A yearly publication, the students came together to create The Technopolitan; a magazine that informs the region’s IET members of global events and includes technical features and interviews with staff from the organisation as well as industry leaders. Created annually, the first issue was published in May 2009, and was praised by the Pakistan Local Networks (LNs), the UET and industry alike. This May, for the second publication, the editorial team arranged a magazine launch ceremony, to which they invited IET Pakistan and YPS members, along with their sponsors.

Eight students from the IET UET chapter make up the editorial board, and they liaised with members of academia and industry to compile the articles and design the magazine. Already a highly proactive group that regularly arranges seminars, tutorials and workshops for students, the team wanted to take things a step further.

The concept

“We envisioned The Technopolitan as a way to share knowledge,” says Irfan Elahi, UET student and IET member. “It allows us to share our ideas with other UET students and serves as a platform for them to share their experiences and knowledge. The magazine primarily focuses on modern day engineering issues, new technologies and advancements in the fields of electrical engineering, computer sciences and information technology.

“We aim to publish the magazine once a year, and this year the magazine went ‘global’ as it includes articles not only from UET students, but also from various prestigious institutions from around the world, such as the University of Michigan and University of Central Florida, to name but a few,” Elahi enthuses.

Magazine development

The magazine was developed in stages. Firstly the editorial board built up a call for articles campaign across campus and out amongst local industrial and professional organisations. Once the articles began to come in, the board then had to sort through the documents from students, teachers and professional volunteers. The best were then chosen, and edited to fit the style and tone of the magazine.

“The experience has been very enlightening, educating and rewarding,” says Elahi. “The whole experience of creating a magazine gets very nerve wracking at times and the stress is difficult to handle, but the overwhelming sense of pride and achievement when the magazine lands on your desk after months of hard work is worth it all.

Learning new skills

“Creating a magazine is a good means of preparing us for what awaits in our professional life post-university,” he continues. “It has taught us all how to maintain balance in our lives. We struggled to juggle our studies with the often very demanding task of bringing out a magazine. It has taught us the valuable lesson of time management.

“Moreover the experience and knowledge gained while interacting with professionals is very valuable too. There are tonnes of things that we learned from speaking to professionals, and interviewing people was an enriching experience too.”

Want to try?

The editorial board is highly passionate about The Technopolitan and aims to make every issue the best it can be. The team is more than happy to hear from other IET students willing to volunteer their services, skills and articles, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with them via the Pakistan Lahore Network if you’d like to get involved.

Perhaps you’d even like to start your very own student magazine? Elahi recommends the experience to everyone.

“Having experienced the journey of putting together The Technopolitan, I would certainly recommend creating an engineering magazine to other students. It not only fulfils the purpose of sharing knowledge but also instils a whole lot of social skills. Interacting with different people, learning the art of management, and going through the task of teamwork is an experience in itself that can teach an individual way more than any book can,” he concludes.