Engineering is the discipline, skill, and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes.

The American Engineers' Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET) has defined "engineering" as:

The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.

One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so may have more formal designations such as Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, Ingenieur or European Engineer. The broad discipline of engineering encompasses a range of more specialized sub disciplines, each with a more specific emphasis on certain fields of application and particular areas of technology.

History [link]

Engineering has existed since ancient times as humans devised fundamental inventions such as the pulley, lever, and wheel. Each of these inventions is consistent with the modern definition of engineering, exploiting basic mechanical principles to develop useful tools and objects.

The term ''engineering'' itself has a much more recent etymology, deriving from the word ''engineer'', which itself dates back to 1325, when an ''engine’er'' (literally, one who operates an ''engine'') originally referred to “a constructor of military engines.” In this context, now obsolete, an “engine” referred to a military machine, ''i.e.'', a mechanical contraption used in war (for example, a catapult). Notable exceptions of the obsolete usage which have survived to the present day are military engineering corps, ''e.g.'', the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The word “engine” itself is of even older origin, ultimately deriving from the Latin ''ingenium'' (c. 1250), meaning “innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention.”

Later, as the design of civilian structures such as bridges and buildings matured as a technical discipline, the term civil engineering entered the lexicon as a way to distinguish between those specializing in the construction of such non-military projects and those involved in the older discipline of military engineering.

Ancient era[link]

The Pharos of Alexandria, the pyramids in Egypt, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Acropolis and the Parthenon in Greece, the Roman aqueducts, Via Appia and the Colosseum, Teotihuacán and the cities and pyramids of the Mayan, Inca and Aztec Empires, the Great Wall of China, the Brihadeshwara temple of Tanjavur and tombs of India, among many others, stand as a testament to the ingenuity and skill of the ancient civil and military engineers.

The earliest civil engineer known by name is Imhotep. As one of the officials of the Pharaoh, Djosèr, he probably designed and supervised the construction of the Pyramid of Djoser (the Step Pyramid) at Saqqara in Egypt around 2630-2611 BC. He may also have been responsible for the first known use of columns in architecture.

Ancient Greece developed machines in both the civilian and military domains. The Antikythera mechanism, the first known mechanical computer, and the mechanical inventions of Archimedes are examples of early mechanical engineering. Some of Archimedes' inventions as well as the Antikythera mechanism required sophisticated knowledge of differential gearing or epicyclic gearing, two key principles in machine theory that helped design the gear trains of the Industrial revolution, and are still widely used today in diverse fields such as robotics and automotive engineering.

Chinese, Greek and Roman armies employed complex military machines and inventions such as artillery which was developed by the Greeks around the 4th century B.C., the trireme, the ballista and the catapult. In the Middle Ages, the Trebuchet was developed.

Renaissance era[link]

The first electrical engineer is considered to be William Gilbert, with his 1600 publication of De Magnete, who coined the term "electricity".

The first steam engine was built in 1698 by mechanical engineer Thomas Savery. The development of this device gave rise to the industrial revolution in the coming decades, allowing for the beginnings of mass production.

With the rise of engineering as a profession in the eighteenth century, the term became more narrowly applied to fields in which mathematics and science were applied to these ends. Similarly, in addition to military and civil engineering the fields then known as the mechanic arts became incorporated into engineering.

Modern era[link]

Electrical engineering can trace its origins in the experiments of Alessandro Volta in the 1800s, the experiments of Michael Faraday, Georg Ohm and others and the invention of the electric motor in 1872. The work of James Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century gave rise to the field of Electronics. The later inventions of the vacuum tube and the transistor further accelerated the development of electronics to such an extent that electrical and electronics engineers currently outnumber their colleagues of any other Engineering specialty.

The inventions of Thomas Savery and the Scottish engineer James Watt gave rise to modern Mechanical Engineering. The development of specialized machines and their maintenance tools during the industrial revolution led to the rapid growth of Mechanical Engineering both in its birthplace Britain and abroad.

Chemical Engineering, like its counterpart Mechanical Engineering, developed in the nineteenth century during the Industrial Revolution. Industrial scale manufacturing demanded new materials and new processes and by 1880 the need for large scale production of chemicals was such that a new industry was created, dedicated to the development and large scale manufacturing of chemicals in new industrial plants. The role of the chemical engineer was the design of these chemical plants and processes.

