Head of Department Message

Dr Kunwar Faraz

Intelligent robotics is widely believed to spearhead the upcoming technological revolution where robots and intelligent machines will become an integral part of everyday human life. Ranging from area specific domains such as industrial automation and surgical robotics to machines that operate in common everyday human households, robots can already be seen assisting humans in virtually every aspect of their lives. Not only do they help reduce human effort but also, at the same time, improve the precision and accuracy with which these tasks are accomplished. In particular, one of the most amazing virtues of this field is its viability to facilitate the lives of mentally and physically impaired individuals by making safe and independent living possible for them. It is for these reasons that modern day researchers, industrialists, investors and analysts are all unequivocally predicting robotics as the next big thing after information technology. In his article titled “A Robot in Every Home” Bill Gates (Founder and Chairman, Microsoft) writes: “According to the International Federation of Robotics, about two million personal robots were in use around the world in 2004, and another seven million will be installed by 2008. In South Korea the Ministry of Information and Communication hopes to put a robot in every home there by 2013. The Japanese Robot Association predicts that by 2025, the personal robot industry will be worth more than $50 billion a year worldwide, compared with about $5 billion today.” It was in January 2007 that this famous article appeared in Scientific American predicting the advent of a time when robots would become an integral part of common households. According to MarketsandMarkets.com, in 2012 the global service robotics market already stands at a staggering $20.73 billion. The predictions are all positive towards extensive growth of the robotics market in the near future as well. The Department of Robotics and Intelligent Machine Engineering at NUST-SMME is Pakistan’s first formal initiative aimed at fostering academics and research in this cutting edge field. The faculty and staff of this department are putting their best efforts into imparting latest and well-balanced education at par with other leading institutions of the world while also carrying out meaningful research into a variety of aspects of this technology. Come, join us in our endeavor as we strive to shoulder the responsibility of leading Pakistan into this era of robots and intelligent machines - gadgets imparting everlasting impacts on human life as a whole, in tasks ranging from simple to most complex.