1.

Leadership and influence

I was born & raised in a lower-class family living in a small village “Utla” of the tribal area Gadoon
Amazai, a listed backward area of the province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with 50 villages & a
population of around 0.3 million having a literacy rate of 36% (Male 54% & Female 18%). Due to
the lack of resources and financial constraints, education has been an arduous journey for me.
Starting from the long and treacherous commute to school where every day, I would walk for
about 1 to 2 hours through rough, mountainous terrain to reach my school, overcoming physical
obstacles that tested my resilience. Despite these difficulties, I remained determined, knowing
that education was the only way to uplift myself and my community from poverty and ignorance.
In classrooms, I sat on floor mats, as there were no desks available. This never bothered me, as I
believed knowledge could be gained irrespective of physical comforts. However, the lack of
resources became apparent in accessing educational materials. Being unable to buy my own
books, I used to borrow books from my classmates to study, in exchange for carrying their school
bags with them.
Despite these challenges, I persevered and excelled academically, fueled by my insatiable thirst
for knowledge which my educational credentials can reflect. I remained one of the top
performing students since the early stages of school & carried to the undergraduate stage as well
where I graduated with distinction being a Gold Medalist & secured an exceptional CGPA of 3.97
out of 4 from Baluchistan University of Engineering & Technology, Khuzdar.
Education turned my fortune upside down, as after graduation I was able to secure a good job
with good enough earnings so I could afford the education expenses of my two younger brothers.
One of them is now studying in MBBS & the other is Chartered Accountancy. This is an example
of my leadership & influential skills where I held them on the path of education even on our bad
days when they could have gone rogue & lost patience. looking at my tough journey, my other
sibling, elder brothers & sisters, also started their educational journey through distance learning
programs & achieved degrees in different fields of study.
During these years, I didn’t limit myself only to studies but I took initiatives to benefit students &
their families at different levels which included free coaching classes, collection & dispersion of
charity, old books, clothes, and shoes to local students as well as their families. I was able to
perform these activities with the help of the “Helping Hands Foundation” team during my
undergraduate study in Khuzdar, Baluchistan.
Currently, I am working as Deputy Manager Maintenance in a reputable business group in the
country where I am leading a team of 25 members comprised of Skilled, Semi-skilled & non-skilled
workers and engineers.
 2. Relationship-building and shared learning
From the Gadoon area, I was the 1st who got admission to Mechanical Engineering at the
undergraduate level. I paved the way for the other engineering aspirants from different villages
of Gadoon, by reaching out to them at open Jirga (local public gatherings), sharing my journey
with them & emphasizing the importance of education & how it transformed my life, providing
them with information of different universities & study programs, fee structures & application
deadlines, scholarships & financial aids provided by universities and other public & private bodies
like NGO’s, helped them out in completing & submission of applications, provided study material
according to courses of interests, guided them with techniques of how to attempt entry-level
exams. This progressive journey of mine still continues and I am proud that there are multiple
engineering graduates and students enrolled in different Engineering Fields including Mechanical
Engineering where they are also actively playing their roles in transforming the lives of students
at all levels in their respective villages and bringing up the best out of them.
At my job, I am just a guy who can be reached out easily which has developed my strong bond
with the team as they respect me & follow my lead unconditionally. I seek opportunities for them
to shine, and conduct skill-added training; both internal and external so that they can excel in
their profession.
Although I am responsible for reducing downtimes as minimum as possible but yet, sometimes
we face a fault that will take ages to troubleshoot. At that stage, I don’t let the team down and
am keen to sit down with them to boost their morale up provide them with technical support
wherever possible. With the help of past experiences, we list down the possible root causes
troubleshoot the fault, and resolve. This practice has developed trust within the team which is
the reason for the standout performance of the maintenance department since I joined the
company.
Being head of the maintenance department, I used to have continuous coordination with vendors
& service providers to have required parts & external services timely to run the facilities smoothly
with breakdowns & delays as minimum as possible. After the pandemic, businesses worldwide
including in Pakistan have faced extraordinary setbacks as we have. In such hard times when
payments receivables are hard to come by and in turn, suppliers face long delays in their
payments from us, I made it possible to hold suppliers intact only through effective professional
relationships, where I have bridged the process of payment effectively between vendors and the
finance department. Satisfactorily, communicated to vendors the reasons for payment delays
and ensured them with untiring efforts to clear the pending dues from time to time. These
relations have made it possible for me to hold credible vendors and suppliers intact for the last
few years to have their services continue to run our business smoothly.
After completing my studies in the UK, I seek to enhance my relation-building skills and hope to
add many more to the benefit of community and professional life.
 3. Studying in the UK

The growing population and economy of Pakistan are pushing up energy demand whereas the
country’s energy mix heavily depends on fossil fuels. According to the Economic Survey of
Pakistan 2022-23, the energy mix consists of 58.8% thermal sources. Unfortunately, for Pakistan,
according to EIA there is a huge gap of 1.42 quad Btu between the production and consumption
of these thermal resources. However, this gap will further widen as after examining the trends in
hydrocarbon production and consumption, analysts believe that the country's total hydrocarbon
reserves would last for 15 years.
Optimistically, I believe that the country has plenty of oil and gas reserves. According to a U.S
Geological Survey in 2021, it is estimated that there are recoverable resources of 164 million
barrels of oil and 24.6 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Lower Indus Basin of the country. In addition,
the country may have several hydrocarbon resources, but several factors can impact its ability to
use them effectively. One major factor is the lack of infrastructure, lack of technology, and
expertise in the country to discover and extract oil and gas from difficult terrains where the
possibility is generally high.
Keeping that in mind, I wish to seek my professional career in the oil and gas sector despite the
country’s proven resources are on the verge of extinction. The right education will be key to
playing my part to outplay ongoing challenges. With an acceptance rate of 70 percent for
international students and currently ranked 2nd in Scotland and top 10 in the UK, the MSc in
Drilling and Well Engineering from Robert Gordon University is my ultimate first choice. The MSc
program, is focused on effective Well construction and aims to develop high levels of professional
skills in the key areas of Well design, drilling, and operations management, is perfectly aligned
with my future interests.
In addition to the lack of modern technology, poor infrastructure, evolved knowledge, and low-
skilled workforce: Maintenance and Project mismanagement is also a huge factor in the downfall
of the oil and gas sector. Due to underground leakage from aging pipelines, poor facility
maintenance, measurement errors, and theft: in 2016-17 out of the total supplied (34.6MTOE)
of natural gas only 29.3MTOE was delivered to consumers. Proactive maintenance & project
management can result in reducing; the current unaccounted-for gas (UFG) and leakage on the
supply side of 5.35MTOE (~15.4% loss) to 1.4%; resulting in $2.5B annual savings in LNG import.
With experience in the field of maintenance and project management, I have selected the
University of Southampton as my 2nd and 3rd option with MSc in Advance Mechanical Engineering
(Mechatronics) and MSc in Project Management, respectively. With these courses, I aim to
enhance my knowledge and skills in electrical systems, management of large-scale projects,
resource & capital management, and risk management. Once equipped with expertise in the
aforementioned areas and a prestigious UK-based degree I am certain of a successful career in
the field of oil and gas sector of Pakistan.
 4. Career Plan
My Immediate Plans upon Return:
Upon my return, I plan to work in the country’s reputable oil and gas explorative and distributive
companies i.e. OGDCL, PPL, MPL, POL, PSO, SSGC, and SNGPL. Where I will practically implement
my knowledge and skills acquired in the UK during my postgrad studies. In addition, I desire to
enhance my earnings to provide financial assistance to my family members in pursuing education
and business startups to elevate the family’s finances, and prestige in the community.

My Short to Long-Term Career Goal:

After my postgrad, I want to work for an additional ten years to gain field knowledge and
expertise in drilling operations, reservoir management, distribution networks, infrastructural
developments, project planning, enterprise risk management, and engineering advancement.
With proven experience, gained through years of dedicated hard work, I will start a consultancy
firm that provides consultancy services to the government as well as private companies in
designing, planning, costing, and risk analysis of large-scale projects in the oil and gas sector.
Although, oil and gas sector development is my top priority, but my ultimate career goal is to play
a remarkable part in the development of my country. Therefore, through my consultancy firm, I
will extend support to government bodies and private organizations in the fields of renewable
energy, infrastructure development, manufacturing advancement, and IT.

My Long-Term Humanitarian Goals:

i. Educational Reforms
I can’t hold myself back from the social work of promoting education in my hometown Gadoon
Amazai. Where the overall literacy rate is 34%, the rate drops down to an alarming 18% for girls.
As a Chevening alumnus, I will work as the UK’s ambassador to influence local political leaders
and government officials for the promotion of girls’ education, especially at the primary and
secondary levels. The UK government is contributing immensely to this cause at the national level
by pledging £130 million under its 'Girls and Out of School: Action for Learning (GOAL)' program.
I will strive to extend the GOAL program to Gadoon Amazai to benefit out-of-school children
especially girls at the primary and secondary school levels.

ii. Healthcare Reforms

Despite being a signatory of Agenda 2030, Pakistan ranks high in maternal mortality rate. The
ratio is even higher in rural areas where 64% of the total population of the country lives.
Being a native of Gadoon Amazai, where there are only five (BHUs) for over 50 villages with a
population of 0.3 million with no gynecologist, I witnessed these cases very often. Emotionally
linked to the region, I have always wanted to facilitate pregnant women with challenges during
the labor phase. With at least one emergency healthcare facility in every village with a trained
obstetrician available, precious lives can be saved.
Both the UK and Pakistan are working together continuously through programs like UKAID, MCH,
and MNH-RAF to reduce IMR and MMR in Pakistan. Being local of the region and ex-Chevening
alumni, I can play the role of facilitator in the successful implementation of these programs in
Gadoon Amazai.