Aeronautical Engineering deals with aircraft design while Aerospace Engineering is a more modern term that expands the reach envelope of the discipline by including spacecraft design. Its origins can be traced back to the aviation pioneers around the turn of the century from the 19th century to the 20th although the work of Sir George Cayley has recently been dated as being from the last decade of the 18th century. Early knowledge of aeronautical engineering was largely empirical with some concepts and skills imported from other branches of engineering.

The first PhD in engineering (technically, ''applied science and engineering'') awarded in the United States went to Willard Gibbs at Yale University in 1863; it was also the second PhD awarded in science in the U.S.

Only a decade after the successful flights by the Wright brothers, there was extensive development of aeronautical engineering through development of military aircraft that were used in World War I . Meanwhile, research to provide fundamental background science continued by combining theoretical physics with experiments.

In 1990, with the rise of computer technology, the first search engine was built by computer engineer Alan Emtage.

Main branches of engineering [link]

Engineering, much like other science, is a broad discipline which is often broken down into several sub-disciplines. These disciplines concern themselves with differing areas of engineering work. Although initially an engineer will usually be trained in a specific discipline, throughout an engineer's career the engineer may become multi-disciplined, having worked in several of the outlined areas. Engineering is often characterized as having four main branches:

Chemical engineering – The application of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering principles in order to carry out chemical processes on a commercial scale.

Civil engineering – The design and construction of public and private works, such as infrastructure (airports, roads, railways, water supply and treatment etc.), bridges, dams, and buildings.

Electrical engineering – The design and study of various electrical and electronic systems, such as electrical circuits, generators, motors, electromagnetic/electromechanical devices, electronic devices, electronic circuits, optical fibers, optoelectronic devices, computer systems, telecommunications, instrumentation, controls, and electronics.

Mechanical engineering – The design of physical or mechanical systems, such as power and energy systems, aerospace/aircraft products, weapon systems, transportation products engines, compressors, powertrains, kinematic chains, vacuum technology, and vibration isolation equipment.

Beyond these four, sources vary on other main branches. Historically, naval engineering and mining engineering were major branches. Modern fields sometimes included as major branches include aerospace, petroleum, systems, audio engineering, architectural, biosystems, biomedical, industrial, materials science and nuclear engineering.

New specialties sometimes combine with the traditional fields and form new branches. A new or emerging area of application will commonly be defined temporarily as a permutation or subset of existing disciplines; there is often gray area as to when a given sub-field becomes large and/or prominent enough to warrant classification as a new "branch." One key indicator of such emergence is when major universities start establishing departments and programs in the new field.

For each of these fields there exists considerable overlap, especially in the areas of the application of sciences to their disciplines such as physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Methodology [link]

Engineers apply the sciences of physics and mathematics to find suitable solutions to problems or to make improvements to the status quo. More than ever, engineers are now required to have knowledge of relevant sciences for their design projects. As a result, they may keep on learning new material throughout their career.

If multiple options exist, engineers weigh different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best matches the requirements. The crucial and unique task of the engineer is to identify, understand, and interpret the constraints on a design in order to produce a successful result. It is usually not enough to build a technically successful product; it must also meet further requirements.

Constraints may include available resources, physical, imaginative or technical limitations, flexibility for future modifications and additions, and other factors, such as requirements for cost, safety, marketability, productibility, and serviceability. By understanding the constraints, engineers derive specifications for the limits within which a viable object or system may be produced and operated.

Problem solving [link]

Engineers use their knowledge of science, mathematics, logic, economics, and appropriate experience or tacit knowledge to find suitable solutions to a problem. Creating an appropriate mathematical model of a problem allows them to analyze it (sometimes definitively), and to test potential solutions.

Usually multiple reasonable solutions exist, so engineers must evaluate the different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best meets their requirements. Genrich Altshuller, after gathering statistics on a large number of patents, suggested that compromises are at the heart of "low-level" engineering designs, while at a higher level the best design is one which eliminates the core contradiction causing the problem.

