Introduction to Engineering Faculty

As it is clear for all Afghans that the imposed wars of the last four decades have massively destroyed and paralyzed the majority of the infrastructures of our beloved country, so Afghans need engineers who are well-trained , committed and experienced in order to rebuild their war torn country, and to lead the country towards prosperity. For the above-mentioned reason, Salam University realized the importance of this issue, and felt the necessity to establish an engineering faculty with four departments: (civil Engineering, Architectural Engineering,  Electrical Engineering and Urban Planning) at the very beginning of the establishment of the University in 2009 to fill a large gap in the society.

Objectives of Engineering Faculty

Engineering Faculty of Salam University in the light of its vision and mission strives to educate youths in the way to realize their responsibilities toward their country in the spirit of patriotism and play vital role in building and flourishing the country's construction and development projects. It tries to educate youths who are always dedicated to serve their homeland and people and strive to create more prosperity and comfort for their countrymen.

The Faculty Has Set the Following perspective to achieve the mentioned goals:

1- Providing the ground for study in the field of engineering at the level of bachelor, master and doctorate in accordance with regional and international standards.

2- Enhancing the quality of education and creating a convenient and Islamic environment in accordance with the needs and demands of our beloved country.

3- Striving to provide the ground for development in the relevant fields in both theoretical and practical ways.

Basir Ahmad  Yusufi  was borne on 7-1-1354 in Herat Provence. He has studied his primary and secondary school in his homeland and then went to Turkey to study his bachelor degree.  He graduated from Environmental Engineering Faculty of  ONDOKOZ MAYIS University in 2001. In addition, he received his postgraduate degree in Environmental Engineering in 2012 from WEST TEHRAN AZAD University. 
He returned to his homeland to serve his country to the best of his ability.  He has taught professional subjects in many Universities. Moreover, he established Faculty of Engineering at Salam University and  worked in many educational and administrative positions as Educational Coordinator and head of Civil Department. In 2016, he was appointed as  Vice Chancellor of Admin & finance Affairs of Salam university. He has been working as Dean of Engineering Faculty of Salam University since 1401.

Vision

The Faculty of Engineering is determined to be a scientific, credible, academic, and research institution in various fields of engineering sciences and to be the leader in the education of committed and expert staffs in the country.

Mission

The Faculty of Engineering considers it its mission to reach its vision regarding the education of scientific and committed staff in engineering science and knowledge, the implementation of professional scientific research and the provision of scientific and specialized advice to governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Introduction

The development and progress of society necessitate a robust and knowledgeable civil society, an effective governance system, and a well-rounded educational system. The advancement of a modern and sophisticated society, encompassing economic, cultural, and social domains, heavily relies on educated citizens, skilled professionals, and experts. Institutions such as civil society organizations and educational establishments that cater to national requirements play a pivotal role in supporting this growth. By providing educational services, particularly to the youth, we can cultivate individuals who possess critical thinking abilities, knowledge, expertise, professionalism, and skills. These individuals will become leaders and managers capable of fostering a strong civil society, one where economic, social, and political issues such as poverty, unemployment, and violence can be addressed reasonably. As an educational institution, the Faculty of Engineering at Salam University recognizes this urgent and vital need within Afghan society. We have endeavored to offer high-quality educational opportunities to those in need, especially young individuals, in collaboration with other higher education institutions and universities in Afghanistan. In doing so, it is our aim to produce professionals, experts, and educated individuals who will contribute to the country's growth and development. Through comprehensive educational services, particularly for unemployed youth, we strive to ensure the existence of a future generation encompassing educated, knowledgeable, and specialized leaders who will contribute to the advancement of a democratic and stable society.

Introduction to Architectural Department

By 1400, the population of our country will reach roughly 35 million people, more than 60% of these 35 million people will dwell in cities. In fact, in less than 20 years more, almost most of Afghanistan's population will be urbanized. Now the question is that whether we made plan to provide residential, economic, social and cultural facilities to most of these residents? How about the current situation? Do our cities access the world standards? In reality, who can provide a comprehensive plan for cities and towns and play an effective role in the mental and physical convenience of urban dwellers?

