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Pakistan Institute of Engineering Applied Sciences Islamabad

The story of the development of PIEAS is one of organic growth. Over the years, it has undergone several metamorphoses, each of which has radically changed many of its outward physical characteristics, while maintaining a basic continuity in its academic traditions and fundamental objectives. It is an old institution with a new name. The seeds for this institution were sown more than 40 years ago in 1967.

By 1969, this training programme had been imparted sufficient depth and breadth for Quaid-i-Azam University (then called the University of Islamabad), to accept it for the award of a Masters’ degree in nuclear technology, with Reactor School being formally affiliated to the University through its Physics Department. To broaden participation and encourage greater competitiveness in this programme, a Fellowship programme was instituted in 1972, under which engineering graduates and M.Sc. degree holders in the physical sciences were invited to compete directly for the award of attractive fellowships for the duration of the course. This pattern of selection for the fellowships purely on merit through an intensely competitive process involving written and oral examinations conduced on a national basis, has been successfully followed every year over the past three decades.

With its expanding activities, additional space became of paramount importance and therefore a separate building was constructed, and CNS shifted to it in 1978. In its continuing evolution, almost a decade later, its affiliatory relationship with Quaid-i-Azam University underwent a major change and CNS was granted much greater academic autonomy. The expansion of training facilities at CNS was to be an important component of this general objective. To accommodate the new laboratories, lecture-halls and other facilities which were mandated by this expansion programme, several new blocks of buildings had to be constructed and laboratory equipment acquired. This process is still continuing. The enhancement in its infra-structure that created the capability for offering programmes in many different fields meant that the institution had outgrown its old name and a new one was needed. Therefore, its name was changed to “Pakistan Institute of Engineering & Applied Sciences” (PIEAS), in 1997.

It has always been a stimulating challenge for the faculty to begin with a group of people with diverse backgrounds and travel with them towards the unified goal of understanding the complex systems and processes involved in nuclear technology. In all modern industrial undertaking, computers, instrumentation and control systems play a central role. With the breathtaking rate of development in these fields, their importance is increasing rapidly. To train manpower requirements in this vital area, the M.Sc. (Systems Engineering) programme was initiated here in 1988.

The commencement of the M.Sc. (Nuclear Medicine) programme in 1989 has been a major departure for the institution from its original base of engineering and physical sciences. It has now matured as a nationally and internationally recognized programme, having been approved by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) as a post-graduate qualification equivalent to an ‘Intermediate Diploma’, while the Quaid-i-Azam University recognizes it as being equivalent to an M.Phil. degree for the purpose of registration in the subsequent Ph.D. programme which has also been initiated here. Because of the very close association of several of the leading international experts in the field with its design and implementation, it has had a high degree of visibility and acceptance in the international academic domain. This has been further reinforced in recent years by the work of some of our graduates who are now engaged in Ph.D. studies in several institutions around the world. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recognizing the high academic standards of this programme has included it amongst those that it actively sponsors in the form of Fellowships for attending it. In the formulation and implementation of our academic programme, we have been guided primarily by two basic objectives.

PIEAS now has nearly 30 laboratories in different areas for conducting students’ experiments as well as for R&D work. Besides the regular academic programmes, PIEAS has conducted a large number of courses on various specialised topics. The length of these courses has varied from 2 to 18 months and the areas covered have included reactor supervision and operation, health physics, medical physics, laser technology, vacuum technology, computer applications and advanced reactor safety. PIEAS is engaged in manpower development programmes at many levels and in many directions, but the major thrust of our efforts is directed towards postgraduate academic work. At this level, research and development activities become an integral part of the educational process. PIEAS tries to ensure that all of our Masters’ graduates get some experience of independent work on an R & D project relevant to their background and interest.

To facilitate collaboration amongst faculty members on R & D work, a number of technical groups have been formed within PIEAS which cover almost the whole spectrum of disciplines involved in nuclear energy applications. Faculty members are also encouraged to undertake collaborative work with other PAEC establishments, as well as with other universities and R & D organisations. A number of such efforts are underway and fruitful results have been obtained from many of them. PIEAS faculty members have published more than 400 papers in international journals. A large part of the R&D work has also been reported in the hundreds of Masters’ dissertations and technical reports that are regularly prepared. The Ph.D. programme has been instituted relatively recently here, but is now receiving much more attention as the avenues for education at the highest level in technical fields are being increasingly blocked by the industrialised countries. Currently there are more than 12 doctoral candidates registered in the Ph.D. programmes in Nuclear Engineering, Systems Engineering, Nuclear Medicine and Computer Science. In the future, we expect to see a substantial increase in this number.