Engineers typically attempt to predict how well their designs will perform to their specifications prior to full-scale production. They use, among other things: prototypes, scale models, simulations, destructive tests, nondestructive tests, and stress tests. Testing ensures that products will perform as expected.

Engineers take on the responsibility of producing designs that will perform as well as expected and will not cause unintended harm to the public at large. Engineers typically include a factor of safety in their designs to reduce the risk of unexpected failure. However, the greater the safety factor, the less efficient the design may be.

The study of failed products is known as forensic engineering, and can help the product designer in evaluating his or her design in the light of real conditions. The discipline is of greatest value after disasters, such as bridge collapses, when careful analysis is needed to establish the cause or causes of the failure.

Computer use[link]

As with all modern scientific and technological endeavors, computers and software play an increasingly important role. As well as the typical business application software there are a number of computer aided applications (Computer-aided technologies) specifically for engineering. Computers can be used to generate models of fundamental physical processes, which can be solved using numerical methods.

One of the most widely used tools in the profession is computer-aided design (CAD) software which enables engineers to create 3D models, 2D drawings, and schematics of their designs. CAD together with Digital mockup (DMU) and CAE software such as finite element method analysis or analytic element method allows engineers to create models of designs that can be analyzed without having to make expensive and time-consuming physical prototypes.

These allow products and components to be checked for flaws; assess fit and assembly; study ergonomics; and to analyze static and dynamic characteristics of systems such as stresses, temperatures, electromagnetic emissions, electrical currents and voltages, digital logic levels, fluid flows, and kinematics. Access and distribution of all this information is generally organized with the use of Product Data Management software.

There are also many tools to support specific engineering tasks such as Computer-aided manufacture (CAM) software to generate CNC machining instructions; Manufacturing Process Management software for production engineering; EDA for printed circuit board (PCB) and circuit schematics for electronic engineers; MRO applications for maintenance management; and AEC software for civil engineering.

In recent years the use of computer software to aid the development of goods has collectively come to be known as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

Social context[link]

Engineering is a subject that ranges from large collaborations to small individual projects. Almost all engineering projects are beholden to some sort of financing agency: a company, a set of investors, or a government. The few types of engineering that are minimally constrained by such issues are pro bono engineering and open design engineering.

By its very nature engineering is bound up with society and human behavior. Every product or construction used by modern society will have been influenced by engineering design. Engineering design is a very powerful tool to make changes to environment, society and economies, and its application brings with it a great responsibility. Many engineering societies have established codes of practice and codes of ethics to guide members and inform the public at large.

Engineering projects can be subject to controversy. Examples from different engineering disciplines include the development of nuclear weapons, the Three Gorges Dam, the design and use of Sport utility vehicles and the extraction of oil. In response, some western engineering companies have enacted serious corporate and social responsibility policies.

Engineering is a key driver of human development. Sub-Saharan Africa in particular has a very small engineering capacity which results in many African nations being unable to develop crucial infrastructure without outside aid. The attainment of many of the Millennium Development Goals requires the achievement of sufficient engineering capacity to develop infrastructure and sustainable technological development.

All overseas development and relief NGOs make considerable use of engineers to apply solutions in disaster and development scenarios. A number of charitable organizations aim to use engineering directly for the good of mankind:

Engineers Without Borders

Engineers Against Poverty

Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief

Engineers for a Sustainable World

Engineering for Change

Engineering Ministries International

Relationships with other disciplines [link]

Science [link]

There exists an overlap between the sciences and engineering practice; in engineering, one applies science. Both areas of endeavor rely on accurate observation of materials and phenomena. Both use mathematics and classification criteria to analyze and communicate observations.

Scientists may also have to complete engineering tasks, such as designing experimental apparatus or building prototypes. Conversely, in the process of developing technology engineers sometimes find themselves exploring new phenomena, thus becoming, for the moment, scientists.

In the book ''What Engineers Know and How They Know It'', Walter Vincenti asserts that engineering research has a character different from that of scientific research. First, it often deals with areas in which the basic physics and/or chemistry are well understood, but the problems themselves are too complex to solve in an exact manner.

