Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Pakistani woman to go into space

ISLAMABAD: Namira Salim, a Paris-based Pakistani artist who has made her mark on the international scene as a talented and internationally accomplished artist with a strong commitment to the arts and humanity, has been selected as an astronaut to go into space in the Virgin Galactic Space Ship in 2008.

Namira will also be publishing her first book of English poetry this year, which is inspired by Urdu Ghazal. In all, her passion for humanity, art and music will come together in the form of music videos, which will light the stars with her songs.

Gifted with diverse creativity, Namira has long played the role of a goodwill and peace ambassador; her art has been exhibited during top humanitarian summits at the United Nations, Unesco and during the historic Saarc Summit in Pakistan two years ago.

Speaking at a ceremony organised here by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for Namira Salim — the first prospective Pakistani astronaut — here on Thursday, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Tariq Azeem said that Pakistani women have potential to make waves in all spheres of life and Namira Salim is one of them who will set a new direction by venturing into space. He said the concept of enlightened moderation given by the president and the idea to make Pakistan an energy corridor of the region as spelled out by the prime minister are the hard facts, which “we need to comprehend.”

The minister said the world would witness Pakistani women could stand by their male peers in all fields. He said the space venture of first Pakistani woman would set a new direction for other Pakistani women and encourage them utilize all their talent to the fullest. He said Pakistanis were contributing in various constructive fields and have earned good name at home as well as abroad.

Tariq Azeem said in May this year the government introduced Adam Khan, a formula-one driver who represents Pakistan in international car racing events, and now “we have a daughter of our country who will take our flag into the space.”

The minister said the government is committed to bringing about a change in every field of national activity to improve the living standard of people, especially women. The government, he said, would continue highlighting achievements of the talented Pakistanis like Adam Khan and Namira and show the world “the potential our people possess.”

On the occasion, Additional Secretary Information Ehsan Yousaf said introducing Namira Salim to the media that it is part of a segment within the Pakistan Image Project known as ‘Faces of Pakistan.’ He said under this segment “we introduce Pakistanis who are and would be contributing in various constructive fields, thus presenting an enlightened image of Pakistan.”

“Now we are introducing a lady who would carry the national flag into space. We are proud of our younger generation and proud to present Namira Salim as the first Pakistani to go into space and carry the Pakistani flag,” he added. Addressing the ceremony, Namira Salim said she would be on the Virgin Galactic Space Ship that would commence its commercial operations in 2008 with 100 people.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Saturday, August 12, 2006

NWFP: Health Minister Launches Preventive Campaign

PeSHAWAR—The NWFP Minister for Health Inayatullah while underlining the need of shifting focus from curative to preventive side to control disease effectively has ordered launching campaign for creating awareness among masses through easy and simple methods.

He was addressing as chief guest at an awareness seminar arranged by Provincial AIDS Control Program at Bagh-e-Naran Hayatabad the other day. The seminar was attended by local people, elected representatives and social workers. Provincial Manager AIDS Control Program, Dr. Mohammad Zafar, Dr. Amir Rehman Jadoon and Nazim Hayatabad Union Council, Mohammad Ishaq also addressed the seminar.

The health Minister said that hepatitis B&C were spreading in the society at alarming rate and had become major public health issues. He informed that Government was taking steps to make people aware of dangerous diseases. He elaborated that training activities to educate media men, religious scholars, elected representatives and health workers about health problems had so far been arranged.

He went on to say that steps were also being taken to create awareness among common people about diseases. The Health Minister asked all segments of the society to play their active role in prevention of diseases. He also directed concerned authorities to inform general public about their responsibility in controlling diseases. The Health Minister ordered high-ups of the Health Department to arrange awareness activities at public places. “Target public sites for sensitization so that more and more people can be educated” he asserted.

The Minister also directed for transferring information about public health issues to the masses in easy way. “Use local terminologies to help people understand effectively”he directed. The Minister cautioned people to be careful about the use of water and blood. “Taking care of these two liquids can minimize 60% to 70% of the diseases”, he remarked.

