K-Electric was the latest addition to the highly popular initiative of the IBA Alumni Affairs Department where the ED of IBA Karachi visits companies and engages with alumni to answer their questions, share updates about IBA and the progress taking place every day on campus that they may be unaware of. The session aims to bridge gaps that may be created once students graduate and begin working professionally disconnecting them from their alma mater.
Hosted by K-Electric at the remarkable AZM Learning Institute, the event brought together senior leaders and alumni of the organization for an hour-long interactive session with Dr. Zaidi. The program began with opening remarks from Mr. Muhammad Rizwan Dalia, Chief People Officer at K-Electric, who welcomed Dr. Zaidi and the IBA team as well as thanked the participants who came out to attend the session. Ms. Malahat Awan, Director Alumni Affairs, Resource Mobilization & Corporate Affairs thanked the attendees and spoke about the importance of alumni for IBA. She shared that while the brick and mortar provide IBA with a physical address, it is our alumni that are our true asset and are our ambassadors as the brand when people think of IBA.
Dr. S Akbar Zaidi began by engaging alumni with a walk down memory lane on what IBA used to be decades ago when most of the senior management at K-Electric had graduated and spoke about how things have changed growing the humble community that graduated a couple of hundred students every year to a thriving university with thousands of graduates every year. He spoke about the launch of new academic initiatives, cutting-edge programs and the challenges of leading IBA through the Covid instability and evolving student preferences. He engaged the audience by answering their questions about what IBA is doing to become a globally recognized institution, how growth may have impacted the quality of education and what IBA is doing to address the local challenges present in the Pakistan economy.
Dr. Zaidi focused on the improvement in the quality of faculty at IBA where most instructors are PhDs as well as how faculty is encouraged to pursue research initiatives. He spoke about the steps taken under his leadership to pursue international accreditation as well as focusing on the sciences as well as the business courses to ensure IBA establishes itself as a leading university in Pakistan. Answering a question about IBA's relationship with corporations and businesses, Dr. Zaidi reinforced IBA's commitment to engage with corporations and work towards creating solutions for their industry needs through academia-industry linkages.
