A Roadmap for Excellence in Engineering Education and Research

Faculty of Engineering, CUI, Islamabad.

Discussion Points for upcoming BoS meetings of Engineering Departments:
 A new round of BoS meetings for various engineering departments is starting this month and it is important that
critical issues are identified and included in the agenda of the BoS.
The emphasis is on the development of frameworks/mechanisms/SoPs to streamline and structure the
processes and procedures so that various activities and tasks within the departments can carried out in an
efficient and optimal manner. This formalization/structuring would involve identifying the task/activities
primarily related to but not limited to student learning, enrichment of student experience, research productivity,
faculty/staff performance and efficient resource management.
This involves streamlining departmental organization, systems, processes and procedures to efficiently and
optimally accomplish various tasks. In this regard, I would like to request you to kindly consider the following
aspects for discussion, debate and then devising an action plan for improvement on the various issues.
The key aspects include but not limited to the following are:
 Improving Student Learning and Teaching Quality Assurance Mechanisms (Plans, Implementation,
Monitoring, Evaluation and Actions)
 Enhancing Overall/Comprehensive Student Experience (development of profile of student
comprehensive development during his/her years of study at CUI)
 Strategic Plan of the Department – with emphasis on preferred areas for future programs and
identification of faculty requirements in these areas. 
 Boosting Research Activities and Output
 Cultivating Innovation and Entrepreneurship
 Promoting Collaborations, Partnerships and Community Engagement (Enhance Collaboration
opportunities with international universities)
 Streamlining Departmental Organization, Structure and Operations
 Maintaining a Consistent and Current Departmental Information Repository and Web Portal
 Showcasing Departmental Profile, Achievements, Activities and Success Stories
 Performance Assessment Parameters/Metrics (KPIs) for Both Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff
  Admissions Fall2022 status and suggestions for improving the situation
Some of the above aspects are further elaborated below:
Development of Frameworks, Policies, Plans, Strategies, and SoPs on Various Aspects of Academics, Student
Learning, Research, and Departmental Organization including but not limited to the following: 
 Comprehensive teaching/academic quality assurance mechanisms for UG and Graduate teaching,
research and innovation, Student performance and development – Policy,
Objectives, Actions, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation. 
 Improving and enriching student experience – development of plan for student comprehensive
development during his/her years of study at CUI  
 Introduction of more hands-on experience – may initiate Y1P (Year-1 Project), Y2P (Year-2
Project) and Y3P (Year-3 Project) or any other similar activity 
 Project/problem-oriented learning relating course contents to real life problems/scenarios 

Shahzad A. Malik A Roadmap for Excellence in Engineering Education and Research (July 2022) 1
  A plan of activities for each batch encompassing curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular
aspects including emphasis on entrepreneurship, student communication skills development,
familiarity to environment and sustainability issues, social and societal awareness 
 Departmental curriculum review and development processes  
 Departmental plans for organizing events, activities and other outreach initiatives for developing active
partnerships with academia, industry, government and private organizations (NGOs, NPO, etc.) and local
communities  
 Departmental Portfolio – document providing complete information about the department in all
respects (as was discussed and communicated previously) 
 Departmental Data Repository and Portal
 Strategic Plan of the Department – with emphasis on preferred areas for future programs and
identification of faculty requirements in these areas.   
 Collaboration opportunities with international universities - departmental overview and brief detail of
opportunities/possibilities for collaboration.
 Departmental research, innovation, funding/grants/projects and collaborative work   
 Establishment and Strengthening of Research Clusters
 Exploring the possibility of starting a CUI Engineering Journals
 Admissions Fall-2022 status, total number of registered students and graduates and suggestions for
improving the situation.   
 Evolve an efficient mechanism to share experiences and progress made on various aspects among the
departments  
 Departmental Organization, Structure and Operations (SoPs for Day-to-Day Working): 

 Present information about academic programs, research groups, leading researchers, publications,
patents, research grants and funding (secured or submitted), Undergraduate projects, collaboration with
industry, academia, and other organizations (local, national, international), event organization
(conferences, seminars, workshops, competitions, etc.) and other related information 
 List all functions and tasks with details how these are accomplished; as such work is mostly done
through committees/individuals, thus details of these committees and their working need to be included
(who is responsible, what information and actions are performed, in what form the outcome of effort is
compiled and to whom it is reported, any other relevant details) –  
 Details of the framework for quality teaching and assessments
 Maintenance of departmental data repository with quick access to critical information
 Maintenance and updating of departmental web pages (there is need for comprehensive revamp of web
pages with updated information about all the departmental activities and achievements)
 Student services and mechanisms for better student experience; internships, entrepreneurship,
undergrad research, technical and social skills training, summer activities, co-curricular and extra-
curricular activities 
 Professional development activities for faculty and staff, mobility and exchange opportunities for
faculty, students and staff, student visits to industry and relevant enterprises
 Details of any other relevant aspect, task, or function

Strategic Plan of Future Growth and Sustainability of the Department: 

The strategic plan encompasses vision, mission, goals with specific actions and interventions needed to achieve
the goals set out in this plan.