Speaking on the occasion various experts expressed concern over spread of hepatitis B&C and HIV/AIDS in the society. The experts while underlining the need of creating mass awareness about the dangerous diseases advised people to avoid reuse of syringes, contaminated surgical equipments and shaving items. Similarly they stressed the need of the transfusion of only screened blood and abiding by the Islamic principles to ensure sound health.



Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Broad band connectivity and its installation in Sindh

Reported by John Khakur Das

Karachi—Governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan on Friday announced that all government officers will be provided with broad band connectivity and its installation will start from Karachi spreading to the entire province later on.

Addressing a delegation of Pakistan Telecommunication Company led by Chie Executive of Etislat Mohammad Bamakhrama the Governor pointed out that Karachi has plenty of potential for such investment as most of the country’s big investors live here. He asked PTCL to offer an acceptable package for the officers.

Karachi is a city, which has plenty of opportunities for infrastructure improvement and setting up of industries as it is a consumer-based city offering conducive environment in the region.

He emphasised on the need for a good quality and cheap package for the consumers that should include best after sale services. In Karachi all utility companies are stakeholders so there is no room for negligence or inefficiency. He asked all of them to cooperate and work in coordination with city government so that people could reap rich benefits.

The Governor was quite firm in expressing faith in the process of privatisation citing example of Karachi Electric Supply Company, which has received full support of the government even in difficult times. It was his firm belief that such companies, which take over charge of utility services, are well reputed and it was but obvious that they will face initial problems in settling down for the bright future.

Meanwhile presiding over a meeting of the law enforcing departments the Governor made sure that foolproof security arrangements are on board for the Independence Day celebrations.

He also alerted the police to brace themselves for the impending dangers of floods in Sindh and asked them to coordinate with concerned departments to meet any emergency in that respect.

Dr. Ishrat also reviewed progress on street crime control and directed to prepare an action plan to reduce incidents of mobile phones and car snatching.



Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Musharraf reaches for the moon

* President announces Rs 500m grant for IST
* Government planning to produce 1,500 PhDs every year by 2010


ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to put Pakistan on the map of nations exploring space, said President General Pervez Musharraf at the graduation ceremony of the Institute of Space Technology’s (IST) first batch of BSc in aeronautical, aeronautical engineering and communication systems engineering on Friday.

“We must explore space and bring its benefits to the people of Pakistan,” he said at the ceremony attended by federal ministers, services chiefs, senior government officials and the institute’s faculty. He vowed to launch a manned flight to space and even the moon in the coming years. Musharraf said the country’s space programme had been neglected in the past, and adequate funds had not been provided for its development. He said the government was providing funds to all research and strategic organisations to achieve the desired results.

The government had brought Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission under the National Command Authority’s control to bring the commission at par with strategic organisations, he said, adding that the government had realised the potential of space in terms of socio-economic development and security.

Recalling his visit to SUPARCO last year, the president said he was pleased to see the progress made by a team of young engineers and technicians. Giving his vision of Pakistan’s space programme, he asked SUPARCO to develop the country’s capacity to make and launch various types of satellites, especially communication, remote sensing and metrological satellites. “We expect SUPARCO to deliver as PAEC, NESCOM and KRL delivered in the nuclear and missile fields,” he said, asking graduating students to dedicate themselves to the vision’s fulfilment.

Human resources were the key to Pakistan’s success in various fields, including space technology, he said, adding, “We are trying our best to improve the quality of education for people at the grassroots level. This is the future.”

He said the government was targeting to produce 1,500 PhDs every year by 2010 to improve the education faculty.

Musharraf said an improvement in human resources would lead Pakistan to a knowledge-based society and transform its economy. He said it was unfortunate that a developing country like Pakistan was involved in agriculture only, since, “Agriculture is not going to take us to new heights and boost our economy.” Highlighting the importance of science and technology, he said the difference between a developing country and a small but developed country was that the latter possessed knowledge-based economy and modern technology.

