It is a matter of great honour for Ignite (Formerly National ICT R&D Fund) that three PM National ICT Scholars: Umar Farooq; Computer Engineering, Muhammad Mehdi; Telecom Engineering and Hasnain Raza; Telecom Engineering, all studying at COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore were selected for participation in the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (Global UGRAD-Pakistan) spring 2012 semester.
“I was selected as an exchange student on Global UGRAD Culture Exchange Program for spring 2012. The basic purpose of this program is to increase the mutual understanding between the people of these two different nations. I completed my fifth semester at COMSATS, Lahore and left Pakistan on 3rd of January 2012. My host university was Shawnee State University, situated in Portsmouth Ohio. Shawnee State is a very beautiful university. I was required to pick one course from my major field of study and one course about American culture. It was an awesome experience and I got very good response from American people. Even some people were willing to visit Pakistan” says Mr. Umar Farooq while sharing his experience of US.
Mr. Muhammad Mehdi while sharing his experience says, “I was selected for the U.S. State Department funded cultural exchange scholarship to study a semester at Northern Illinois University in US this 2012 spring semester. I had never traveled to a country across the ocean from Pakistan; it was a completely different experience. I will never forget the moment when I landed on Chicago O’Hare Airport. For me, coming from a small under-privileged area to the world’s most diverse and advanced nation, has been an amazing and at the same time useful experience. I felt great honorur to be able to represent my dear country Pakistan.”