
Include a message for future IE’s in Pakistan
Most of our industries use conventional technologies and conventional techniques to manage them with
minimum R & D activities. The result is low productivity,
low quality, more waste, and comparatively high unit price.
With such a performance and output, it is very difficult to
compete even with the neighboring countries. At the national level, it is the question of survival of our local industries which are facing competition from China, India, Bangladesh and other countries from Far East. Customers are
free lancers. They buy products which are affordable and
better in quality, whether these products are made in Pakistan or by any other country. We need to streamline and
improve the performance of our industries and at the same
time need go for the emerging technologies to compete at
the international level to widen the scope and contribute
more effectively towards the economy