Progress in science and technology had helped Pakistan reduce the cost of products, he said while expressing satisfaction over the fact that Pakistan was moving a path of knowledge-based economy.

The president announced a Rs 500 million grant for IST in the first stage and a similar sum in the second stage. agencies

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Global Warming: Skin Cancer on Rise in Pakistan

KARACHI - Dermatologists are concerned on the growing cases of skin cancer in Pakistan, Dr Azam Samdani, head of the Department of Dermatology at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, said Friday.

Dr Samdani said that according to estimates about two percent of patients of skin ailments were suffering from skin cancer. He said the disease was curable at the initial stage. However, he warned that the disease could be fatal if the patient delays treatment. “It could be so painful that patients wish early deaths,” he told The Nation.

Dr Samdani said that due to global warming and dents in the Ozone layers, the ultraviolet rays were hitting humans bodies, causing serious damages to them. He said that all undressed and uncovered parts of the body are vulnerable to the skin damages. The main cause of spreading the disease to dangerous levels is that most of patients go to quakes and apply local ointments, which further damage the skin’s upper portion.

The diseases are more prevalent among those who live mostly out side in the sun. Farmers, construction workers, are more prone to the disease. He viewed that people are not well aware of the risk of skin diseases.

Dr Samdani said that at a given day in the JPMC alone, 250 to 300 patients visit the dermatology department. About two percent patients reported in the centre suffer from different kinds of skin cancer, the number may be much more but statistics are not available. Speaking about the gravity of the disease, the doctor said that as the sunrays are coming to the earth without getting filtered through the Ozone layers, the risk of skin disorders especially cancer has increased manifold particularly among people who stay in direct contact with sun light for long hours.

Most of the people do not know they have some skin problem that requires medical treatment. Apathy and monetary problems both causes dominate the general attitude of the masses. People do not go to the doctor for skin disease because skin diseases do not pose any threat to life.

“At an advanced stage, skin cancer cannot be treated. It is one of prolonging and chronic cancers. Fortunately, some kinds of skin cancer are curable if they are treated at early stages,” Dr Samdani added.

“Skin problems are more considered as beauty problem as compare to a medical disorder therefore instead of consulting with a dermatologists, due to lack of general knowledge, people go to beauticians for suggestions and remedies, he said and pointed out that acne was a common problem among young and middle aged people.

Acne causes disfigure, it may also go down shoulders to chest and back. Such skin diseases like acne and eczema may cause problems of lack of social acceptability. It causes problems like social acceptability or hurdles in marriage and jobs.

Matrimonial relations, stress, PMS and menstrual cycle affect and cause changes in skin. Bad effects in sun, due to environment, pollution, carbon particles, dust, etc. Sun damage awareness is less among the masses, due to less ozone the damages are getting intense.

Skin is the largest organ of human body. The skin contains secretions that can kill bacteria and the pigment melanin provides a chemical pigment defence against ultraviolet light that can damage skin cells. Most of the skin problems are caused by infections and bacteria. Epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous. Infections and bacteria attack the outer layer of skin - epidermis.

Talking about Karachi, Dr Samdani said that overcrowding, poor living and unhygienic conditions contribute to scabies, infections and most of skin diseases. “Skin disease can be inherent, or can be caused by allergies and internal disorders of the body,” he said. Eczema is of various kinds that can be inherent like atopic eczema or it can also be caused by allergies.
Allergies that cause eczema results due to, Nickel in gold causes such allergies among females, in male cement and chemicals direct contact causes skin diseases. Eczema and skin diseases cause by other associate diseases. Solar damage is important. It causes eczema, allergies, reaction, extreme skin and chronic skin cancer.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

2nd South Asian Sanitation Conference on September 20

ISLAMABAD – The Federal Minister for Environment, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has said that Pakistan will host a two-day 2nd South Asian Sanitation Conference on September 20 2006, which will be witnessed by the representatives from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and other countries whereas, more than Rs 210 million have been allocated by the donors agencies in this regard.

