Theme: Wonders Among Us!

We invite you attend an evening of technology, entertainment and design - a celebration of wonders, inspiration and dance of the minds.

Aiwan-E-Quaid
F9 Park
Islamabad, Islamabad, 44000
Pakistan

Khadija Niazi

Student + MOOCs revolutionist

Khadijah Niazi is an inspirational example of how online education is revolutionizing learning. She was only 10 years old when she first took the Artificial Intelligence online course on Udacity. Now, she is a 14 year old girl studying in the 9th Grade and has already managed to complete more than 20+ online courses and has appeared at global events such as the World Economic Forum in Davos. Her goal is to inspire young students to trust themselves and teach themselves. She runs a blog titled “World studies with me”

Marc-André Franche

International Development Expert

Mr. Franche has spent his professional career working in international development. He joined the UNDP Pakistan office in 2013. Prior to his assignment in Pakistan, he was the Deputy Director of UNDP in Haiti, a position he held since 2008. In this capacity, he oversaw an extensive portfolio of projects addressing governance, rule of law reform, improvement of livelihoods and environmental protection. The focus of UNDP’s programme in Haiti is recovery and reconstruction following the January 2010 earthquake. Between 2004 and 2008, Mr. Franche worked for UNDP in New York as Program Adviser for Conflict Prevention Initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean. In his capacity as Program Adviser, he was part of a team supporting consensus building and dialogue in the region. Prior to that, he worked on applied research and policy initiatives in conflict prevention for UNDP in Colombia from 2001 to 2004, and poverty reduction and local governance for UNDP in Bolivia from 1999 to 2001

Muniba Mazari

Painter + Writer

Muniba Mazari is an artist and a writer. She believes in playing with vibrant colors and flawless portrayal of true emotions. Her work speaks her heart out and is all about people, their expressions, dreams and aspirations. Although wheel chair bound, her spirit and artistry knows no bounds. In fact, she takes the agony of spinal cord injury as a challenge and is more determined to express her sentiments through her art work. While doing her bachelor in fine arts she met a road accident which made her paraplegic. Currently, she is running her brand by the name ‘Muniba’s Canvas’ with the slogan ‘Let Your Walls Wear Colors’. She is a mix media artist and believes in depicting the ethnic jewels of her region in an abstract way. Some of her work is purely abstract which depicts the humans’ expressions, their thoughts and dreams. Her paintings give the message of living life and represent the real personality of the artist.

Nadine Murtaza

Teacher + Storyteller

Nadine Murtaza has been a teacher and curriculum developer for Headstart School for the last 8 years, since graduating from Bryn Mawr College in 2006. She is the Head of School at NJ’s House, which is Headstart’s new International Baccalaureate Program, offering a program of play-based study from pre-Nursery to grade 5. Nadine along with her husband, Hassan Noon, is also the co-founder of Dhere Bolo, a 21st century children’s publishing house, which is currently part of the third invest2innovate accelerator class of 2014. Nadine has two children who are her hugest source of stories and inspiration. She is learning to sing and writes songs and books for children in Urdu. She also loves horses, swimming, reading and qawwali.

Pervez Hoodbhoy

Scientist + Reason Activist

Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy taught for 40 years at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad and now, after retirement, is Distinguished Professor of Physics and Mathematics at Forman Christian College, Lahore. He graduated from MIT with undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics, and a Ph.D degree in nuclear physics. In 1968 he won the Baker Award for Electronics, and in 1984 the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics. He was visiting professor at MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Maryland. In 2003 he was awarded UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science. Dr Hoodbhoy is a sponsor of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and a member of the Permanent Monitoring Panel on Terrorism of the World Federation of Scientists.

Syed Muzammil Hasan Zaidi

Social activist

Syed Muzamil Hasan Zaidi is the founder of Lolz Studios. He makes viral videos with an over arching aspect of ‘doing good’ and has been the face of popular brands like Coke & Leisure Club for spreading the message of hope and kindness. He’s been featured in over 200 blogs and newspapers like CBSNews, Huffington Post & MSNLive. He’s currently in the process of setting up Pakistan’s first ‘Digital’ Network & Studio in the heart of Islamabad.

Waqas Qazi

Scientist + GIS Expert

Dr. Waqas A. Qazi holds a PhD from University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, under a Fulbright fellowship, and is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Space Science at Institute of Space Technology (IST), Islamabad. At CU-Boulder, he studied at the Dept. of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, and the focus area for his PhD was Remote Sensing, Earth and Space Science. He considers himself as an Earth Scientist or Remote Sensing Scientist, with broader research interests lie in the areas of remote sensing, earth observation, oceanography, earth system study and modelling, and scientific programming. He is a reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Geoscience & Remote Sensing and Forest Ecology, an alumnus of Pakistan National Physics Talent Contest (NPTC), an alumnus of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, a Fulbright alumnus, and the Pakistan National Point of Contact for Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC).