October 25, 2005 Source: University of Western Ontario:
http://communications.uwo.ca/media_newsroom/story.html?listing_id=20024 Western Celebrates Interesting Grads London, ON. - The University of Western Ontario is celebrating the
outstanding accomplishments of the University's newest alumni who prove
family, commitment, and dedication make dreams come true. The new graduates walking across the stage this week will join an alumni
group of more than 200,000 Western graduates around the world. Graduating Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Muhammad Kamran Khan has confronted personal and academic challenges
that might have driven many others to quit. But Khan persevered and will
receive his Masters degree in Geotechnical Engineering Science. The 38-year-old came from Pakistan after completing an undergraduate
degree in 1990, working in the government sector for almost 11 years,
and completing a Masters. When Khan arrived at Western in 2001, within the span of a year, his
mother, father and father-in-law passed away. In June 2004, Khan's wife Saima learned she had a hole in her heart and
would need surgery. Just two weeks ago, Saima had open heart surgery. Today she is home and
in good spirits. She is planning on attending her husband's convocation
and she is proud of his accomplishments. These days, Khan is working on the investigation of three-dimensional
behaviour of deep excavations in Sarnia Clay. He is currently in his
second semester of his PhD program and expects to complete it by 2009. Khan can be reached at (519) 858-8927. Graduating Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Amarpreet (Preet) Atwal's strategy in sport is reflective of his
strategy in life.
Atwal competes in the pentathlon, a sport that involves completing five
different events, such as shot put and hurdles. The competitor needs to
balance each, trying to complete each event perfectly while not spending
too much time doing it. "It's about focusing on your strengths and improving on your
weaknesses," Atwal says. "And you learn to prioritize." The 25-year-old St. Thomas native has spent the past six years at
Western trying to do just that. He has managed to balance varsity
athletics training with a rigorous academic program and extensive
volunteer work. At convocation, Atwal will receive his Master's in Electrical
Engineering and has a full university career to look back on. As an athlete, he competed five years provincially and nationally for
Western's track and field team, placing 6th in the pentathlon at the
2005 Canadian Interuniversity Sport Track and Field Championships in
Winnipeg. He also received a second-highest pentathlon score for Western
and was a four-time "Top 5" finisher at the Ontario University Athletic
Track and Field Championship. Academically, he earned his place on the Dean's Honour List and ranked
as an Academic All Canadian (athlete with average above 80 per cent)
most years. He worked as a TA and made time for a variety of volunteer
work including counseling students outside of school and volunteering to
officiate at local track and field meets.
Atwal can be reached at (519) 471-0611. - 30 -
For more information, or to connect with the graduates at Convocation,
please contact Christine Roulston, Communications and Public Affairs, at
(519) 661-2111, ext. 85165 or croulst@uwo.ca. Media Newsroom is updated daily by the Media Relations staff at the Department of Communications and Public Affairs.
| 