He expressed these views while talking to Ronald Van Dijk, Acting Representative, UNICEF and Thowai Zai, Sectional Chief, Water & Environmental Sanitation, UNICEF. Overall situation of sanitation of the region was discussed in the meeting. Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat said that hosting SACOSAN-II is a matter of great honor for Pakistan.

He said that the conference was to be held on November 21, 2005, which was postponed due to the tragedy of 8th October. He said that representatives of international NGOs will also participate in the conference.
Elaborating the objectives of the conference, he said that it will help the general public to accelerate the progress of sanitation and hygiene in South Asia alongwith improvement in quality of life.

He said that Ministry of Environment, under the obligation of Dhaka Declaration after consultation with the Ministry of Health, has taken upon itself to organise the 2nd South Asian Conference on Sanitation.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Pakistan close to Nuclear Energy deal with China

ISLAMABAD-Pakistan and China are close to ink the landmark accord on nuclear energy cooperation, under which Islamabad will acquire six reactors of 300 megawatts each.
“Negotiations on nuclear energy cooperation between Pakistan and China are in final stages and the deal is most likely to be reached at during the forthcoming visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao in November, this year,” said an official here on Friday.

He said Pakistan also wanted to acquire a nuclear power reactor of 600 megawatts from China but the Chinese have just started using its first such reactors hence its provision to Pakistan would take some time.

The nuclear energy cooperation deal with China has brought great solace to Pakistan, as the United States is not willing to extend such cooperation to Islamabad despite the months’ long talks between the allied nations in war on terror.

With Chinese cooperation, Pak would build six new nuclear reactors in next 10 years having capacity of 2,000 megawatts, the official said. This was part of Pak’s plan to increase the capacity of N-power generation to over 8,000 megawatts by 2025, he added. China has already helped Pak build a nuclear reactor of 350 megawatts at Chashma near and it was currently building one more at the same place with the same capacity.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

PESHAWAR: 7,816 TB cases detected in three months

PESHAWAR, Aug 11: The Provincial TB Control Programme has detected 7,816 cases in the province in the second quarter of the current year, officials said.

The patients would be provided free diagnosis and treatment for eight consecutive months under the DOTS (directly-observed treatment short course) at the district level offices.

Officials said that 6,245 patients had been registered in the first quarter of this year.

They said that 1,536 patients (897 females and 639 males) had been registered in five quake-hit districts in the second quarter of the current year. During the first quarter, the officials said, 1,090 cases had been registered in these districts.

A breakdown of the figures shows that in Abbottabad there were 509 patients, in Mansehra 492 patients, in Shangla district 294 patients, in Battagram 107 patients and in Kohistan district 134 patients.

EPI WORKERS: Director General Health Services NWFP Dr Jalilur Rehman has directed the workers of the expanded programme on immunisation (EPI) to work with commitment and team spirit for effective immunisation.

He was addressing a three-day master trainers’ workshop on the ‘social mobilisation for the EPI’ here on Friday.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

PESHAWAR: Gastro, skin diseases break out in Mardan

PESHAWAR, Aug 11: The water in residential areas of Mardan over the past week has complicated health problems, as hundreds of people have reported to the relief camps with cholera, gastroenteritis and skin diseases.

Every third person visiting the health facilities was complaining of skin problem and this was because of the stagnant water in residential areas, Dr Hidayatullah, the Health Management Information System Coordinator, said.

The doctor said most of the patients got infected while cleaning their homes or work places, where floodwater had mixed with sewage.

Sources said cholera and gastroenteritis had affected hundreds of people because of the failure of the municipal staff to drain out the water.

Dr Hidayatullah said 120 cases of cholera and gastroenteritis had been reported in the flood-affected areas.

A few cases of Malaria have also been reported but a district headquarters official said arrangements had been made to control the disease.


Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

KARACHI: Centre urged to help fight fuel-based pollution

KARACHI, Aug 11: The clean air coordination committee of the city government on Friday urged the federal government to take measures to reduce sulphur quantity in petroleum products to contain environmental pollution and save human health.

The meeting held here with the committee chairman and City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal in the chair noted that in Pakistan, fuel had the highest quantity of sulphur, one of the major sources of air pollution, than any other country of the world.

It decided to formally request the federal government through a letter to take steps to reduce the sulphur quantity to control pollution especially in Karachi, where environmental pollution was on the rise with the increase in its population.

The meeting stressed the need for making motor vehicle fitness section more effective and called for setting time frame of its privatisation as it had been, in principle, to give the section to private sector.

It was told that talks were under way in this context with a Malaysian firm while land had been allotted at the city government-run bus terminal for establishing the section.

After the privatisation of motor vehicle fitness section, the menace of smoke-emitting vehicles, the major cause of air pollution, could be properly checked.

The meeting also discussed imposing ban on plastic bags and decided to put a ban on the same gradually and increase their weight and price to discourage its use.

It was observed that with the increase in the process of plastic bags, people would use them repeatedly and this would eventually eliminate the problems of choked sewerage lines and pollution. It also considered improving CNG vehicles and called for installing converters in such vehicles.

Speaking on the occasion, City Nazim Mustafa Kamal assured that the recommendations from experts to control pollution and save human health from its hazardous effects would be mulled over and implemented.

He asked the committee members to submit their recommendations so that they could be included in the agenda for next meeting. The nazim stressed the need for step-wise progress towards the betterment of the environment.

Mr Kamal said that the city government was making efforts to improve the transport system and make it environment-friendly. For the purpose, new buses would be inducted gradually on the city roads.

He said that the city government was making efforts to bring Karachi at par with international standards in terms of environment to provide citizens with healthy atmosphere.

DIG Traffic Falak Khurshid told the meeting that the government had introduced new four-stroke CNG rickshaws while two-stroke rickshaws had been given one-year deadline to get their engines changed to environment-friendly ones. Action would be taken against them after one year, he added

It was decided that the recommendations would be considered in next the meeting of the committee and implementation of its decisions would be made sure.

Representatives of the city government Mass Transit Cell, transport and communications department, Suparco, Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan, Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), NED’s environmental engineering department, Aga Khan University’s health sciences department, Urban Resource Centre, Pakistan Environmental Assessment Association, KCCI, Karachi Transport Ittehad, IUCN, Sindh Transport Department, Automobile Corporation of Pakistan and others attended the meeting.—PPI


Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

US, Pakistan agree to work in IT sector

ISLAMABAD, Aug 11: The United States and Pakistan on Friday agreed to work together to enhance and upgrade IT disciplines in major universities, promote broadband internet and increase computer usage in Pakistan.

The two sides also agreed to increase bilateral cooperation in e-governance, spectrum management, human resource development and capacity-building.

A statement issued here said that the agreement was reached during a meeting between Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and US Coordinator for International Communications and Information David A Gross. State Minister Ishaq Khan Khakwani, Secretary Furrukh Qayyum and other senior officials also attended the meeting.

Mr Gross said he had been thoroughly impressed with the scale of progress achieved by Pakistan in the telecom sector within the past three to five years. It had not only won Pakistan recognition in the form of prestigious GSMA Award but also put Pakistan prominently on the radar screen of international IT firms.

“Until a couple of years ago, Pakistan was not even heard of in the telecom arena. But 37 million mobile phone subscribers within a couple of years point to the vision and the effort of the government in moving from old system to the new telecommunication system,” he said.

He said the US was keen to work closely with Pakistan on increasing broadband and computer usage, promoting content development in local languages and improving high-end professional human resource.


Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Pakistan's First Open Source Software Competition

UIT Computer Society a chartered Student Chapter of Association for Computing Machinery (USA) is organizing the National Multi-Competition Event named "CyberNet U-Tech 2006" on 18th & 19th August 2006. This Event will instigate and embellish a whole new dimension of Information Technology by organizing 7 different competitions including OpenIdeas, ModulationMax and Solution.Net competitions for the first time in any National IT Event in Pakistan.

