Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET), Karachi holds a significant status of being the first Professional College imparting Engineering Education established in the private sector of Pakistan. The foundation stone of the Institution was laid in 1962 and the first batch of students was admitted in 1964. Dawood College imparting education in engineering disciplines was the vision of its founder Mr. Ahmed Dawood; an Industrialist cum Philanthropist, who’s great foresight considered it a necessity for the Industrial Development of Pakistan. With this vision the institute was the first to establish the disciplines of Chemical Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials Engineering; and Electronics Engineering.
In 1972, Dawood College was nationalized and came under the administrative control of Federal Ministry of Education. Thereafter, two new academic programs were initiated viz. Industrial Engineering and Management; and Architecture and Planning (by merging the Karachi School of Architecture established in 1953). A new hostel was also constructed in Gulshan-e-Iqbal that later on changed to the Department of Architecture and Planning, and came to be known as the Iqbal Campus. Till now, the Iqbal Campus functions efficiently and simultaneously maintains its close ties with the main campus negating the factor of distance.
The Institution since 2010 rode on the way to add more value to the industrial sector of the country by introducing four new Engineering Departments viz. Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, Computer Systems Engineering, and Energy and Environmental Engineering. In 2011 as a consequence of 18th Constitutional amendment Dawood College of Engineering and Technology was devolved to the Government of Sindh. The year 2013 was nonetheless but a stepping stone to lead the institution towards betterment and prosperity whereby, the Government of Sindh through an Act of the Provincial Assembly elevated the College to the status of a University i.e. Dawood University of Engineering and Technology (DUET), Karachi. With this up gradation, the appointment of Dr. Faizullah Abbasi as the first Vice Chancellor proved to be the juncture whereby the journey of transformation began. In 2013 the following Academic Programs at the Bachelor’s level were in play:
1. Architecture and Planning 2. Chemical Engineering 3. Computer Systems Engineering 4. Electronics Engineering
5. Energy and Environment Engineering 6. Industrial Engineering and Management 7. Metallurgy and Materials Engineering 8. Petroleum and Gas Engineering 9. Telecommunication Engineering
The concerned programs are accredited by the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP) and Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) respectively.
In 2016 the project on “Strengthening of Dawood University of Engineering and Technology (DUET, Karachi” amounting to Rs.578 million was approved. This initiated refurbishing of Laboratories, establishing I.T infrastructure and PhD Scholarships for the faculty.
From 2013 till present the institution has strived to strengthen its academics and research by inducting Ph.D. and Masters Faculty in all the departments. To date the University has up to 70 Ph.D. faculty (2022) and some 30 more are pursuing Ph.D. degrees abroad.
In 2018, Dawood University of Engineering and Technology for the first time introduced Postgraduate programs leading to Ph.D. The University has since then produced 126 Masters Graduates till 2021. The institution, in 2020 also initiated new market driven programs concerning the Bachelors of Science in Mathematics, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, and Business Information Systems.
Precisely, Dawood University of Engineering & Technology maintains its position as an emerging and a promising Institution situated right in the city center where the Quaid’s Mausoleum lies in Karachi- the Industrial hub of Pakistan.
