Institution of Engineers Pakistan, Saudi Arabian Centre (IEP-SAC) organized its 45th annual technical seminar in King Salman Social Center, Riyadh. A large number of engineers from Riyadh and the Eastern Province attended this event. The topic of the presentation was "Renewable Energy: Opportunities, Challenges & Future Trends". Speaker was Engr. Tahir Choudhry, a prominent solar energy expert and general manager of Sun Power Corp. (Middle East region). Chief guest on the occasion was acting ambassador of Pakistan Muhammad Hassan Wazir. On this occasion an exhibition was held to display the engineering technology and products in various fields. Guest engineers, including the chief guest, took keen interest in the display and acquired valuable information. The program was started with the recitation of the Holy Qur'an by Engr. Asim Siddiqui. The general secretary of IEPSAC, Engr. Syed Muhammad Iqbal presented the annual report pertaining to various activities organized by IEP-SAC during 2015-16 session. He updated on the scholarship program of IEP-SAC that 88 scholarships for full year are awarded to 11 public Engineering universities in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir and further improvement is under consideration. The chairman of Eastern sub-center, Engr. Rizwan Ahmed also presented a brief report covering the activities of IEP-SAC in his region. The convener of technical committee Engr. Shaikh Asrar Ahmed invited the keynote speaker for his presentation while giving his brief introduction. The speaker described various sources of renewable energy, including hydropower, geothermal, biomass, wind, solar energy and their potential of meeting global energy demands. Based on the statistics, he pointed out that about 89 Penta Watts of solar energy falls on the surface of Earth, whereas only 0.02 percent (15 Tera Watts.) would be sufficient to meet the world's need as of today. For tapping of solar energy, the speaker illustrated various type of PV cells, their modulus and application using on-grid and off-grid systems. He presented the solar irradiance map of the world and mentioned that the Northern part of Saudi Arabia is the most suitable area in the country for solar energy projects. In Pakistan, the North-Western part of Balochistan and southern part of Punjab are the most suitable ones. The presentation was followed by question and answer session. In his address, the acting ambassador of Pakistan H.E. Wazir Hasan appreciated the presentation and admired the high caliber of Pakistani engineers who have earned good name for their motherland by sheer hard work, dedication, professional skills and contribution in the development of the Kingdom. Chairman of IEP-SAC, Engr. Syed Mubashir Husain Kirmani in his address expressed gratitude to the Ambassador of Pakistan and Pakistan Embassy for their continued patronage and support to IEP-SAC. He appreciated the thoughtful presentation by the speaker. Chairman recalled that the vision of IEP-SAC is to promote knowledge of Science and Engineering and to provide opportunities to Pakistani engineers to update their know-how and expertise. Engr. Kirmani expressed concern of Pakistani Engineers working in KSA that despite abundant natural resources in Pakistan, like Hydro power, Coal, Wind and Solar energy our country has not been able to benefit from them. Identifying the hurdles and hazards preventing Pakistan to get benefit from God gifted natural resources, he suggested perhaps we are lacking in will and determination on national level. Chairman emphasized that Pakistan having 5th largest river network has capacity to produce more than 46000 MW per year but at present only 14 % of its capacity is used. This is the cheapest form of energy costing about 2 to 4 Rupees per unit. Engr. Kirmani further emphasized on the need of Knowledge economy, where Pakistan can take its share by developing intellectual capital and thus upgrading the education in Science and Engineering, establishing educational institutions, media and professional firms. On this occasion, chairman outlined the scope of CPEC which is $45 Billion mega project and expected to be operational within three years and will be a strategic "GAME CHANGER" in the region. In his concluding remarks Engr. Kirmani expressed his gratitude to the custodian of two Holy Mosques H.M King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and his government for their hospitality and providing opportunity to Pakistani engineers to contribute their professional skills and expertise in the development of this brotherly country. He thanked to all guest engineers, sponsors, advertisers, press and media persons, authors of Tech. papers for their continued support and cooperation. At the closing session shields and certificate were presented to various dignitaries in recognition of their valuable support to IEP-SAC. The program concluded with a delicious dinner served by a local Pakistani restaurant.
