Feature

The Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST) will move to its newly built campus in Tejgaon Industrial Area from Tejturi Bazar in the capital on March 31. Honourable President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh who is also the Chancellor of the university is likely to open the main campus at 141-142 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka. Regular classes will begin at the new campus in the month of April.

Built on a 5-bigha plot of land, the campus will have more than four lakh square feet built-in floor space with modern infrastructure. The ten-storied building (with two basements) campus has been divided into five interconnected blocks. The picturesque design of the campus includes a central courtyard surrounded by the academic blocks. The architectural beauty provides a perfect academic environment. The main campus will be approached through a grand entrance. Lighting, ventilation in the class rooms and in other areas and easy circulation within the campus has been given prime consideration in the design. Functional spaces have been allocated for seven departments and for the administrative body, including other ancillary facilities, for the university. Facilities include an auditorium for 600 persons, three big seminar rooms for 150 persons each, library, cafeteria, common room for boys and girls, book shop, souvenir shop etc. All the buildings will be fully air-conditioned.

AUST is the first among 52 private universities in Bangladesh which has been able to build its own full-fledged spacious campus. AUST is now been recognised as a forerunner in the private university sector in Bangladesh.

Kazi Rafiqul Alam who dreamt of AUST

The university is a non-profit and non-sectarian private university specialising in science-technology-based education. It was founded by the Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) in 1995.

DAM, one of the leading development organisations in Bangladesh, was established in 1958 by Hazrat Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah (R), an outstanding educationist and social reformer of undivided India. With his vision of a better society, characterised by wealth of moral and spiritual values of the highest humanism and people's access to education and resources, he established the Mission. His remarkable educational reforms include, among others, introduction of roll number system in public examinations during early years of the twentieth century and creating equal opportunity for education for all.

The university was established by DAM to provide quality education to Bangladeshi students to meet the demands of the modern era.

In AUST, the Bachelor's Degree Programmes are conducted under three faculties. These are: (i) Faculty of Architecture and Planning, (ii) Faculty of Business and Social Science and (iii) Faculty of Engineering. The Master's Degree Programmes are conducted under the Faculty of Business and Faculty of Education. The departments/schools under these faculties are of architecture, business, civil engineering, computer science and engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, textile technology, related subjects and education. It operates CISCO Networking Academy Programme and provides various extra-academic activities. It is Kazi Rafiqul Alam, the President & Chief Executive of Dhaka Ahsania Mission who envisioned the establishment of AUST in the year 1993 after the promulgation of Private University Ordinance in 1992. Subsequently, AUST received the govt. approval and it started its journey in 1995.

On contact, DAM President Kazi Rafiqul Alam said his organization came forward to sponsor the university to extend facilities to the increasing number of students who seek higher education in Engineering and Technology as well as in Business and the Social Sciences. Because, he said in 1995, the lone engineering university in Bangladesh could not cater to the needs of the increasing number of students seeking higher education in engineering. Students were compelled to go abroad for such studies, spending valuable foreign exchange. On completion of studies, many of them returned home mastering alien culture while meritorious ones stayed back, he said. In many cases, three-year university courses ended after seven years. In some cases, teachers' failure in examining answer scripts of students delayed the publication of examination results, he lamented. Under the backdrop, AUST was established to accelerate the process of development in Bangladesh by well-utilizing the best talents of the country, he said. He mentioned that in the recently published Webmetrics Ranking of World Universities published by Cybermetrics Lab (2007)-Regional and Global Ranking of Indian Sub continent Universities, CINDOC-CSIC, Madrid, Spain, the AUST has been placed at serial no. 69 amongst the best Indian Sub Continent Universities, which is really a great recognition of the high quality of academic programmes offered by AUST. At this point Mr. Alam recalled the contribution of Professor M. H. Khan, the founder Vice Chancellor (1995-2007) of AUST who had worked day and night to create and maintain high academic performance of the University.

Mr. Alam hoped to start Masters and Ph. D. courses at AUST just after its shifting to the main campus. There is also a plan to open Medical Faculty following launching of Ahsania Mission Cancer and General Hospital in the near future, he said.

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