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Conference will be held on October 29, 2011 in Redmond, WA

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APSENA Highlights during 2008-2010

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  • Nusrat H. Naqvi, PhD, a professor of Biology from Louisiana was elected the president of the organization…the first female president of APSENA!
  • There was remarkable emphasis on communication, networking and documentation.
  • There was a shift from mailing and calling to emailing for obvious reasons of privacy and personal freedom as well as relocations and contact information changes.
  • Two annual conferences were organized in the USA, one in each year:
    • 25th Anniversary Conference in Houston, TX (Nov. 22-23, 2008) in Hilton Houston Southwest hotel.
    • Twenty-sixth Annual conference in Champaign-Urbana at the University of Illinois at the I-Hotel and Conference Center (October 17-18, 2009). 

The major highlight of the 2008 conference was the enthusiastic participation and recognition of services of the pioneer members and past Presidents of APSENA on the Silver Anniversary Conference.  A few memorable details of 2008-2009 were:

  • Boston University Professor of Global Public Policy, Dr. Adil Najam’s captivating Keynote Banquet address in Texas.
  • High quality research papers, reviews and panel discussions on Renewable Energy: Technologies and Opportunities.
  • Free Live webcast of the conference to institutes and Universities in Pakistan and in USA.
  • A preconference collaboration social by Pakistan Chamber of Commerce: a Mushaira and dinner featuring the famous Pakistani poetess Dr. Sabiha Saba among others.
  • Musical entertainment by Houston’s famous 5-member band, Aliza.
  • Distribution of a newsletter documenting APSENA history and accurately tracing APSENA leadership over the past 25 years to all attendees of the 2008 conference and placing an electronic copy on the website.
  • This conference was co-chaired by a Board of Trustees member, Mr. Mohamad Mukhtar and an Engineer Mr. Safdar Kazimi from Houston.  A team of students volunteered at the conference.  Most of the board members and many past presidents attended the celebration.
  • APSENA founder Amanullah Khan MD, PhD joined the organization as a Life member.
  • There was a deficit of funds for this conference which was very quickly overcome by the generosity of the APSENIANS, Board members and Friends including an anonymous donor from CA who was the “Biggest Supporter”, for both years.  Thanks a bunch! 

The unique feature of the Twenty-sixth Annual APSENA Conference (2009) was the overwhelming participation and leadership of graduate and undergraduate students in every aspect of the conference from planning to session organization.  The title of this conference was, “Water: Lifeline for Energy and Health.  Some details of 2009-2010 to share are:

  • Obvious presence of students in every aspect of the 2009 conference
  • This conference included panel discussions, poster session competition and speakers from Pakistan who personally came to participate, as well as those via video links and from several institutions of Illinois, and many other states of USA.
  • Utilization of the APSENA website for continuous information sharing and evolution of the program over several months.
  • Total involvement of the University of Illinois faculty and administration in the entire conference.
  • Cooperation, mutual respect and total collaboration of the on-site committee chair and his team with APSENA president.
  • Visibility of many capable participants from various parts of the US including Illinois
  • Participation of Pakistani scientists as on-site speakers as well as utilization of technology to bring several speakers via live video technology from overseas
  • Proceedings of the conference in the form of session summaries, action items and individual papers
  • Continuous before, during and post conference media exposure to discuss issues, present options and guidelines to select possible solutions to problems of global interest (several VOA roundtables)
  • A balanced conference with appropriate emphasis on top quality presentations, logistics, food and entertainment and attendance
  • Transparent Financial management and broad participation from numerous quarters to support the conference.
  • Over 90 members and two new Life members to emerge, Dr. Asad Abidi (CA) and Dr. Rizwan Uddin from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana campus.
  • This conference team was headed by an engineer, Dr. Irfan Ahmad, an outstanding leader who was assisted by many colleagues and students.
  • Invitation from prestigious institutions of Pakistan such as the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology to resume Biennial APSENA Conferences in Pakistan beginning March 23, 2010.
  • Despite these invitations, APSENA chose to wait until safer travel to Pakistan is possible.
  • Identification of several young Pakistani Americans as potential leaders for managing and pursuing APSENA goals
  • A dynamic, comprehensive, user-friendly APSENA web site to reach out for history, regional connections and present activities paid for the next three years (up to Nov.1, 2012) until we were victimized by fraud by a CA web hosting company in March 2010. 
  • Active participation of professional women and female students in APSENA activities
  • Federal and State agency involvement in APSENA conference and recognition of APSENA as a policy making body for discussions about the progress of Pakistan in science & technology.
  • Revitalization of Mentoring by APSENA professionals to students and young scientists and Engineers in USA, Canada and Pakistan
  • Consideration of Distance Education as a tool to reach out and train students and faculty in institutions in Pakistan equipped with state of the art technology
  • Cooperation, collaboration, guidance and participation of APSENA Board members during the 2008 and 2009 conference activities and thereafter.
  • APSENA representation in several Pakistani, Pakistani American and American organizations’ events/Conferences in academic, social, cultural and political contexts and the resulting goodwill and respect earned by APSENIANS (Drs.Ikram Khawaja, Nusrat Naqvi, Bashir Syed, Irfan Ahmad, Mr. Mukhtar, Tariq Khan and Tahir Kazmi, to name a few).
  • An APSENA 2008-2010 directory of participants with name, APSENA region/state and email address as a means for networking and mentoring as a dynamic document to be updated every year.
  • Nomination, election and appointment of a second female president of APSENA in July, 2010
  • A Hall of fame type depiction of APSENA leadership of the past years  (1983-2010) for introducing APSENA founder and presidents who had the opportunity to serve for the inspiration of future members.
  • We are adding a little over $3,000 to APSENA treasury.

Thanks for the part played by each of you in making APSENA a viable organization and we hope you will continue to strengthen it in every possible way.  We gratefully acknowledge your contributions to the success of your organization. 

Nusrat Naqvi

12th APSENA President, April 2008-July 2010

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