Ms. Huda Sarfraz SCIT - BNU

Huda Sarfaraz is a Senior Assistant Professor at the School of Computer & Information Technology, Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore. She has been a part of BNU’s faculty since 2012, teaching a wide range of courses including Web Systems Development, Software Architecture & Design, Theory of Automata, Human-Computer Interaction, and Advanced Databases. With over a decade of teaching experience, she is known for her student-centered approach, emphasizing hands-on learning, project supervision, and the practical application of computing concepts.

Huda’s expertise lies in speech and natural language processing, web technologies, and open-source systems. Prior to joining BNU, she served as Assistant Manager (Research) at the Center for Language Engineering, UET Lahore, where she led projects on Urdu speech dialog systems, speech corpus development for automatic speech recognition, and ICT-based storytelling initiatives empowering women survivors of violence. Her earlier work at the Center for Research in Urdu Language Processing (CRULP) focused on open-source software localization, ICT literacy training for rural schools, and the development of Urdu language technology solutions.

She holds MS and BS degrees in Computer Science from the National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences (FAST-NUCES), specializing in speech and language technologies. A regular presenter at international conferences and workshops, Huda is also an active advocate of open-source development, having served as a Mozilla Urdu Localization Maintainer and Mozilla Rep.

• MS in Computer Science, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST-NUCES), Lahore
• BS in Computer Science, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST-NUCES), Lahore

• Senior Assistant Professor, School of Computer & Information Technology, Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore (2024–Present)
• Assistant Professor, School of Computer & Information Technology, Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore (2012–2024)
• Assistant Manager (Research), Center for Language Engineering, Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science, University of Engineering & Technology (UET), Lahore (2010–2012)
• Visiting Faculty, School of Computer & Information Technology, Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore (2012)
• Visiting Faculty, Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore (2011)
• Senior Development Engineer, Center for Research in Urdu Language Processing, National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences (FAST-NUCES), Lahore (2008–2010)
• Development Engineer, Center for Research in Urdu Language Processing, National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences (FAST-NUCES), Lahore (2005–2007)

• Organized Mozilla Firefox 10th Anniversary Celebration, Lahore (November 2014)
• Organized Mozilla Firefox Launch Event, Pakistan (May 2014)
• Mozilla Urdu Localization Maintainer (2011–2015)
• Mozilla Reps Mentor (May 2014–October 2015)
• Mozilla Representative (August 2013–October 2015)
• Team Member, Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) Variant Issues Project – Arabic Case Study (2011)

• S. Hussain, S. Shams, and H. Sarfraz. Dareecha ICT Training Program for Public Schools in Rural Punjab. Center for Language Engineering, Al-Khawarizmi Institute of Computer Science, University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore, Pakistan, 2012. [PDF]
• H. Sarfraz, A. Dilawari, and S. Hussain. Assessing Urdu Language Support on the Multilingual Web. Proceedings of the Conference on Human Language Technology for Development (HLTD 2011), Alexandria, Egypt, 2–5 May 2011.
• H. Sarfraz, S. Hussain, M. Bano, A. Mustafa, and R. Parveen. Urdu Localization of Open Source Software. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Open Source Systems and Technologies (ICOSST 2010), Lahore, Pakistan, 22–24 December 2010.
• H. Sarfraz, S. Hussain, R. Bokhari, A.A. Raza, I. Ullah, Z. Sarfraz, S. Pervez, A. Mustafa, I. Javed, and R. Parveen. Large Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognition for Urdu. Proceedings of the International Conference on Frontiers of Information Technology (FIT 2010), Islamabad, Pakistan, 21–23 December 2010.
• H. Sarfraz, S. Hussain, R. Bokhari, A.A. Raza, I. Ullah, Z. Sarfraz, S. Pervez, A. Mustafa, I. Javed, and R. Parveen. Speech Corpus Development for a Speaker Independent Spontaneous Urdu Speech Recognition System. Proceedings of Oriental COCOSDA 2010, Kathmandu, Nepal, 24–25 November 2010.
• A.A. Raza, S. Hussain, H. Sarfraz, I. Ullah, and Z. Sarfraz. An ASR System for Spontaneous Urdu Speech. Proceedings of Oriental COCOSDA 2010, Kathmandu, Nepal, 24–25 November 2010.
• H. Sarfraz, S. Hussain. A Window of Opportunity. Spider Magazine, Educational Supplement, March 2010.
• H. Sarfraz. Stepping Stone. Digital story developed during the 2nd GEM Global Exchange, Digital Storytelling Workshop, Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Bali, Indonesia, 24–30 November 2009. [Video]
• A.A. Raza, S. Hussain, H. Sarfraz, I. Ullah, and Z. Sarfraz. Design and Development of Phonetically Rich Urdu Speech Corpus. Proceedings of Oriental COCOSDA 2009, Urumqi, China, 10–13 August 2009.
• H. Sarfraz, T. Naseem. Sentence Segmentation and Segment Re-ordering for English to Urdu Machine Translation. Proceedings of Conference on Language and Technology 2007, Bara Gali Summer Campus, University of Peshawar, Pakistan, 7–11 August 2007.
• N. Karamat, S. Nawaz, and H. Sarfraz. Unigram Analysis of Urdu Names for a Speech Recognition Application. Akhbar-e-Urdu, National Language Authority, Islamabad, Pakistan, June 2003.
• N. Karamat, H. Sarfraz, S. Nawaz. OOReL (Object Oriented Recognition Lab). International Multi Topic Conference (INMIC), Karachi, Pakistan, 27–28 December 2002.
• H. Sarfraz. Formation of Generalization Words (“Mohmil”) in Urdu. Akhbar-e-Urdu, National Language Authority, Islamabad, Pakistan, April–May 2002.

