I was so unaware of the circumstances and problems that I was going to face in the field. Had I known before, I would have opted for another profession because I was not socially well connected which a consultant should be .I did go through much ups and down but at the end of the day there is every kind of people that you have to get the work done from. There is no choice because we have ro work with vendors, engineers, architects, developers, end users etc no matter what.

AT: Can you identify the three most pressing problems to practice in the field of engineering?

AS: As human we care about our face, eyes, dressing etc  but we don’t care about soul and tarnish it although soul and body are interconnected. Same is the case with electrical engineering which is invisible like soul and either intentionally or unintentionally, the people in command are destroying it.

There are a lot of issues yes the major three are as follows:

• Influx of fake “So-called” Electrical Consultants
• Unethical means of getting Projects at low fee or by maligning others
• Unavailability of qualified Contractors and skilled workers

Mushrooming of fake consultants, who are not authorized to give consulting services, is because most of the architects the architect hire these fake consultants and encourage them to get the design work done at a very low fee. In addition to that, some architectural re making their own electrical department and getting  either by subletting the work to these forged consultants or by their employed inexpert engineers are reluctant to work in the field of consultancy and this is also causing mal-practices in this respectable field of service.

The situation in other provinces is worst, no authority seem active to establish a conduct and put a halt to all such mal practices which is resulting in a hopelessness in consultancy for engineers in Pakistan.

The consulting firm like ElekEn are getting suppressed by the phony Consultants as well as large consulting firms who are providing all architectural Structural and MEP services.

Architects and Consultants are getting projects ate a very low fee, I don’t how are they surviving and living lavishly. This is one reason of by-passing engineering economics. The CLEAN Consultants who believe in ethics and giving consulting services with honesty are trying to find out new avenue to switch their businesses.

The quality of work done and workmanship depends upon good executers, unlike Civil / Architecture, field of electrical engineering severely needs qualified contractors having skilled workers resulting in poor quality of workmanship.

AT: How important is architectural lighting for spatial environment while designing any projects and what considerations you keep in mind?

AS: The only thing that people associate with electrical engineering is lightning. Yes , it is an essential  consultant do everything including lightning and they cannot justify their jobs. Since, people (Clients as well Architect) are neither willing to pay for lighting design to electrical consultant nor to invest on lightning design to electrical consultant nor to invest on lighting fixtures therefore there are few projects where you may see good lighting consultants who may see good lighting. In my opinion, lighting is a vast subject , there

must e exclusive lighting consultant who must have aesthetic sense and can understand and synchronize themselves with the architectural and aesthetic aspects of the projects.

When a lighting theme is generating it is the joint effort of architects and lighting consultant keeping electrical engineering aside.Lighting is not the business of Electrical engineers. Lighting design and consultancy is a special subject.You have  to see whether you require uniform light or task light etc or how much load pr electrical density it should be there.

 It is a serious issue in Pakistan and unfortunately non-technical people are dominating in this sector. In other countries, companies have brands working under them and they choose lighting according to the requirement of the project. This varies from case to case resulting in right selection of lights for every application.

AT: Who you enjoyed most working with:

AS: I have really enjoyed working with architects like;

• Ejaz Ahed
• Tariq A Qasier
• Mansoor Ghanchi
• Iftikhar Azam
• Aamir Chaudhry and
• Naheed Kazmi

Because they give you the freedom to work in coherence with them and treat with high respect.They work like a team leader and involve us from initial stage.

I also  have high regards for AR  Arshad and Shahid Abdullah ,Engr.Abdur Razzak, Ar Akbar jameel and Mr.saleem zaki who motivated and supported me since beginning of my professional journey.

AT: To what extent you propose fixtures and lighting system with an architect/consultant

AS: Where I am given

given free hand, I design and choose lighting features according to the nature of ehe space requirement and project. When an architect wants to create an ambience, they discusses how that can be achieved with lighting. The intensity, uniformity and designing of light  differ from space to space. Electrical loads are also reduced by appropriate light design. I make sure in my projects that I select lights fulfilling the requirement and reducing the loads as much as possible .

In Agha Khan Hospital there is a building “Centre for Innovation in Medical Education”

And also AKU Bamyan Hospital in Afghanistan done with Arcop, has a very balanced lighting scheme and ambience. I am the first consultant who has made efforts and Alhamdulillah succeeded in changing some of the outdated practices of Aga Khan Hospital that were set since ages.

AT: Do you have ever faced problems from the owner and contractor?

AS: The project management team from owner’s or contractor’s side at times is not up to the mark which causes delays. The responsibility of a project manager is to appoint engineers of relevant fields who can understand the nature of work and projects . Unfortunately’ that is not the case most of the time. It’s a normal practice of clients Projects Managers who can make consultants responsible for delays.

AT: What are the considerations for building safety in terms of electrical designing and what important tips would  like to give designers and public at large?

AS: Building safety is of supreme importance. The issue of building is power Distribution System. If some measures are kept in mind like proper service shafts, usage of fire barriers  , distribution of power and allocations of services while designing a building then we can avoid catastrophes like fire breakout and its propagation in buildings. Generally there are less fire breakouts in corporate building compares to genral building by developers. Why? For example : if there is a mall or an office building which is a multi tenant building, the work of the consultant is to design the infrastructure and to terminate all the services at door step of tenant and generally there are no qualified people involved in all work done after that point specially in retail shop or an office. Although  the infrastructure is strong but inside the premises the work done is not upto the mark which leads to problems.

Another issue for building safety is unrealistic K.E rules for installation for substation, cables and Energy Meters which are causing Fire Hazards.