I started working in IEEE-NUCES as a volunteer in the Web Site Documentation team, led by Aqeel Saifi and Sana Gul in 2001. At that time, IEEE-NUCES was in disarray; it was not registered as a Student Branch with IEEE, it had no by-laws, it was not even recognized by IEEE Lahore Section. No one in the campus knew, what it was, why it was, what it wants to do and most importantly how it will do. Earlier, IEEE-NUCES had arranged a conference named FISC (FAST IEEE Student Conference) in 1998 in which Agha Adeel played a vital role but after the conference the society pretty much vanished.

Another set-back happened to IEEE-NUCES in 2001, then Chairman Mr. Ali Hasham left the university and shifted abroad. Mr. Aqeel Saifi then was nominated as the new Chairman. I should mention another name of Mr. Yasir Qureshi (Batch 99-1) who was the Chairman of IEEE-NUCES before Mr. Ali Hasham. By the time, Aqeel took over as the IEEE-NUCES branch; the branch was effectively inexistent.

Mr. Aqeel Saifi made an entirely new team which was relatively junior but they had the zeal to take IEEE-NUCES further and establish it not only as a Student Branch but also as a reputable society of the campus. The By-Laws of the society were drafted and submitted to IEEE Lahore Section and IEEE head office for reviewing. The process took around 2 months and the By-Laws were approved after certain amendments by the IEEE Lahore Section and IEEE Head Office. As per the By-Laws, a new executive committee was made which comprised of Chairman, Vice Chairman, General Secretary and Treasurer. IEEE-NUCES opened its bank account and then all the legal formalities were completed and IEEE-NUCES was a Student Branch registered with IEEE.

The Student Branch IEEE-NUCES started arranging formal events from its platform. Seminars on Emerging Market Trends in IT Industry and Entrepreneurship were organized which were pretty well appreciated and IEEE-NUCES started to establish itself among many different societies of FAST and other IEEE Student Branches in Pakistan.

In the second-half of 2002, IEEE-WEEK was organized at Lahore level which was a big success. The IEEE-NUCES was established and recognized all across after the IEEE-WEEK 2002. The IEEE-WEEK was brainchild of Mr. Aqeel Saifi which later on became an annual tradition of IEEE-NUCES.

Along the way, IEEE-NUCES arranged numerous short-courses for the students of NUCES. IEEE members were given major rebates in the course fees and the courses were even attended by NUCES Peshawar Campus students.

In 2003, IEEE-NUCES organized its first All-Pakistan event. IEEE-WEEK 2003 became a national event and was attended by various universities spread across multiple geographical locations in Pakistan.

In 2004, IEEE-NUCES organized INMIC which was an immense success. The event attracted a very high number of participants and the qualities of papers presented in the conference were appreciated by all the participants.

It would be very rude of me, if I don’t mention the names of the individuals who have contributed a great deal in establishing IEEE-NUCES. Some important persons are:

1. Agha Adeel (Batch 1998)

2. Aqeel Saifi (Batch 99-2) Chairman, IEEE-NUCES 2002

3. Waqas Zafar (Batch 2000) Vice Chairman, IEEE-NUCES 2002

4. Ahmad Nawaz (Batch 2000) Chairman, IEEE-NUCES 2003

5. Nauman Saeed (Batch 2001) Chairman, IEEE-NUCES 2004

Few volunteers who contributed a great deal were:

• Asim Ijaz, Sana Gul, Waqas Khan (Batch 99-2)

• Jareer Ahsan, Bushra Naseem (Batch 2000)

• Zunaira Malik, Sheraz Arshad (Batch 2001)

• Ehsan Saqib, Aizah Ashraf, Fawad Ahmad (Batch 2002)

All these persons have enjoyed different offices in IEEE-NUCES during different times.

Few other persons who should also get an appreciation are:

1. Dr. Amjad Hussain, NUCES-FAST IEEE-NUCES Branch Counselor and Faculty Advisor

2. Dr. Arshad Hussain, NUCES-FAST IEEE-NUCES Faculty Advisor

3. Dr. Fakhar Lodhi IEEE-NUCES Faculty Advisor

4. Mr. Nadeem Akhtar, LUMS