Invited Speaker Session organized by BME

Thursday 26th October 2023

BME organized an invited speaker session entitled, "Data for Impact through Mathematical and Statistical Modelling in Public Health." The event was held at the FEST auditorium on Thursday 26th October 2023. The resource person was Dr. Bilal Ahmed Usmani, Assistant Professor & Section Head, Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University Hospital. A welcome meeting was held at the Dean FEST Office where Engr. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Aamer Saleem, Dean FEST welcomed Dr. Usmani and encouraged the learning activities. The event was started with Tilawat-e-Quran by Mr. Khalid Mahmood, a student of the BE BME program of studies. Ms. Fatima, another BE BME student performed the host activities. She welcomes participants to the session. The speech session started after the National Anthem and Dua-e-Said. The invited speaker presented the concepts behind the development of mathematical and statistical models and their use in real-world scenarios. A special focus was on Pakistn case studies. These case studies included public-domain datasets, results, and analysis. The dataset examples were Sindh-level COVID-19 data, Karachi climate-change data, and Lahore smog data. The results were also displayed and the underlying statistical technique was the moving average used for most of the analysis. After the speech, there was an industry-academia panel discussion with an outcome-based education (OBE) theme. During the panel discussion, Engr. Prof. Dr. Tariq Javid, Chair BME briefly reviewed the theme and important components of OBE, the knowledge, skills, and attitude; student-centric learning and teaching; assessment tools, and continuous quality improvement (CQI). He also discussed the open-ended labs as a creative activity performed by the students during lab courses. Engr. Dr. Muhammad Faris, Assistant Professor & Program In-Charge BME presented the importance of knowledge profile for the design and implementation. Ms. Sadia Ali, Assistant Professor BME briefed on the timeline associated with course learning outcome, program learning outcome, and program educational objectives during studies and in the profession. Engr. Hina Iftikhar, Lecturer BME highlighted the CQI cycle and the data sources aka survey forms used to improve the quality of education in OBE. Engr. Tayyaba Khalid, Lecturer BME discussed the use of rubrics for the fair assessment of learning. Dr. Usmani highlighted the salient features of OBE and answered a few questions from the participants. Prof. Javid presented the vote of thanks to the invited speaker, students, and faculty; and presented HU shield to Dr. Usmani. A group photograph session was held at the end. On behalf of BME, I am thankful for the cooperation from Engr. Osama bin Zahoor, Visiting Faculty & BME Alumni for his valuable services and FEST admin office.