Engr. Prof. Dr. Attaullah Shah

Qualifications and Professional Affiliations 

Prof. Shah is a leading researcher, educator and Civil Engineering practitioner with 35 plus year senior/executive level diverse experience in the fields of academic leadership, Sustainable Built Environment, Project design & Management, public connectivity, Climate adaptation and high performance team building. He demonstrated his diversity with practicing theories for implementation in higher education sector across public and private sectors, while connecting with first grade think tanks and policy makers nationally and internationally to frame dynamic strategies. 

Qualification: He has diverse qualification of BS Civil Engineering (Gold Medal), MPhil Eco, MS Environmental Design, MBA and Post Grad Diploma Comp Sc. (Gold Medal). This diversity of education and research is richly reflected in his teaching and research endeavours.

Employment: Currently, he serves as Professor/Dean and Vice Chancellor at Karakoram International University Gilgit since 2018, where he established the first ever Engineering and Technology Campus at KIU. He teaches Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Project Management, Procurement Management, Project risk management and project monitoring & evaluation to graduate students.

He also served as Vice Chancellor/Dean of Engineering & Technology City University Peshawar for 4 years (2014-2018) at City University of Science and IT Peshawar. He served as Director Projects and Planning at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) Islamabad for 15 years (1999-2014), where he contributed to the development of State of the Art physical and IT Infrastructure for the University across the country.

His major contributions to the remote region of Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan also include establishment of KIU Cryosphere and Climate Centre (KC3), three new sub campuses at Hunza, Chilas and Ghizer, Establishment of KIU Graduate School, where about 1000 students are pursuing graduate studies in 25 MS /PhD programs. He also established KIU Business Incubation Centre with funding of Federal Government, Lincoln Corner and with the support of US Government and China Study Centre at KIU. He also setup National Freelance Centre with the support of Punjab IT Board, Pakistan where more than 2000 youth have been trained in last 3 years. For further details, please visit www.kiu.edu.pk/

Fellowship and Awards: Dr. Shah is fellow of four prestigious national/international institutions i.e.  Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP), Institute of Engineering and Technology UK, International Engineering & Technology Institute (Hong Kong) and Pakistan Academy of Engineers (PAE). He contributed significantly to the promotion of Engineering and Technology Education, research and practice. He was awarded National Engineering Excellence Award-2023 by Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP), Best Employee Award by AIOU (2012), Best Engineer Award IEP Islamabad (2005), Best Private Sector University Award by President of Pakistan, organized by KP Chamber of Commerce and Industries (2015).

Research Interests and Publications:  He authored more than 100 publications in refereed journals and conference proceedings. His publications are mostly related to Climate Adaptation, Sustainable Built Environment, Civil Engineering Materials, Project Management and Land use and Land cover Changes. He authored six books on Project Management, Disaster Management, Engineering Economics, High Strength Concrete, Procurement Management and Contract Administration etc. He is currently authoring his book on Climate Resilient Infrastructure. He has been actively involved in Climate related research for last 6 years and leads the Cryosphere and Climate group of KIU with about 30 energetic PhD, having special focus on Climate Adaptation, Multi-hazard Vulnerability Risk Assessment (MHVRA) , use of indigenous knowledge and best practices in climate adaptation, Land use and Land cover changes, Renewable Energy technologies etc. He has been representing a number of think tanks in the areas of Engineering Education and Research, Climate Adaptation, Civil Engineering etc.

He has been undertaking numerous research projects and publications in the areas of sustainable built environment (SBE), Climate Adaptation, Civil Engineering material, Construction project management and use of Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM) in concrete. He widely communicated his research through publication, seminars, workshops, conferences and colloquia worldwide and at national level. He is an approved trainer of Pakistan Engineering Council, Higher Education Commission and other national/international organizations. He extensively travelled around the world to highlight his work and collaborate with international education and research institutions. He is member of numerous international prestigious organizations.  He also worked with Institute of International Education (IIE) as mentor/peer for internationalization of higher education in the Myanmar.