RAWALPINDI:The Vice Chancellor, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) Prof. Dr. Qamar uz Zaman, has received a prestigious award for his loyal and 15 years of distinguished service to Dalhousie University, Canada.
On the occasion, he said that it was a great honour for him that a Canadian well reputed university has acclaimed and appreciated his work which showed that he had achieved his goal to educate and enlighten the people to some extent.
Before joining PMAS-AAUR Prof. Dr. Qamar-uz-Zaman has been working as Prof. and Precision Agriculture Research Chair, Engineering Department Faculty of Agriculture Dalhousie University Canada and carried a remarkable academic career throughout his education.
He had also received the prestigious Glenn Downing Award in 2014 and an award from the University of Florida in 2015 in recognition of his outstanding work in industry, teaching, research and extension in the area of machinery systems.
Prof. Dr. Qamar uz Zaman’s remarkable achievements while working as VC PMAS-AAUR includes the establishment of Center for Agriculture Strategy and Development (CAS-D), Human Resource Development Academy (HRDA), Pilot Project for Data Driven Smart Decision Platform for Increased Agricultural Productivity (DDSDP) to establish digital & Smart Agricultural Farms, Centre for Precision Agriculture to develop GREEN-AI System, National Center for Industrial Biotechnology (NCIB), Domestication/Commercialization of Industrial Hemp for Accelerated Sustainable Economic Development in Pakistan, National Center for Livestock Breeding, Genetics & Genomics as an Academic Unit, Experimental Animal Research Station, CPEC Agriculture Cooperation Centre, Academia-Industry-Government Linkages and Inclusion of industry representatives in the departmental board of studies.
Furthermore, PMAS-AAUR also established Smart IoT Farm at URF, Koont to promote digital and precision agriculture at the national level so that the farmers could be educated about the needs of their crops in real time. The University also organized various training and outreach program at various universities to spread awareness about modern agriculture technology.
The VC has also effectively collaborated with 60 regional, national and international organizations and signed MoUs to achieve the institution’s strategic goals and objectives, and 40 plus new and halted programs were reopened.