Undoubtedly, accomplishing such a great goal is beyond the ability of   experts of one field, so for leading and regulating a city, the cooperation and coordination of economists, sociologists, architects, engineers, geographers and experts in various other fields are required. Among them, the experts of Architecture Engineering as policy makers and expert managers have a very important role in this regard.

The national economy of a country can grow rapidly and rightly if the society has experienced and competent academic cadres in all the economic, social, cultural, academic and technical fields. Based on this principle, Salam University Engineering Faculty decided to establish an Architecture Department within Salam University Engineering Faculty in order to educate technical-professional cadres and meet the country's needs in terms of shortage of expert engineers.  In fact, it will provide female and male youth of Afghanistan with a ground and opportunity to continue their higher education in the field of Architecture Engineering to a bachelor degree inside the country.

As the Architecture Engineering is a field of science associated with art that carries out the design of urban buildings considering the quality of beauty, social and cultural needs in a specific place in the city, it should take into consideration various types of artistic characteristics, such as the durability of materials and paint, the beauty of the city, decorations, proportions, scale and memorable initiatives and their connection with the culture and customs of the past. On the one hand, all the cities of the country have been designed according to the time, cultural and economic conditions of the distant past, and do not meet the needs of the current population of the cities. On the other hand, Afghanistan, lacks experts of Architecture Engineering. Thus, there is an urgent need for the Architecture Engineering graduates to be able to design cities according to the needs of the population in the long term.

Objectives of the Architecture Engineering Department

The curriculum of the Department of Architecture Engineering has been prepared based on the curriculum of many universities and architecture higher education institutes in the world, in which the national characteristics and the demands of the Afghan society are accurately and comprehensively observed and included.

In order to enrich the curriculum of the Architecture Engineering Department, the Faculty of Engineering has conducted a comprehensive consultation with various factions. A number of Architecture Engineering specialists, thoughtful people and elite engineers of the country have been invited to the Faculty of Engineering to express their views on the curriculum of the Architecture Engineering Department. Students of the field of Architecture Engineering receive a bachelor's degree after successful completion of 174 credits in 9 semesters.   

The educational goals of this field are the technical and professional development of Architecture Engineering, but in general, the following objectives can be listed as the educational goals of this field:

 1- Having sufficient information in the field of principles of Architecture Engineering, and urban planning.

2- Getting acquainted with drawing maps with hand and engineering tools.

3- Gaining knowledge in urban issues.

4- Analyzing urban problems and finding ways to solve them.

5- Getting acquainted with all the elements of buildings and the way of presenting them in the maps.

 6- Obtaining familiarity with all construction materials and how to use them in urban projects.

 7- Obtaining information in the system of studying and collecting information about a project from the area and textbooks.

 8- Acquiring knowledge in the field of urban design.

 9- Acquiring knowledge in the design of different types of urban buildings.

 10- Implementing and arranging clerical and regional affairs of construction and development projects.

 11- Recognizing the cultural and social issues of the society and its connection with buildings.

 12- Knowing how to reach an agreement with the contractors of the buildings.

 13- Getting familiarity with environmental sustainable buildings.

 14- Obtaining familiarity with paint and its physical and chemical properties and how to use it inside and outside the building.

 15- Getting acquainted with the ways of presenting projects and familiarity with group work.

 16- Gaining familiarity with computer programs to draw projects.

 17- And finally, the revitalizing Architecture Engineering in Afghanistan which has been sadly overlooked.

Civil Engineering Department

Civil Engineering Department (Construction) is the first department that was established in 2009 as one of the major branches of the Engineering Faculty, and then it was considered the second faculty at the level of higher education institutions. In fact, it is a general department and the subjects of different major branches of engineering can be found in its curriculum. Currently, the subjects of three fields are taught in this Department:

 1- Civil Engineering

 2- Transportation Engineering

 3- Environmental Engineering

Vision

  The Civil Engineering Department of the Faculty of Engineering as an academic and specialized department, wants to utilize its available facilities to educate committed and specialized engineers in order to meet the needs of community in the field of planning and implementing standard construction projects.

Mission

In order to acquire its vision, the Civil Department is strongly determined to educate Engineers, academic and committed cadres in the field of construction projects, conducting academic and professional research and providing advice.

