The GIK Institute aspires to be the center of excellence in the engineering sciences and technology, to be an effective agent for change in Pakistan and other developing countries, and to be on the vanguard of techno-industrial transformation in these countries.
GIKI started operations in the fall of 1993
with an enrollment of 130 students. Each semester another group
of about 100 students are admitted. Currently, in the fall
semester of 1996, some 600 students attend the institute. This is
expected to be the size of the undergraduate population at the
Institute.
The Institute is located in a province called the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) in the far northeast corner of the nation. To locate the Institute, look at a map of Pakistan and find the capital city, Islamabad. The Institute is about 60 miles to the northeast near the general vicinity of the cities of Peshawar, Mardan, Taxila, and Topi.
The campus is virtually on the banks of the mighty Indus River at a location where the river comes out of its last big gorge in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains at the giant Tarbela Dam Complex and empties onto the huge flat plain that comprises the nation of Pakistan. The Institute is just off the "Grand Trunk" Highway, part of the ancient silk route between Europe and China.
(Extract from one of the articles from Dr. John Ogreon, one of the Ex-faculty members)
The Institute
Nestled in the unspoilt and nature rich country
side of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, and spread
over an area of more than 400 acres, the Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Institute of Engineering Sciences & Technology (GIK) is the
first privately funded engineering institute in Pakistan. It was
established in October 1993 with a vision of creating a center of
excellence in engineering science and technology which can act as
an effective agent of change and a model for other institutions
to emulate. It is an autonomous institute, independently
chartered and funded by the private sector. It strives to produce
graduates who are leaders, and can upgrade the existing
technological enterprise of the country. Graduates in whom
professional excellence is inseparable from a commitment to civic
duty. In a short span of three years, the institute has achieved
a remarkable standard in student-faculty ratio (12), which is one
of the best in south-east Asia. It's state-of-the-art laboratory
facilities rival those of the best institutions of the world. 
Students are selected for GIK based on results of a rigorous entrance examination conducted by the Institute. Of the nearly 1500 applicants, only around 135 are admitted to the Institute. Approximately 30% students receive financial aid. All the student body lives on campus, which is like a small city with all available modern amenities. Students are encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities, as evidenced by the existence of numerous students clubs and groups on campus.
The Academic Year: The Institute follows the semester system. An academic year comprises of two semesters of sixteen teaching weeks each, and an eight-week summer semester. The Spring term runs from January to May and the Fall semester from August to December.
The Grading System: Grade Point Average (GPA) is earned on a scale of 0 to 4. The GPA is computed by counting 1 semester credit of A = 4 pts., A- = 3.66 pts., B+ = 3.33 pts., B = 3 pts., B- = 2.67 etc.
Fields of study: The Institute offers BS, MS, and Ph.D. degree programs in the fields of Electronics Engineering, Computer Sciences & Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials Sciences, and Engineering Sciences.
The Lab Facilities
Microelectronics Laboratory: The laboratory is meant for Research and Development besides training. It has facility to fabricate devices on semiconductor substrates using optical lithographic techniques. The best possible resolution attained using this technique is 0.4 microns. It has hardware which deals with on-probe DC characterization (i.e. the analysis and product verification) of pre-packaged devices. This laboratory will also very soon be equipped with electron beam lithography equipment.
Microwave Laboratory: This is a training laboratory for the senior level. The frequencies dealt with here are in Giga Hertz range. It has the facility to study transmission line characteristics, wave-guides, and antennas. This laboratory also works in coordination Communications Laboratory as some experiments require the use of transmitters and receivers.
Digital Signal Processing Laboratory: This laboratory is deals with both the software and hardware aspects of Digital Signal Processing. For the software part, it has got MATLAB (along with its DSP toolbox) installed on PC’s. In the hardware part, DSP kits and development systems from Texas Instruments are in use.
Digital Image Processing Laboratory: This laboratory has got facilities for implementing Video-teleconferencing, Chroma-keying, and pattern recognition and identification. For this purpose, state-of-the-art technology is used. The laboratory is equipped with Pentium 133 processor based systems running with 128 Mb memory in order to provide fast processing. This laboratory also works in close coordination with the Silicon Graphics Workstations laboratory in the Computer Science faculty.
Telecommunications Laboratory: Equipped with very frequency (Giga Hertz range) signals and function generators giving analog and digital signals the laboratory has the equipment to illustrate different modulation techniques (AM, FM, PM etc.), noise simulation and prevention, and signal detection schemes. It provides an insight to the working principles of different communications equipment used by the industry today.
Electric Machines Laboratory: This is meant for teaching as well as research. Machines meant for educational and training purposes have been acquired from De Lorenzo of Italy. from Experiments are conducted on transformers (step-up, step-down), various kinds of DC machines (shunt/compound/series) and AC machines (induction/synchronous). The machines of this laboratory are computer controlled which also gives an opportunity to interested students to conduct experiments based on digital feedback and controls.
Microprocessor Laboratory: Trainers by LabVolt based on the microprocessors 6502 and Motorola 68000 are used to teach the basics of microprocessor working, computer architecture and microprocessor interfacing. Both hardware interfacing and assembly language programming is comprehensively covered. This laboratory also has a 68HC11 microcontroller development system to support student projects.
VLSI Design Laboratory: The VLSI languages available are VHDL, Verilog and ABEL. Emphasis is also given to design and implementation of VLSI circuits, ASIC design and implementation of FPGA’s programming. The Design Center is also equipped with major tools by Pads PCAD, PCB, Model Technology and Viewlogic. Exempler and XYLINX by Berkeley will soon be coming. It is planned that in future machines like MENTOR GRPAHICS, IKOS, SYNPOSYS would be inducted with the collaboration of industry.
Computer Communications Simulation Laboratory: The software used for simulation is OPNet (GIK Institute is the only registered user of this software in Pakistan). It can help simulate communication setups on a geographical level by using an embedded map. It contains all the protocols of communications (e.g. PPP, TCP/IP etc.) and the students would easily figure out the most plausible system, suitable for the requirements. The future target is to use 8 perfectly equipped systems for this training laboratory.
Control Systems Laboratory: The laboratory primarily uses PLC’s (programmable logic controllers) to help the students understand the basics of controls and industrial automation. The PLC’s used are from Telemechanique, France. Training is provided in ladder and Grafcet programming languages. The laboratory also has miniature equipment to help understand various mechanical processes (robotic arms for this purpose), fluid flow processes, traffic light controller, and XYZ plotters etc.