Examples are the use of numerical approximations to the Navier-Stokes equations to describe aerodynamic flow over an aircraft, or the use of Miner's rule to calculate fatigue damage. Second, engineering research employs many semi-empirical methods that are foreign to pure scientific research, one example being the method of parameter variation.

As stated by Fung et al. in the revision to the classic engineering text, Foundations of Solid Mechanics:

"Engineering is quite different from science. Scientists try to understand nature. Engineers try to make things that do not exist in nature. Engineers stress invention. To embody an invention the engineer must put his idea in concrete terms, and design something that people can use. That something can be a device, a gadget, a material, a method, a computing program, an innovative experiment, a new solution to a problem, or an improvement on what is existing. Since a design has to be concrete, it must have its geometry, dimensions, and characteristic numbers. Almost all engineers working on new designs find that they do not have all the needed information. Most often, they are limited by insufficient scientific knowledge. Thus they study mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and mechanics. Often they have to add to the sciences relevant to their profession. Thus engineering sciences are born."

Although engineering solutions make use of scientific principles, engineers must also take into account safety, efficiency, economy, reliability and constructability or ease of fabrication, as well as legal considerations such as patent infringement or liability in the case of failure of the solution.

Medicine and biology [link]

The study of the human body, albeit from different directions and for different purposes, is an important common link between medicine and some engineering disciplines. Medicine aims to sustain, enhance and even replace functions of the human body, if necessary, through the use of technology.

Modern medicine can replace several of the body's functions through the use of artificial organs and can significantly alter the function of the human body through artificial devices such as, for example, brain implants and pacemakers. The fields of Bionics and medical Bionics are dedicated to the study of synthetic implants pertaining to natural systems.

Conversely, some engineering disciplines view the human body as a biological machine worth studying, and are dedicated to emulating many of its functions by replacing biology with technology. This has led to fields such as artificial intelligence, neural networks, fuzzy logic, and robotics. There are also substantial interdisciplinary interactions between engineering and medicine.

Both fields provide solutions to real world problems. This often requires moving forward before phenomena are completely understood in a more rigorous scientific sense and therefore experimentation and empirical knowledge is an integral part of both.

Medicine, in part, studies the function of the human body. The human body, as a biological machine, has many functions that can be modeled using Engineering methods.

The heart for example functions much like a pump, the skeleton is like a linked structure with levers, the brain produces electrical signals etc. These similarities as well as the increasing importance and application of Engineering principles in Medicine, led to the development of the field of biomedical engineering that uses concepts developed in both disciplines.

Newly emerging branches of science, such as Systems biology, are adapting analytical tools traditionally used for engineering, such as systems modeling and computational analysis, to the description of biological systems.

Art [link]

There are connections between engineering and art; they are direct in some fields, for example, architecture, landscape architecture and industrial design (even to the extent that these disciplines may sometimes be included in a University's Faculty of Engineering); and indirect in others.

The Art Institute of Chicago, for instance, held an exhibition about the art of NASA's aerospace design. Robert Maillart's bridge design is perceived by some to have been deliberately artistic. At the University of South Florida, an engineering professor, through a grant with the National Science Foundation, has developed a course that connects art and engineering.

Among famous historical figures Leonardo Da Vinci is a well known Renaissance artist and engineer, and a prime example of the nexus between art and engineering.

Other fields [link]

In Political science the term ''engineering'' has been borrowed for the study of the subjects of Social engineering and Political engineering, which deal with forming political and social structures using engineering methodology coupled with political science principles. Financial engineering has similarly borrowed the term.

See also [link]

;Lists

List of basic engineering topics

List of engineering topics

List of engineers

Engineering society

List of aerospace engineering topics

List of basic chemical engineering topics

List of electrical engineering topics

List of genetic engineering topics

List of mechanical engineering topics

List of nanoengineering topics

List of software engineering topics

;Related subjects

Controversies over the term Engineer

Design

Earthquake engineering

Engineer

Engineering economics

Engineering education

Engineers Without Borders

Forensic engineering

Global Engineering Education

Industrial design

Infrastructure

Open hardware

Reverse engineering

Science and technology

Structural failure

Sustainable engineering

Women in engineering

Planned obsolescence

References[link]

Further reading [link]

External links[link]