Teaching Facilities of Civil Department

In order to standardize and ensure the quality of education, Salam University has provided all the necessary facilities for the development and promotion of this department which are mentioned as below:

Academic Cadres

   The majority of the Faculty Academic cadre members of the Civil Department of the Engineering Faculty have higher education degrees at the level of master and Ph.D. degrees from foreign international universities and have sufficient experience and expertise. In addition, the University always strives to improve the quality, quantity and systematization of Civil Department programs so that the University can introduce it as the most reliable, quality, standard, honest and service-oriented educational body in the country.

Currently, the total number of professional professors in the Civil Department of the Faculty of Engineering is (27). Ten of them are full-time professors and (17) others are part-time professors.

Also, there are (5) professors for teaching Islamic culture and (2) others for teaching Vocational English Language, so the total number of professional and non-professional professors hits 34 ones.

The total number of permanent and contract professors based on category of degrees and the category percentage is as below.

                                                      Number                      Percentage

Ph.D.: 4                           11.11 %               

Masters: 12                    58.33%            

Bachelors: 11                 30.55%             

Total: 36                       100%               

Expected Results and Skills from the Students

  Graduates of Civil Department are expected to gain the following abilities:

 1- Ability to design building structures.

2- Ability to design hydraulic buildings.

 3- Ability to design roads.

 4- Ability to design water supply and drainage systems

 5- Ability to implement, manage and lead any type of construction project.

 6- Ability to control the quality of construction work.

 7- Ability to check and test various construction materials.

Program Details

Electrical Engineering Department

The Department of Electrical Engineering is one of the most important departments of the Faculty of Engineering and its establishment is considered very essential in the current situation of the country since Afghanistan is a developing country and by ensuring full security and establishing factories and industries, the need for professional engineers in this field will be felt a lot. Thus, the Department of Electrical Engineering of Salam University in order to educate qualified, professional and skilled engineers, has great educational and practical programs in hand to present engineers to the community who will perform the right actions in their respective fields besides being able to do research in their field related topics.                                                                          

The Department of Electrical Engineering consists of different fields, such as Power and Energy and Communications. The Curriculum of the Department of Electrical Engineering has been prepared with the course outline for each subject in accordance with academic norms and today’s needs of society since we know that electrical engineering is a field that operates science and technology by utilizing the rules of mathematics and physics for designing synthetic sections, energy systems (generation, transmission and distribution) and telecommunication systems, and implements their maintenance in practice individually or collectively for achieving a specific goal in a safe and secure manner by applying internationally accepted standards.

The current curriculum of the Department of Electrical Engineering is a standard curriculum that is compatible with the current needs of the community and involves 162 credits, eight semesters and two months of practical work in projects.       

Academic Cadres

  The majority of the faculty members of the Department of Electrical Engineering hold master and doctoral degrees from reputed foreign universities and have   sufficient experience and expertise. In addition, the University always strives to improve the quality, quantity and systematization of Electrical Engineering Department programs so that the University can introduce it as the most reliable, quality, standard, honest and service-oriented educational body in the country.

Currently, the total number of professional professors in the Electrical Department of the Faculty of Engineering is (12). Four of them are permanent professors and (8) others are part-time professors.

Also, there are (5) professors in the field of Islamic culture and (2) others in the field of English Language. Thus, the total number of professional and non-professional professors reaches (18). If the number of students goes up, the number of professors will also be increased.

The study period of the Electrical Engineering Department of the Engineering Faculty is four years, eight semesters and two months period of practical work. This department has a standard curriculum in which 162 credits are taught. The curriculum of the Department of Electrical Engineering like other departments, is based on the academic credit system and involves the University criteria, basic, professional, practical and optional subjects. They are described in the following chart:

Program Details

Practical work and Academic Expedition

As mentioned before, in the Curriculum of Electrical Engineering Department, two months are allocated to practical work which take place during the seventh and eighth semesters. During this period of time the students are taken and introduced to ministries, private sector projects, governmental and non-governmental projects for the purpose of conducting research.

In order to implement the students' practical work period effectively, the Faculty of Engineering has signed memoranda of understanding with multiple governmental and non-governmental bodies, some of which are Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Public Works and Kabul Municipality.

