Al-Khawarazmi Institute of Computer Science – UET’s Most Successful Feather in Its Cap

Al-Khawarazmi Institute of Computer Science – UET’s Most Successful Feather in Its Cap

Where University of Engineering and Technology Lahore is famous for producing the top class engineers, so is its institute ‘Al-Khawarazmi Institute of Computer Science (KICS)’ which was launched way back in year 2002 with the help of government of the Punjab. It was initiated with an objective of conducting research and development activities in the areas of information and computational technology (ICT) in collaboration with local industries and international research and academic organizations. With the rapid and ongoing achievements, features and research activities – KICS has undoubtedly emerged as a big noticeable feather in UET’s cap on which the university feels proud by highlighting its activities and research works.  

KICS UET very aptly and enthusiastically works on its vision to become a leading research and advance technology organization in critical areas of national interest. The institute keeps providing the country with trained resources for development of high-tech products and services. With the continuous help of the institute, Research and Development culture is being promoted in the country through technology innovation and industrial collaborations. KICS enjoys mammoth collaborations with industry and these collaborations bring up lucrative projects which turn out to be fruits for the economy of Pakistan.

The institute conducts research and development activities in the field of ICT making handsome amount of collaborations with not only local but also with international research and academic organizations. Soon after its inception, KICS became the premier research and advanced technology organization. Additionally, the institute is surely a leading resource of research and development. It enacts a pivotal role in taking the country towards knowledge-based economy and competitive industrialization. Since it is a research center, it keeps providing the country with trained resources for development of high tech products and services.

KICS’ researches on various subjects are always in demand and in talks and the center is famous for its research activities as well, this is why it keeps getting conferred with numerous distinctions. The latest to its feather include being one of the top ICT research centers in Pakistan selected as resource center in a joint study by HEC and IDB and being selected as Pioneer Research Organization in Pakistan by a joint survey of Knowledge Platform and British Council with the endorsement of HEC.

Research facilities at KICS include Research Labs, Advanced Technology Centers, Training and Technology Incubation. The institute enjoys the distinction of running 25 research labs which are working on various lucrative and attention-fetching research projects and they are the one which become parts of country’s economy. Most of the projects are backed by HEC, Pakistan.

The labs functioning at KICS work on research activities such as Communication Technologies, Software Systems, AI Technologies, Power Systems, Language Engineering and Technology Incubation.

The mainly focused research projects include Urdu Search Engine (Ignite Rs.33.6M), Access to Urdu Content (HEC Rs.27.42M), Development of RADAR VHF (Joint initiative with Bismillah Electronics), Concealed Weapon Detection (HEC NRPU), Implementation of Standard Security Framework for IoT , Development of Next Generation IoT Firewall , Security Audit Tools for IoT OS, Hardware and Frameworks, Hybrid Power Monitoring and Control System, Prototyping and deployment of Gun shot detection, Sound Classification and object localization for “Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA)” Lahore. (5.4M), Buried body detection for life saving in disaster situation, Professional Training Program (Data Science, AI, Image Processing, Text Processing, Android Development, Game Development, IoS…), Design, development, implementation and support services of ERP and Non ERP solutions in UET and it’s all campuses, Designing 3D Games, Automatic Surveillance System for Video Streams (Ignite Rs.26M), A Semantic Engine for Text Management using Ontology and Knowledge Engineering (HEC TDF, Rs.7M), Virtual Brain: Brain Modeling with Brain Computer Interface for Robot Navigation (HEC 5.2M), VR based Neurogaming For Mindfulness In Children (HEC TDF 4.79), Brain Controlled Wheelchair (HEC TDF, 6.7M), Human Mind Gauge: Computational Model of Brain & its applications using Brain Computer Interface, Comstech- (TWAS, 15000 USD), iFruitfly Detector, Structure Recognition System, Unmanned Power Grid Remote Control Devices & Monitoring Systems for MEPCO (MEPCO, 6.8 M), Common Delivery Points (CDPs) Central Data Acquisition from System – CCDAS (WAPDA, 1.5 M), Software Development for Customized Invoice Processing Automation System (IPAS) for :Sapphire Electric Power Company Rs.2.0MOrient Power Rs.2.0M, Energy Extraction by safe disposal of Municipal Waste using Nanotechnology (HEC-TDF 6.60 M), Design and Development of an Automatic, Robotized and Portable Cleaning System for Solar Photovoltaic Plants (HEC-TDF 1.88 M), Design and Development of Capacity Tester for Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) Batteries (HEC-TDF 1.41 M), Implementation of optimal energy consumption and distributed energy      generation strategy (HEC-NRPU 7.61 M), Energy Efficiency Advisor Program (GIZ, Rs.10 Million) , PLC Courses (PSDF), Establishment of  Air Conditioning Unit Testing Lab at UET Lahore (Rs.84 Million, Punjab Energy Department) , Gadget (Test Bench) Development for Water Pump/Agricultural Tube Well Energy Efficiency Measurement and Improvement (HEC-TDF, Rs.5.99), Training Courses on PLC (PSDF, Rs.1.2M per Annum), raining Courses on Instrumentation (PSDF, Rs. 3.6 M per Annum), Double axis tracking system for PV Panels and Parabolic Trough, Tracking system for heliostat mirrors, Drive train for electrical vehicle, Development of drive for BLDC Motor, Sensor fusion and embedded controls for hybrid vehicle, Urdu Search Engine, National (Ignite, Rs. 33M), Local Language Speech Interfaces for Banking Sector (HEC, Rs. 4.02 M), Automatic Postal Address Recognition and Parcel Routing(HEC,Rs.4.62M), Text-to-Speech for Urdu: Understanding Intonation,(DAAD,€30K), Crime Detection: Video Surveillance and Gunshot Detection, Crime Prevention: Crowd Analytics and Social Media Analytics, Crime Mitigation: Forensic Animation and Professional Trainings, Urdu Data Analytics, Urdu Language Processing , Collaborative Robots, Exoskeletonm and Active Prostheses.

HUTIC (Huawei UET Joint Telecom IT Center) was another feather to KICS’ success cap. It was launched in 2003 with collaboration with Huawei Technologies. Today it is Huawei Authorized Information and Network Academy (HAINA). A number of professional training courses are being conducted at KICS such as HCNA, HCNP, HCS-IVS, CCNA, CCNP, HCNP, CCSU and to name a few.

A state of the art professional center of KICS UET was launched in Model Town to deliver professional trainings two years back.  KICS’ Pearson Lab is committed to conduct exams like CISCO, Microsoft, GMAT, Saui Commission of Health Specialist, Oracle and many others.

The institute’s main distinction is to conduct international conferences where foreign universities delegations together with local delegates come under one roof along with industry. The conferences like ICOSST (International Conference on Open Source Systems and Technologies) and ICECE (International Conference on Electronics and Communication Engineering) every year fetch a lot of attention from researchers, government and private sectors and people from all walks of life. Invited talks, workshops, roundtables, seminars, paper presentations and industrial exhibitions are the main parts of these international conferences.  ICOSST has been conducted by KICS for last 12 years.

325 people work at the institute including PhDs and MS. KICS’s funding sources include HEC and many local and international organizations.

Research culture is everywhere in the entire institute and it is its research activities and projects which make KICS prominent in the country. It is UET’s most integral part.