Our Vision

Introduction

MOTIVATION

A large number of students studying in schools and colleges in Pakistan depend on additional mentoring to understand the course content. Most of them have to rely on private academies and individual tutors to comprehend the course content and to pass the board exams. However, many of these students do not have the financial resources to afford private tutors for each of the subjects they are studying. Even if they can afford, the pace of learning is not self-controlled in large-sized classroom. Moreover, in many regions of the country, especially in rural area, qualified teaching staff is in scarcity.
Using advances in communication technology, Maktab project plans to address some of the above mentioned problems. Maktab project will assist the students in their comprehension of the course content, as well as provide them a self-paced learning alternative.

VISION

Provide quality instructional material for most of the academic courses in Pakistan with special focus on scientific subjects.

OBJECTIVES

• Provide quality lectures on CDs and online (websites, social media, video hosting sites etc.) with an open access and at no cost.
• Keep main focus on conceptual learning, but at the same time teaching is geared towards exam preparation too.
• Act as a supplementary resource for students attending colleges or academies.
• Teach the course content in Urdu language for better comprehension. Most of the text and technical terms will remain in English, however, the explanation of the text will be in Urdu.

(For a detailed intro, you can read this PDF document)

Team

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Dr. Raza Ul-Mustafa is the initiator of the Maktab project. He is the CEO of Quest Edutainment Centre and CTO of Lever Systems. He is also an adjunct professor at Seattle University, USA, where he teaches Computer Science to graduate and undergraduate students. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering with 8+ year of experience in corporate, startup and academic setups. He has worked for Microsoft Corporation in multiple disciplines such as Program Management, Software Development and Research. He is part of an active entrepreneur community in Seattle, USA and has started two technology companies. Raza has also started multiple social initiatives in Pakistan. He is very passionate about improving the K-12 education and has initiated Quest Edutainment Centre and MAKTAB project in Pakistan.

Tahir Farooq is the Project Manager of the Maktab project and admin of Maktab.pk. He is the COO of Leverify LLC a Seattle based E-Commerce company. He is a graduate of Electronics Engineering from University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila. After his graduation he has worked for a couple of E-Commerce startups. He has helped to launch a number of businesses on eBay and Amazon marketplaces. In his free time, he provides consultancy services on how to effectively leverage eBay and Amazon marketplaces for business growth.

ADVISORS

Dr. Sabieh Anwar is the Chair of Physics Department, at LUMS School of Science & Engineering, Pakistan. He is a D.Phil Physics from University of Oxford, UK. His research interests span multiple areas such as magnetic resonance, nanomagnetism, nanomaterials, and scientific instrumentation design and development. However, he is also passionately working on popularizing science in Pakistan. On research front he is contributing to Physics Education and Development of Low-Cost Educational Tools, while on social front he is working as the Secretary General of Khwarizmi Science Society (KSS) that promotes a science culture in Pakistan’s educational institutions and in the general public through lectures, seminars and publications.

Dr. Saadat Anwar Siddiqi is the founder and President of the Khwarizmi Science Society (KSS). The Society was established in 1997 and has been working for the popularization of science. Recently, its emphasis has been on the transfusion of science into less privileged schools and districts of Pakistan. An important slant of KSS’s work is the public-oriented lectures on issues relevant to science and its interaction with the contemporary society. Dr. Saadat A. Siddiqi also works at the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials where he is involved in the development of indigenous materials for health and orthopedic care. He has forty years of experience in research on solid state physics, making significant contributions to superconductors, magnetic materials, ceramics and nanotechnology. He was a Professor at University of the Punjab’sCentre for Solid State Physics.

Rafi Ullah graduated in physics from University of the Punjab before going to the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy for his diploma in condensed matter physics. He has been working at the Physics Department of LUMS School of Science and Engineering as a Research Associate/Lab instructor. Currently he is a Ph.D. student in the Theory Group of CIC nanoGUNE, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain. Other than doing physics he likes blogging about popular science, educational, social, and political issues in Urdu and keeps his blog at http://masawaat.blogspot.com. He has been affiliated with Khwarizmi Science Society since 2007 as executive member.

INSTRUCTORS

Adil Mahmood is an undergraduate student (final year) of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Comsats Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad. His major areas of interest are Computer Networking and Computer Organization. He is doing project on wireless network security. He has a versatile personality with several academic honors to his credit.

Anam Fatima is a Post graduate student at College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, National University of Science and Technology. Her areas of interest include Web Programming, Quality Assurance, Teaching and Research in the field of Information Technology. She possesses a dynamic personality and enjoys various side activities like sports, photography, sketching reading and writing.

Basit Ali is an undergraduate student of Aerospace Engineering at The Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad. His interests include Aerothermodynamics, Propulsive systems and Space Flight dynamics. He has a versatile personality with several academic honors to his credit.

Iqra Asif is a under graduate student at department of Geological Engineering, University Of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore. Her major areas of interest are Geology and Petrology. She is one of the executive members in Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) at UET, Lahore.

Kanwer M. Zeeshan is a Post graduate student  at National Center of Bioinformatics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He did his bachelor from College of Medical Laboratory Technology, National Institute of Health, Islamabad. His major areas of interest are Pathology (Wet and Dry labs). He is also working part time as a Medical Laboratory Technologist and teaches biology related subjects in his spare time. His research interest are in computational medical biology.

Rabia Aslam is a postgraduate student in Biomedical Physics at KU Leuven, Belgium. She did her Bachelors in Physics from Lahore University of Management and Sciences. Her interests vary from research in Medical Physics and Particle Physics to painting and creative writing.

Zahid Mehmood has done his M.phil in Physics from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. His research interests are in the field of experimental condensed matter physics. He also likes to teach physics to the secondary school and college students.

Zubair Ahmed Khokhar is an undergraduate student of B.Sc. at Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology from University of the Punjab, Lahore. His interests vary from petroleum and gas engineering to sketching, from content writing to volunteerism and from teaching to football.

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