Military College of Signals

Military College of Signals
Seal of Military College of Signals
Motto	تیز و یقینی (Urdu) Tez o Yaqini
Motto in English	Quick and Sure
Established	1947
Type	Military
Rector	Lt Gen Muhammad Asghar
Commandant	Lt Gen Shahid Maqbool
Location	Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan
Mascot	Signalians
Affiliations	Higher Education Commission Pakistan Engineering Council
Website	Military College of Signals

Military College of Signals, also known as MCS, is a Pakistani military school located in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. It is an affiliate of the National University of Sciences and Technology. MCS consists of two engineering departments. The college focuses a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research. It is one of the leading engineering institutions of Pakistan.

It is located in the heart of Rawalpindi on Humayun Road (Lalkurti), closer to the General Headquarters and Combined Military Hospital. College is approximately 5 kilometres from the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, 3 kilometres from the Rawalpindi Railway Station. Prime shopping centre of Saddar is about 2 kilometres from the college.

History

The famous Humayun Road entrance of the college.

Military College of Signals was raised immediately after partition of the Indo-Pak Subcontinent in 1947 as "School of Signals", with the task of training officers and selected Non Commissioned Officers of the Corps of Signals of Pak Army. The School had to be raised from a scratch because the signal training facilities of undivided Indian Army were located either at Poona or Jabalpur. Both these cities are now part of India. Lt Col C.W.M. Young, a British Officer of the Royal Corps of Signals was the first commandant of the School. During the early years, due to the shortage of training facilities in the country in the field of telecommunication, a number of officers and men were trained at School of Signals, UK, and subsequently at US Army Signal School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. The College, since its raising has undergone various phases of expansion to meet the requirements of the Corps of Signals.

The status of the School was raised to that of a College in 1977, when it was affiliated with University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore for Telecommunication Engineering Degree programme.

The College was affiliated with National University of Sciences and Technology, in 1991 and since then it has progressed phenomenally as a center of quality education. Today the curriculum is not only confined to merely undergraduate level but MCS is also running MS and PhD courses.

Campus Life

The college has kept military traditions alive. It is governed by military rules and NUST policy is also followed. It provide opportunities to participate in a variety of co-curricular activities. There are student’s societies and clubs, which organize different activities. Presently, the college has two societies. Both were established in June 2001.

• Telecom Society comprises President, General Secretary, Treasurer, Project Coordinator and Media Coordinator. Elections are held every year to elect appointment holders of Telecommunication Society.
• Software Society comprises President, General Secretary, Treasurer, Project Coordinator and Media Coordinator. Elections are held every year to elect appointment holders of Software Society. This society on one hand has generated various extra curricular activities while on the other by organizing different seminars, workshops, lectures and short duration courses has contributed effectively in the academic scenario.

Houses

There are two houses. The Jinnah Company and the Iqbal Company.

Organization and administration

The College of Signals is functionally and administratively controlled by the General Headquarters through Signals Directorate. It is headed by Major General/ Brigadier and is sub-divided into four functional groups.

• Administrative Wing (Adm Wing) Comprises Administrative Branch (Administration and Quartering Sections), Training Branch, NUST Branch, Examination Branch and MCS Training Battalion.
• Combat Wing (Cbt Wing) Comprises Tactical Branch, Telecommunication Branch, Security and Research Branch and Information Technology Branch.
• Engineering Wing (Engg Wing) Comprises Electrical Engineering, Computer Software Engineering, Information Security, Humanities and Basic Sciences Departments and Library.
• Research and Development Wing (R&D) Mostly focuses on research and development activities of the college.

Academics

Undergraduate program

MCS offers Undergraduate Degrees in Electrical (Telecom) Engineering (BETE) and Computer Software Engineering (BESE). Each year a standard NET (NUST Entrance Test) is conducted for the undergraduate enrollment in these courses. The students are also enrolled via SAT subject tests.

Graduate program

The college offers Graduate Degrees in Electrical (Telecom) Engineering, Computer Software Engineering and Information Security. The graduate degree also leads to PhD. Students are enrolled after passing the GAT (Graduate Assessment Test).

Departments

The college has two main departments.

• Electrical Engineering Department (Shua ul Qamar Block)

• Computer Software Engineering Department (al-Khawarizmi Block)

The new Electrical Engineering Department has been built recently. The old department can be seen at the back.

Rector NUST, Lieutenant General (Retd) Muhammad Asghar.

People

Students

There are six different categories of students at college.

• Officers Pak Army Captains having served at least three and a half year after passing out from Pakistan Military Academy.
• Gentleman Cadets (GC's): Students who are enrolled in Pakistan Army. They enter the college after qualifying the ISSB Armed Forces selection test. Upon graduation from the college, the students spend one year at the Pakistan Military Academy to receive officer ranks. They undergo strict military training. They are also referred to as "Technical Cadets".
• NUST Cadets (NC's) Civilian students selected through the NUST entrance test. They don`t undergo any sort of military training.
• Paying Cadets (PC's) The high-ranking wards of serving military personnel are given a chance to come and study at MCS. They are the "Paying Cadets". They are bound to serve a minimum of three years in Pak Army after graduation. There are about 24 reserved seats for them at MCS.
• Additional Selected Cadets (ASC's) Those high-ranking students who are inducted into the college either on the recommendation of the Army Chief or Rector NUST. The cadet should be a ward of a retired or a serving military personnel. There are about 20-25 ASC reserved seats at MCS.
• Allied Cadets (AC's) In addition, MCS also offers a limited number of seats to the International Students. These cadets are mostly from Middle East.

Faculty

The main head of the college is General Muhammad Asghar (pictured). MCS has about 70 faculty members, that are responsible for lecturing, both graduate and undergraduate courses. Engineer Naveed Sarfraz Khattak is the current Head of Department of the Electrical Department, while Dr. Faheem Arif of the Computer Department.

See also

• National University of Science and Technology
• Pakistan Military Academy
• Army Medical College
• College of Aeronautical Engineering
• College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
• Military College of Engineering

External links

• Military College of Signals
• National University of Science and Technology
• Signalianz Alumni Website