National Society of Professional Engineers position statement on Licensure and Qualifications for Practice

National Academy of Engineering (NAE)

American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)

The US Library of Congress ''Engineering in History'' bibliography

ICES: Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

History of engineering bibliography at University of Minnesota

Category:Engineering occupations Category:Philosophy of science Category:Ethics

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Name	Ghulam Ishaq Khanغلام اسحاق خان
Office	President of Pakistan
Primeminister	Benazir BhuttoGhulam Mustafa Jatoi (Acting)Nawaz SharifBalakh Sher Mazari (Acting)
Term start	17 August 1988
Term end	18 July 1993Acting: 17 August 1988 – 12 December 1988
Predecessor	Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
Successor	Wasim Sajjad (Acting)
Office2	Chairman of the Senate
Term start2	21 March 1985
Term end2	12 December 1988
Predecessor2	Khan Habibullah Khan
Successor2	Wasim Sajjad
Office3	Minister of Finance
President3	Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry
Primeminister3	Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Term start3	5 July 1977
Term end3	21 March 1985
Predecessor3	Abdul Hafiz Pirzada
Successor3	Mahbub ul Haq
Office4	Secretary-General of Defence
President4	Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry
Primeminister4	Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Term start4	July 5, 1977
Term end4	12 October 1975
Predecessor4	MGen Fazal Muqeem Khan
Successor4	LGen Ghulam Jilani Khan
Birth date	January 20, 1915
Birth place	Ismail Khel, British Raj(now Pakistan)
Death date	October 27, 2006
Death place	Peshawar, Pakistan
Party	Independent
Alma mater	University of Peshawar }}

Ghulam Ishaq Khan (, }}; 20 January 1915 – 27 October 2006), abbreviated as GIK, was the seventh President of Pakistan, serving from 1988 to 1993. The only president to have come from the civil bureaucracy, Khan had previously served as the Chairman of the Senate, and as the Defence Secretary from 1975 until 1977.

Born and hail from Bannu District, Khan completed his education from the Peshawar University in Nuclear chemistry, but started his bureaucratic career from Indian Civil Service. Opting for citizenship of Pakistan, his national bureaucratic career started after being appointed as the first chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority by President Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 1961 and served until 1966, before appointing as Finance Secretary— a post he kept until 1970. In 1971, Ishaq Khan was appointed by Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the Governor of State Bank, and in 1975, Bhutto personally gave authorization for appointing him as the Defence Secretary during which he effectively played an integral role in the development and success of the atomic bomb project, most notably the ''Kahuta Project'' as part of country's nuclear deterrence. In spite of being close to Bhutto, Khan was appointed as minister of Treasure Ministry, and was one of the leading civil statesmen in the military government of General Zia-ul-Haq, from 5 July 1977 until his election as Chairman of Senate in 1985.

Although, he escalated the Soviet war in Afghanistan, he subsequently ended the Soviet involvement in 1989. The Foreign policy was revised by new Prime minister Benazir Bhutto, of which he had a few interest, and his influence in nuclear deterrence was effectively ended by Benazir Bhutto in 1990. Khan's term saw an economical embargo, resignation of his close associate Rahimuddin Khan and a continuing series major currency crises that weakened the country's economy. Authoritative and executive problems further escalated with people-elected Prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, costing Khan's mush of public support. After dismissing Benazir Bhutto on alleged charges on corruption, mismanagement, nepotism, law and order situation, Khan attempted to use the same allegation on conservative Nawaz Sharif, that led the collapse of his support and on July 18 of 1993, Khan resigned in after approach by Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Shamim Allam and Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Army General Abdul Waheed Kakar. After his retirement, Khan served as rector of Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology in his native province, and undertaking many rehabilitate his public image as an elder statesman. After suffering from Pneumonia, Khan died on October 27 October 2006 in his home.

Early life[link]

Khan was born on 20 January 1915 in a small village - Ismail Khel - in the suburbs of Bannu District located in the now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region. In 1933 he attended Peshawar University where he received his double B.S. in Chemistry and Botany, followed by his M.S. in Nuclear chemistry in 1940. Despite his educational field, Khan joined the Indian Civil Service and became a career bureaucrat in the Government of British Indian Empire. He was appointed to the prestigious Civil Service of Pakistan after independence in 1947.

