A seminar on "History of Bridge Building in Bangladesh: From Isha Khan to Padma Bridge" was held on 28th August, 2021. The Department of Civil Engineering, in collaboration with UAP CE Seminar Series has organised this seminar targeting the students of 3rd and 4th year of Department of Civil Engineering, University of Asia Pacific.

The seminar was inaugurated by Dr. Md. Ashraful Alam, Head, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Asia Pacific. In his welcome speech, he introduced and greeted the key speaker of the seminar, former executive director of SMEC, currently an individual consultant, Dr. Sayeed Ahmed.

Dr. Sayeed Ahmed then gave the audience a chronological journey through the history of bridges from the start of human civilization to the modern era of Bangladesh. In his presentation, he showed the oldest bridge technology and how it evolved along the course of time- from stone arch bridges to steel truss to modern concrete bridges. The audience also witnessed some historic bridges built in the era of the Mughal Empire, and later by the British and East Pakistan Period in Bangladesh.

Dr. Sayeed Ahmed then discussed how as a nation we have come so far after the independence till now in building bridges and connecting the communities, also the challenges of building mega bridges like the Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge and the Padma Bridge. Especially he shared his experience and the historical knowledge about the Padma Bridge construction, topped with site photographs of construction sites, pile cap construction, span lifting etc. Dr. Sayeed Ahmed also indicated some mega bridges which are in the planning stage to be built in coming years in this country.

After the end of the presentation session, an hour long Q&A session was held where the audience asked different questions about bridges of Bangladesh, planning, maintenance, role of the government, career aspects etc. Dr. Sayeed answered all the questions and discussed various key issues with the students.

At the end of the seminar, Dr. Ashraful Alam in his remarks thanked the honorable guest, Dr. Sayeed Ahmed, for coming to this seminar. He also thanked the students for attending the seminar. Dr, Sayeed Ahmed also said that he was delighted to be a part of the students' learning process. Then a short online photo session was held at the very end before the closure of this very successful seminar.