Shahzad A. Malik A Roadmap for Excellence in Engineering Education and Research (July 2022) 2
In this respect, there is a need for strategic plans for the Faculty of Engineering as well as for all engineering
departments. The plan should include the following major aspects:
1. Academic Plan: Academic Programs (UG and Graduate), Student Experience, Inter-disciplinary Programs,
Quality Assurance, Faculty and Staff, …
2. Research Plan: Publications, Patents, Funding and Grants, Research Intensive Education, Research
Partnerships, KPIs for Research Excellence, …
3. Networking, Collaboration and Outreach Plan: Collaborative Academic Programs and Research, Publication of
Journals, Organization of Conferences, Workshops, Seminars, Mobility and Exchange Programs (Faculty,
Students, Staff), ..
4. Resources: Infrastructure, Labs and Facilities Plan
5. Financial Plan (Departmental, Institutional): Finances required to sustain current academic programs and
research as well to meet the future needs
6. Governance and Management Plan (Departmental, Institutional)
- Structure and Organization (both departmental and institutional)
- Decision Making and Communication
- Services, Coordination and Facilitation
- Social Engagement and Community Service
- Commitment to Transparency, Accountability and Efficiency
- Equity, Fairness and Provision of Equal Opportunities
Each department needs to develop a plan for at least five years (could be for fifteen years as well, with 5-year
implantation windows).
Decreasing Intake Issue: A standing committee may be constituted to look into the decreasing intake
in Electrical and Computer Engineering and suggest measures to improve the enrolment and attract better
students. The committee will be convened by Chairperson ECE with all HoDs as members (other senior faculty
members may be co-opted). The committee will develop recommendations and initiate appropriate actions
accordingly. 
Departmental Data Repository and Portal:
There is need to explore and coordinate efforts to develop a uniform data repository for engineering
departments and mechanisms for efficient information gathering, storage and dissemination at various levels
such as HoDs, Chairpersons and Dean. All colleagues are requested to explore for expertise at their
departments/campuses in this respect and support each other.
Organization of CUI Engineering Congress or Discipline Oriented Conferences:
The departments need to will explore the possibility to organize a single event or multiple discipline wise events.
The HoDs and Chairpersons are requested to initiate efforts to have at least one national level event every year
involving talks, paper presentations, project and poster exhibitions and other student activities.
Exploring the possibility of starting a CUI Engineering Journal:

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Organizing and coordinating the efforts to initiate CUI Engineering journals with support from all chairpersons
and heads of departments.
Departmental Research, Innovation, Funding Projects Coordination:
It is immensely critical to setup teams or focus group to support and encourage faculty member for enhanced
efforts towards seeking funding and grants both local and international. Further, the committee will initiate
measures for improving the quality of FYPs and research theses with particular emphasis on R&D projects and
ideas most relevant to national/local needs. The departments should develop and enhance facilities for
development and prototyping.
Establishment and Strengthening of Research Clusters among the Engineering Departments at CUI:
Research is an extremely critical component of our academic life and principal factor in our growth as a faculty
member in the university. Today, the research embodies a diverse set of activities which require a high level of
collaboration among the researchers not only within academia but also with industry, public and private
organizations, and society at large. In order to foster a dynamic and vibrant research environment, a framework
of active collaboration in the form of setting up of “Research Clusters” is being looked into. As a first step, “intra-
CUI Research Clusters” will be formed which ultimately will expand to include national/international partners
from academia, industry, and public/private organization. This involves grouping faculty members in engineering
departments at various campuses who are working on similar research areas/topics and bringing then in contact
with each other (through online meetings, workshops, joint research work including student supervision,
publications, grant applications, etc.). This would involve identifying faculty members and research groups
working on similar research areas/topics along with their achievements as a group and sharing a a summary of
these groups including a brief profile of each group and profiles of the members with other departments. A web
portal at Chairperson/Dean office level may be set up to provide a single unified platform for inter-departmental
collaboration and initiation of research clusters.

All chairpersons are requested to work with respective HoDs to initiate work on the various aspects and develop
a mechanism for follow up and progress monitoring. The strategic plan needs to be prioritized with emphasis on
enhancing research excellence that has societal impact, generation of research funds, enhancement of student
enrolment and improving the quality of graduates. 
Kindly feel free to add anything I might have missed. 
Please do not hesitate to contact me in case you have any queries, comments, or suggestions. 
Thank you. 
With kind regards,  
Shahzad A. Malik, Ph.D.   
Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering   
Dean, Faculty of Engineering   
COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI)  
Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan. 

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