• Mozilla RTL Localization Hackathon – Participant; contributed localization experience and future planning for Mozilla Pakistan community. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 3–4 October 2014.
• Mozilla Summit 2013 – Participant. Toronto, Canada. 4–6 October 2013.
• Mozilla South Asia Inter-Community Meetup – Participant; contributed localization experience and future planning for Mozilla Pakistan community. Kathmandu, Nepal. 22–24 February 2013.
• Terminology and Localization in Africa and Beyond – Participant; organized workgroup on usage of CAT tool OmegaT. Johannesburg, South Africa. 28–30 January 2013.
• Mozilla Camp Asia – Participant; presented volunteer activities of Mozilla Pakistan community. Singapore. 16–18 November 2012.
• International Conference on Digital Storytelling – Presented paper “Assessing the Applicability of Digital Storytelling in a Pakistani Context.” Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain. 21–23 March 2012.
• Speech Technology Training – Training participant on speech recognition and text-to-speech synthesis. Spoken Language Laboratory, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology. Kyoto, Japan. 1–31 August 2011.
• HLTD 2011 – Conference on Human Language Technology for Development – Technical committee member and paper presenter. Alexandria, Egypt. 2–5 May 2011.
• ICOSST 2010 – 4th International Conference on Open Source Systems and Technologies – Workshop conductor (“Localization of Open Source Software for Pakistani Languages”) and paper presenter. Lahore, Pakistan. 22–24 December 2010.
• Thirteenth Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) – Panel speaker “Floods and Disaster Preparedness in Pakistan: Regional Solution to National Problems.” Presented paper “Technology Preparedness for Disseminating Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Information to Local Stakeholders Online.” Islamabad, Pakistan. 21–23 December 2010.
• Oriental COCOSDA 2010 – Presenter. Kathmandu, Nepal. 21–23 December 2010.
• 2nd Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) Global Exchange – Presenter; conducted digital storytelling workshop and shared experiences. Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Bali, Indonesia. 24–30 November 2009.
• Conference on Language and Technology 2009 (CLT09) – Program committee member; paper presentations and tutorials. Center for Research in Urdu Language Processing, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences. Lahore, Pakistan. 22–24 January 2009.
• PANL10n Regional Conference on Localized ICT Development and Dissemination Across Asia – Presenter; training and experience sharing among project team members. PANL10n Project. Vientiane, Laos. 11–16 January 2009.
• School of Asian Applied Natural Language Processing for Linguistic Diversity and Language Resource Development 3 (ADD‑3) – Participant; training and experience sharing. Thai Computational Linguistics Laboratory, NICT Asia Research Center, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology. Thailand. 25 February – 1 March 2008.
• Conference on Language and Technology 2007 (CLT07) – Presenter; paper presentations and tutorials. University of Peshawar, Bara Gali Summer Campus. 7–11 August 2007.
• Open Source Localization and Font Development Training – Trainer; open-source software localization. Pan Localization Project (www.panl10n.net). National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. 3–7 December 2007.
• Outcome Mapping Training – Participant. Center for Research in Urdu Language Processing, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. 4–11 July 2007.