TEDx LCWU 2019: Beyond the Stars
Lahore, Pakistan; December 21, 2019 – TEDx LCWU 2019 took place on December 21, 2019 at Iqra Auditorium Lahore College for Women University from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm. The independently organized event, licensed by TED, featured local voices and TED Talks videos under the theme Beyond the Stars. The principal license holder and Organizer for the event is Dr. Asma Shahid Kazi, CoD Department of Professional Studies, LCWU. The Co-Organizer and curator for the event was Ms. Shagufta Moghal. The event has the distinction of being the first TEDx university event in Lahore with a license to invite more than 100 attendees.
Launched in 2009, TEDx is program of locally organized events that brings the community together to share a TED-like experience. Some of the best talks from TEDx events have gone on to be featured on TED.com and have garnered millions of views from audiences across the globe. TEDxLCWU2019 was organized by Lahore College for Women University on the theme of “Beyond the Stars”; a galaxy of endless possibilities, a stretch of dreams exploring all confines of human nature, celebrating note-worthy efforts. This theme was envisioned to encourage people to step out of their comfort zones and explore human potential to the rim for the collective code of humanity.
While addressing the crowd the worthy Vice Chancellor of LCWU, Prof. Dr. Bushra Mirza, highlighted the unique contribution of events like TEDx LCWU for the future of education and educational institutions. Prof. Dr. Uzma Quraishi, Vice Chancellor Women University Multan, also graced the event with her presence and appreciated the quality of the talks and the excellent management of the networking activities. The two Vice chancellors participated in all the networking activities outside, and interactions with the attendees present. The event was attended by a turnout of around 300 attendees and guests. These included faculty members and principals from renowned institutes of Lahore and a host of professionals from creative arts, architecture, pharmacy, medicine and marketing.
Speakers at TEDxLCWU 2019 included:
● Dr. Khurram Sadiq – A leading UK based psychiatrist, blogger, musician and an aspiring vlogger. He is currently working with the leading Pakistani schools bringing awareness to the psychological issues of students.
● Bilal Bin Saqib – An activist and successful entrepreneur who promotes social advocacy. He established an NGO ‘Tayaba.org’ in Pakistan to provide drinkable water to people of remote access areas.
●Dr. Sadia Malick – A UK trained gynecologist and obstetrician consultant, currently working in UAE. She has played an instrumental role in establishing a Women’s Health Training Institute and has worked in the mountainous areas of KPK.
● Momin Saqib – A student activist, passionate about raising awareness regarding social taboos and mental health.
● Shawaz Baluch – The first visually impaired PMP (USA) and PRINCE2 (UK) certified trainer, serving as an Assistant Professor at Bahria University.
● Qurat-ul-Aim Shamim – Anarchitect and a theatre artist well known for her performance at ‘Auratnaak’.
●TasveerSaaz Mime House – A group of mime artists having a background from the College of Art and Design, Punjab University headed by Hamza Bin Ishaq who is the Team Head, Director and Writer.
The talks and videos of the event will be uploaded to the TEDx LCWU Youtube channel within the next 2 weeks. The links will also be shared from all social media handles.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the efforts of the 180 team members from the faculty and students from all departments of LCWU in organizing the TEDx LCWU 2019. We thank the Directorate of Student Affairs and Institute of Design and Visual Arts IDVA, LCWU for their invaluable contribution.
For more information about TEDxLCWU, please visit https://www.ted.com/tedxlcwu.com/,https://www.tedxlcwu.com/, https://www.facebook.com/tedxlcwu/,https://twitter.com/TEDxLCWU,https://instagram.com/TEDxLCWU/ or https://www.snapchat.com/add/tedxlcwu
The Skoll Foundation is a global supporter of the TEDx network of curators and conveners who are strengthening community and civic discourse in 170+ countries around the world.
The Skoll Foundation drives large-scale change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs who transform our world for the better. By purposefully connecting TEDx organizers and Skoll's communities, platforms and insights, their goal is to improve society on a local-to-global scale with ideas worth spreading.
Department of Physics, LCWU as a co-organizer participated warmly in ICSSP’19. 
Department of Physics presented 26 research papers in oral and poster form. Prof . Dr. Zohra Kayani organized two symposia. 
In closing ceremony, the Vice Chancellor, LCWU, Prof. Dr. Bushra Mirza concluded ICCSP’19. In her address she emphasized on the collaboration among different universities in various fields of science and technology to cooperate in research, teaching, human resource development, technological innovations, development of academic programs, and financial resources.
British Council has organized DICE Conference at Lok Virsa, Islamabad on the 3rd-4th of December, 2019. Startups from all over the world were participating at this event. LCWU is the only women university exhibiting at this event. Prof. Dr. Farkhanda Manzoor, Director ORIC/ CoD Zoology, along with Dr. Safoora Riaz, Assistant Professor Zoology Department is representing Lahore College for Women University at this conference. Zainab Irfan, a student of International Relations at LCWU, is also showcasing her startup named Elektrico at this conference. Her team is currently enrolled in the Cohort II of the incubation programme at LCWU. Her team aims to recycle the old worn out electronic waste into useful electronic devices. As Pakistan itself is not an electronic producing country, this initiative will help out to provide electronics at cheaper rate. 
Nimra Shafiq, student of Craft and Textile Design Department, Lahore College for Women University Jhang selected as the finalist from Pakistan on 3rd April 2019. There were 250 students from 20 universities of Pakistan in this international Student Design Competition organized by Society of Dyers and Colorists, UK. Nimra attended her grand finale in China which was held in Xiamen Academy of Arts. 
There were 14 finalists from 14 different countries of the world. Where she presented her project with the title of “Dirty Textures”. Her experience was awesome to visit China. It was really secure to be there under SDC supervision. This project was done under the valued supervision of Ms. Aisha Arshad Khan.
A national symposium on Awareness, prevention and treatment of Hepatitis and free screening camp of Hepatitis B and C and vaccination of hepatitis B is jointly organized by Department of Biotechnology, LCWU, Lahore General Hospital and Hepatitis Control programme, Primary and secondary healthcare Department on 27th November 2019. 
A lecture on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Hepatitis A, D, E is given by Prof. Dr. Ghias-un-Nabi- Tayyab. A lecture on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Hepatitis B and C is given by Dr. Akif Dilshad and a lecture on safe use of laboratory practices is given by Dr. Farheen Aslam. 
This fits United Nation sustainable Goals for development (SDG3 Good health and wellbeing).