The students 'practical work process in the projects is monitored by the coordinator of the Engineering Faculty. At the end of the mentioned period of time, the relevant department evaluates and approves the prepared report about the students' practical work. In addition, the students prepare a detailed report about their practical works. After the defense, they hand it over to the relevant department. In case of necessity, the professors can take the students on an academic tour during the semester to visit practical projects. Furthermore, the department directorate of this faculty provides students and their respective professors with the opportunity to take tour and have visits to the projects in each semester.

Introduction to Urban Development Department

For urban and regional development, our country requires roughly 70,000 urban and regional development programs. In fact, if we want to approach the global development caravan, we must believe in the issue of urban planning and invest in it so that we can be like developed countries and make up for our backwardness by planning resources. Unfortunately, at present, the abilities of specialists in this field are ambiguous and not seen in the general culture of the society, and the architecture and urban planning engineers are not interested in this issue and don’t tend to it. Although engineers are on the verge of building, they do not intervene on a large range, namely, they do not study a city with all its social, human, economic, cultural and physical characteristics. Thus, they are not successful in planning or designing a city.  

A specialist of urban planning is a person who can work in the field of urban design or urban planning and be a factor in the development of the city. Urban planning knowledge analyzes all the social, economic, political and physical developments of a city and strives to organize the current relations in a city in the framework of coordinate system, and an urban planning expert is someone who offers a well-organized and effective plan for a city by studying the social, economic, political and cultural relations that govern the city. There are at least 6 main aspects in this field which are crucial for planning and designing a city.

Urban planning, which focuses primarily on land use, surveys how we allocate space and development of the city to activities, such as industrial, commercial and residential and many others. 

Transportation planning, economic and social planning are necessary for a city because there is not only the issue of the physical study of the city, but there are also the important issue of urban society and the people who live in this environment. In other words, comprehensive infrastructure network planning, such as water, electricity and telephone, etc. should be made for people of different social strata that have social, economic and cultural facilities, or for different ethnic groups living in different parts of a city.   

Environmental planning which examines environmental hazards, such as floods and earthquakes, plans to deal with these threats and studies the adverse effects that humans have on the environment.                            

Urban Planning deals with the three-dimensional design of a city and focuses on human relations with its physical environment. In fact, in urban design, human beings with all their physical, mental and spiritual characteristics are considered and its goal is to improve the quality of the city.

Students of this field should be interested and familiar with design and artistic concepts, such as the psychology of paints, technical concepts and technical principles of work like surveying and mapping, technical drawing, spatial geometry, modeling, mathematics, and human and social issues like sociology. In addition, they should know that they have to do a lot of research and practical work during their studies. Furthermore, the field of urban planning requires a lot of study and extensive practical work, so students should dedicate a lot of time to it. Also, they must have a high analytical capability and be adept at design.

Objectives of the Department

Curriculum of Department of Urban Planning and the contents of each subject have been prepared in accordance with academic standards and engineering needs of the community since we know that urban engineering is a field that implements the knowledge of science and technology by utilizing natural laws, mathematics, and physics by applying universally accepted urban planning standards for the design and development of industrial buildings, construction equipment, machinery and products, and it acts for the purpose of using them individually or collectively along with other devices to achieve a specific goal safely and securely.             

An urban planning engineer is a person who pursues the purpose and use of tools, financial and economic issues, maintenance of health and safety of human and nature and legal status and building ownership, and considers it his duty in addition to applying the field of urban engineering. The engineer has to solve the anticipated and unpredicted problems of the engineering. He has to think about the economic cost of plan, the durability, the effectiveness and the simplification of the system, and act sincerely.

Curriculum

The curriculum of the Department of Urban Planning of the Faculty of Engineering prepares students to specialize in urban engineering and to acquire special abilities in various parts of civil engineering. During the semester the class activities according to the course outline of a subject are given to the students by the members of the urban planning department since such types of activities enhance the practical knowledge of the students.

Selection of subjects and determination of the contents of each subject have been developed according to the level of education plan, and the prerequisites of each course have been specified. In the curriculum of this department, 59 subjects including a practical course and a monograph which hit total of 161 credits, are taught.