OpenIdeas is an open source software competition dedicated to provide the platform for Open Source Developers to exhibit their skills to a wide IT literate audience. U-Tech 2006 holds the pride to introduce Open Ideas for the first time in such National IT Event in Pakistan. The software will be analysed by a panel of expert judges from industry and academia. A multi-phase evaluation will result an attractive and productive Open Source Software for Industry.

Large number of participants and audience are expected from universities and IT industry.


Interested individuals are encouraged to visit U-Tech website http://www.utech.org.pk and send their registration information at info@utech.org.pk by 10th August 2006 .


Reported by: M. Qasim Pasta, Chairman UITCS ACM Student Chapter, via pakgrid@yahoogroups.com.
He can be reached at: http://mqpasta.blogspot.com/

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Pakistan's IT exports hit $72m

Islamabad, Aug 5 (IANS) Pakistan's information technology (IT) industry has registered exports worth $72 million in the financial year 2005-06, a record 56 percent annual increase over exports of $46 million in 2004-05.

Much of it is thanks to government's promotion, concessions and huge tax holidays.

Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) managing director Yusuf Hussain appreciated the efforts of the ministry of IT and telecom.

He also congratulated the growing industry on this achievement, giving due credit to all the stakeholders for the success and promised them continued support from the government through the PSEB, The News said.

The maximum contribution to these earnings had come from computer software export, accounting for 63 percent of the total exports, with an overall increase of 44 percent compared to computer software exports last year, it added.

"According to statistics released by the State Bank of Pakistan, the country's central bank, on July 24 to PSEB, there is an overall 56 percent annual increase in IT exports by Pakistani IT companies," it said quoting a PSEB statement issued in Karachi.

"The government of Pakistan has been proactively developing the IT sector for the last few years," it said.

"The top five companies that have contributed the maximum share to IT exports are Netsol Technologies, Ovex Technologies, TRG Private Ltd, Systems Private Ltd and Elixir Technologies," said the PSEB statement.

"The incentives include tax exemption till 2016, establishment of IT parks with low rent, foreign ownership of equity invested in IT and 100 per cent repatriation of profit allowed to IT companies."

Major spending had taken place in hardware consultancy services, software consultancy services, maintenance or repair of computers, export of computer software and other computer services.



Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Saturday, August 05, 2006

US firm sees Pakistan as IT hub

US firm sees Pakistan as IT hub


By our correspondent/

NEWS

KARACHI: The US-based WYSE Technology Incorporation - a pioneer in
thin computing - is considering making Pakistan a hub of its
commercial activities in the South Asian region, industry sources
said on Saturday.

"President and CEO of WYSE Technology Dr John Kish is due to visit
Pakistan later this month," said a source in local IT industry close
to the development.

"The convergence of more powerful networks, dramatic growth in
wireless devices and rapid adoption of new technologies in markets
like India and China make this the right time for WYSE to expand its
lead in the thin-client market and deliver entirely new computing
benefits to customers around the world. I'm thrilled to take on that
challenge," he quoted Dr John Kish as saying.

NC Incorporation Pakistan had already been appointed as authorised
distributor and service centre of WYSE Technology in the region and
had included MCB Bank, Allied Bank, EFU, Bank Alfalah, Ibrahim
Fibre, Gul Ahmed and others in their clientele, he added.

Founded in 1981, WYSE Technology is a technology developing company
headquartered in San Jose, California, USA, with offices worldwide.
The company introduced economical, ergonomic and attractively
designed terminal products of high quality and reliability.

"Recently, global technology analyst International Data Corporation
announced in their fourth quarter 2005 report that WYSE remains the
leader in all regions, with 44.2 per cent market share in the US, 37
per cent in Asia Pacific and 27.2 per cent in Western Europe," added
the source.



Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Thursday, August 03, 2006

5 Day Workshop--High Performace Computing

5 Day Workshop: High Performance Computing
A Short Hands-on Tutorial on Programming
Parallel/Distributed Platforms




August 7 - 11th, 2006

In Collabration With

The University of Illinois, Chicago, U.S.A.

Hosted by The Ghullam Ishaq Khan Institute




General Information



Computational mechanics involves large-scale problems with the analysis phase alone requiring over 10 Tflops. This necessitates the use ofparallel computing paradigms to perform the computations in a reasonable simulation time. However, just taking a sequential code and running it on a parallel platform does not work. In this tutorial we will review basic parallel computing approaches and analysis techniques in the context of computational mechanics. These approaches will be demonstrated using two different parallel programming styles: message passing libraries such as MPI and shared memory programming standards such as Open MP. For both these styles hands-on programming sessions will be conducted on a Beowulf PC cluster for training the participants on parallel programming.



This tutorial is suitable for faculty, students, and industry practitioners interested in using parallel machines and requires as a pre requisite basic programming skills in FORTRAN or C.




About the Lead Instructor



Dr. Ashfaq A. Khokhar is Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UIC USA. Dr. Khokhar has published over 120 technical papers and book chapters in refereed conferences and archival journals in the area of wireless networks, multimedia systems, data mining, and high performance computing. He has supervised research of numerous PhD and MS students who are currently serving in leading universities, research labs, and industry. He is recipient of the prestigious NSF CAREER award in 1998. His paper entitled "Scalable S-to-P Broadcasting in Message Passing MPPs" has won the Outstanding Paper award in the International Conference on Parallel Processing in 1996. He has served as the Program Chair of the 17th Parallel and Distributed Computing Conference (PDCS), 2004, Vice Program Chair for the 33rd International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP), 2004, and General Chair of the Workshop on Frontiers of Information Technology, 2004. Dr. Khokhar has been nominated for IEEE Fellow in 2006. His current research interests include: high performance computing, wireless and sensor networks, multimedia systems, and data mining.




Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Second IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies (ICET 2006)

Second IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies (ICET 2006)
Peshawar, N-W.F.P, Pakistan,
November 13 – 14, 2006,
URL: www.icet2006.org

The second IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies - IEEE ICET will be held in Peshawar, Pakistan, on 13-14 November 2006. It will be organized by NWFP University of Engineering & Technology Peshawar and co-sponsored by IEEE Islamabad Section. Proceedings of ICET 2006 will have an ISBN number, IEEE Catalog number and the Library of Congress number. All the accepted papers published in the Conference Proceedings will be accessible through IEEE Xplore ®.

Scope of the Conference

The relevant areas of interest may include, but not limited to, the following:

• Algorithms, Tools & Applications
• Artificial Intelligence and Fuzzy Logic
• ASIC Design and Embedded Systems
• Automation and Control Systems
• Communication Techniques and Systems
• Computer Networks
• Computer Vision and Graphics
• Databases and Warehousing
• Geo-Informatics
• Microelectronics and MEMS
• Microwave and Optoelectronics
• Modeling & Simulation
• Nanotechnology and Quantum Computing
• Power and Alternate Energy Resources
• Software Engineering
• Speech, Image, Video and Signal Processing
• Ubiquitous Computing
• Wireless, Mobile and Sensor Networks
• Bio-Engineering (Informatics, Medical, Technology)Schedule

• Early Registration Deadline: September 30, 2006
• 15% reduction will be given if payment is received by the early registration deadline

Contact for Further Information
Prof. Dr. Azzam ul Asar
Program Chair, ICET 2006 Secretariat, Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
N-W.F.P. University o Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan.
Tel: +92 - 91 – 9216435, Fax: +92 – 91 – 9216663, Cell: +92 – 03339116925,
Emails: program_chair@icet2006.org, program_chair@mail.icet2006.org
URL: http://www.icet2006.org



Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006