His son-in-law is senior politician Anwar Saifullah Khan. A grand-daughter of his is married to Omar Ayub Khan, who is the grandson of former Pakistani President Ayub Khan and son of Gohar Ayub Khan.

Government offices[link]

After holding various regional posts in the Sindh Government, Khan was appointed as the Chairman of the West-Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (W-WAPDA) in 1961 by President Field Marshal Ayub Khan. In 1966, Khan was relieved and was made Finance Secretary of the Ministry of Finance until 1970 when he resigned from his position in favor of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. After witnessing the disastrous Indo-Pakistani ''Winter War'' of 1971, Khan was tasked to run the retail and commercial services, since the economy was in fragile state. This task was considered quiet difficult and challenging for a country that was dismembered as a result of this war. In 1971, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto appointed him as the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan when he was tasked to carry out monetary and credit policy in accordance to Government policy with influence of socialism. In the latter position, he questioned the wisdom of a number of the economic policies of then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who was keen to intensify his nationalization and socialist influence in the financial institutions that marked the slow down of the economy.

Tenure as Secretary of Defence[link]

In 1977, Bhutto subsequently moved Khan from the bank and appointed as the Secretary of Ministry of Defence, a prestigious post for the statesman and stateswoman in the Government. Although an unusual post for a senior economics expert, it proved to be fortuitous in that it brought him into close contact with the senior officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Among them was General Zia-ul-Haq, then-Chief of Army Staff appointed by Bhutto, who later ousted Bhutto and turned the management of the economy over to Ishaq Khan.

Operation Fair Play[link]

Ouster of Bhutto was notably a major event in his life. The time Bhutto was forcefully being removed under the ''Fair Play'', Khan was preparing to meet with Bhutto to present the assessment report. Khan came in initial state of shock when he received a call from Pakistan Army Combatant General Headquarters (GHQ) that Bhutto has been forcefully removed by Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq. Therefore, Khan immediately went to meet General Zia-ul-Haq. At the meeting with General Zia-ul-Haq and his top military generals, Khan had told General Zia-ul-Haq that this action was going to harm the country, but since it could not be reversed, they should do their best to salvage whatever they could.

During the General Zia-ul-Haq's Martial law regime, Ishaq Khan's titles changed, but he was responsible for all important economic decisions. Among other things, he supported the Zia government's efforts to Islamized the economy by changes in the fiscal and banking systems.

Senate Secretariat[link]

Khan successfully campaigned and won the 1985 parliamentary elections for the Senate Secretariat. Khan was unanimously voted for Chairing the Senate Secretariat and assumed this office on 21 March 1985. After the controversial and mysterious aviation accident occurred in Bahawalpur, Khan appeared in national television where he announced the death of General Zia-ul-Haq. In 1988, Khan became acting President in accordance with the Constitutional rules of succession, and was formally elected to the position in December of that year. He held the position of President until 1993.

Presidency[link]

As President, Pakistan's economy suffered with economic and political upheavals. During his Presidency, the economic issue was considered a national highest priority. However, after the Pressler amendment came into effect by the United States, a large military and economic embargo was forced on Pakistan, and many commercial relations to Pakistan were cut off. During his time, the nuclear development, economic issues, and political stability, was considered his presidency's highest priority. But, Khan's presidency failed to arrest the control of currency and a new currency crises hampered the Pakistan economy badly. Khan repeatedely dismissed democratically elected governments of Benazir Bhutto and Navaz Sharif that seriously undermined Khan's effort to improve the economy. At the end, Khan was forced to resigned from the Presidency and a call for new elections were made.

Appointment of Chiefs of Armed Forces[link]

Khan reportedly vetoed the appointment of Lieutenant-General Hamid Gull, a former Director-General of Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Army, appointing the moderately reformist General Asif Nawaz Khan Janjua instead. Khan's presidency also saw the resignation of General Rahimuddin Khan from the post of Governor of Sindh, due to differences between the two after Khan started restricting Rahimuddin's vast amount of legislative power.