At PIEAS, traditionally, the focus has been on education, training and academic R&D. But, recently efforts have also been made to apply the expertise available here to industrial R&D. In this context, several products of industrial use, like PC-controlled drill machine, PC-controlled milling machine, and robotic manipulators have been developed. Specialized systems for educational purposes such as PC-controlled multi-variable tank have also been supplied to various institutions. 
 

Physical Infrastructure The campus of the institute is spread over an area of about 150 acres. It is a residential campus and all students stay in the hostels at the institute. It comprises of nine academic blocks, four workshops, plants for production of liquid nitrogen and oxygen, twenty seven laboratories, lecture halls, conference rooms, a 400-seat auditorium, four hostel blocks, cafeteria, indoor and outdoor sports facilities, a rest-house, and houses for the faculty and staff of the institute.

Faculty The institute has a strong faculty of highly qualified scientists, engineers in the diverse fields of physical sciences, engineering and medicine. The total strength of the full-time faculty at present is 90, representing a wide variety of academic disciplines. The nature of work here is so inter-disciplinary that it becomes rather difficult to categorize the individuals according to conventional academic disciplines. However, if the basic degree is used as the criterion for categorization, about half of them are from the physical sciences; Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and Computer Science. The other half have basic engineering degrees in Electronics, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical Engineering and Metallurgy. The faculty also includes medical doctors and biologists. More than half of the faculty members have Ph.D. degrees from the renowned universities of USA, UK, Germany, France and Japan. About half a dozen are currently working for Ph.D. degree either at the institute or abroad. The minimum qualification for a faculty position at the institute is an M.Sc. in engineering, an M. Phil. degree in physical sciences or an equivalent post-graduate degree. The young faculty members are expected to undertake Ph.D. studies in a phased programme.

Academic & Technical Facilities The most important component of the academic facilities at the institute is the computational and experimental laboratories of the institute. The laboratories facilitate the basic training of the students in computational and experimental skills. The research and development work of the students and the faculty is also supported by the laboratory facilities. The current major areas of academic and technical activities at the institute are; Computer and Control Systems, Applied Electronics, Applied Mathematics & Numerical Analysis, Analytical Chemistry, Nuclear Engineering, Materials Science & Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Radiation Physics, Optics & Laser Physics, and Nuclear Medicine. Some of the major technical facilities at the institute are:

Gamma Camera It is used for diagnosis of a number of disorders in human beings. It is the only modality, which images the function of an organ or a system of the body. A radio-pharmaceutical is injected into the patient who is, then, imaged by gamma camera. A nuclear physician analyzes anatomical and functional parameters of the image and the information is passed on to the physician or surgeon. The gamma camera unit at the Institute is capable of performing almost all the procedures of nuclear medicine, including SPECT.

Atomic absorption system is currently the most widely used technique for trace elemental analysis. Examples of its use include lead in blood, aluminium in water, mercury in fish, etc. The system at our institute is automated with an IBM computer providing instrument control, data processing and control of optional accessories like graphite tube atomizer. The monochromator has a wavelength range of 190-900 nano-meter. At present this facility can be used to measure about 60 elements with detection limits ranging from parts-per-million to parts-per-billion levels.

Research Reactor The institute has a 27 kW under-moderated tank-in-pool type Nuclear Reactor for training and research. It uses highly enriched uranium as fuel, light water as moderator and coolant, and metallic beryllium as reflector. The reactor is controlled by one centrally located cadmium control rod. It is used for neutron activation analysis, radioisotope production and training of manpower.

PWR Simulator The pressurized water reactor power plant simulator was developed indigenously. It is used to provide the students and trainees hands-on experience of reactor operation. It is also used for study and analysis of transients encountered in the actual power plant operation.

Computer Centre The institute has round the clock computing facilities for its students and faculty members. Most of the campus is connected through the local area network. Computer users can access high speed computing machines, internet and e-mail all the time and can even store about 128 MB data on different servers. Laser printing is available throughout the campus and is controlled by the servers

Central Library It has a holding of more than 15000 books and it also subscribes to both technical and academic journals. In addition to this, access is available to one of the best libraries in Pakistan.

Departments and Programme

	Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering
	Department of Electrical Engineering
	Department of Mechanical Engineering
	Department of Nuclear Engineering
	Department of Computer and Information Sciences
	Department of Communication and Management Sciences
	Department of Medical Sciences
	Department of Physics and Applied Sciences

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