Khan appointed Air Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan as Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force on the advice of Bhutto. Khan later promoted Vice-Admiral Yastur-ul-Haq Malik as 4-star Admiral, and appointed him as Chief of Naval Staff of Pakistan Navy. On Prime minister Benazir Bhutto's recommendation and advice, Khan approved Admiral Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey, former Chief of Naval Staff, as Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

Dismissing the Governments of Bhutto and Sharif[link]

Khan's presidency was also marked by his use of Eighth Amendment reserve powers to check the government. While the Prime Minister is the Head of Government, Khan, as President of Pakistan, was able to dismiss the governments of both prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif on charges of corruption, mismanagement, and nepotism, thereby triggering new elections, which the incumbent parties lost. The second dismissal of government exacerbated institutional and political opposition to Khan, leading to his resignation in 1993.

Currency crisis[link]

During the early 1990s, Khan's administration failed to arrest the 30 per cent fall in the value of the Pakistani Rupee from 21 to 30 to the US Dollar.

Atomic bomb programme[link]

Ghulam Ishaq Khan was one of the vital administrator of Pakistan's integrated atomic bomb project, and was one indirectly associated personalities of the project. For Ishaq Khan, the nuclear deterrence was his top priority and channeled funds for the development of the atomic bombs during his role as Treasure minister.

Ishaq Khan was the administrator of the board that supervised the construction of Kahuta Project, and in 1975, Brigadier-General Zahid Ali Akbar submitted a survey and map of Kahuta and the Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL) to Khan as he was Defence Secretary to Bhutto's premiership cabinet. As the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers, under Zahid Ali Akbar, supervised the ''Project-706'', Khan had maintained extremely closed relationship with Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, and remained his staunch loyal. Ghulam Ishaq Khan, as President of Pakistan, established Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (GIKI) that offers world-class programmes in engineering science and technology in the country. In 1990, he invited Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan to become institute's executive member, and with his support, Abdul Qadeer Khan became the Chairman of Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering. Khan also inivited Asghar Qadir, a PAEC mathematician, to become a head of Department of Mathematics. However, Khan did not become the head of the nuclear weapons programme until Munir Ahmad Khan retired. After Munir Ahmad Khan took retirement from Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), President Ghulam Ishaq Khan eventually become the administrative head of Nuclear weapons programme. Under his presidency, the nuclear weapons program periodically progressed.

In 1972, when Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto started the nuclear weapons research program; Khan, as then-Defence Minister, played an important and central role in the programme as he also served as an administrator. And, he also provided funds for the construction of the nuclear test laboratories where weapons are made and tested. In 1983, as Chairman of Senate, he was one of the invited high civil officials, who reportedly, were supposed to be present at the Cold test, along with Lieutenant-General Zahid Ali Akbar — E-in-C of Corps of Engineers— General Khalid Mehmud Arif — Vice Chief of Army Staff — Air Vice-Marshal Michael John O'Brian— AOC of Sargodha Air Force Base— and Chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Munir Ahmad Khan.

Retirement and death[link]

Despite coming to an arrangement with the PPP government to be re-elected to the presidency after the 1993 elections, he was eventually dropped as a candidate in favour of Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari. He subsequently retired from politics and avoided contact with the international and national media. He died on 27 October 2006 after a bout of pneumonia.

He has to his credit the establishment of Rs 2.2 billion Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology in Swabi, Topi, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

See also[link]

Establishment (Pakistan)

Pakistan

President of Pakistan

Finance Minister of Pakistan

References[link]

External links[link]

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Profile Story of Pakistan

Ghulam Ishaq Khan taking oath as the President of Pakistan

In depth history of Khan's presidency

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology

BBC News report of his death

"Ghulam Ishaq Khan passes away" Report on the Dawn Newspaper website

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Category:1915 births Category:2006 deaths Category:Chairmen of the Senate of Pakistan Category:Defence Secretaries of Pakistan Category:Finance Ministers of Pakistan Category:Finance Secretaries of Pakistan Category:Ghulam Ishaq Khan family Category:Governors of the State Bank of Pakistan Category:Military Government of Pakistan (1977–1988) Category:Pakistani Sunni Muslims Category:Pashtun people Category:People from Bannu District Category:Presidents of Pakistan Category:Project-706 Category:University of Peshawar alumni

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