I, Tariq Altaf was born in Lahore, Pakistan on May 11, 1958 and studied in the Central Model High school Lahore which was then very prominent institution of Pakistan. Secured high marks in grade 10 and got admission in the Government College Lahore which is still one of the most prestigious institutions of Pakistan. Due to father’s transfer, shifted to Rawalpindi/ Islamabad and completed F.Sc. from the Gordon College Rawalpindi in 1976.
Admitted in the Civil Engineering department of the University of Engineering & Technology Lahore in 1976. Throughout the professional studies I remained within the top three students of the class. Just after passing the final exam, got job in the National Engineering Services Pakistan Limited (NESPAK) which is the largest and the only consulting engineering firm in the public sector of Pakistan. It is the dream of every Pakistani engineer to be associated with NESPAK.
In 1985 I was selected for higher studies on USAID scholarship and left for USA in August 1985. I completed my M.Sc. in Water Resources Engineering from George Washington University, Washington D.C. in 1987. I returned back to Pakistan in December 1987 and continued my professional carrier in NESPAK.
During my professional carrier so far, I got the chance to work on almost all the mega water resources projects of Pakistan. I also worked on projects in Iran, Oman and Bangladesh. I traveled extensively in Pakistan, USA, Iran and Oman. Other than these countries I also visited Australia, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Singapore.
My father late Chaudry Altaf Hussain was also a very prominent civil engineer. He served Government of Pakistan on various key positions including Chief Engineering Adviser/ Chairman Federal Flood Commission. He was also the Vice President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID). Under his administration numbers of large water resources projects of Pakistan were initiated and executed. After retirement, he established a consulting engineering firm and run it successfully for about 10 years.
In 1986 I got married to Dr. Tahira Yasmin, who is a medical doctor and served Government of the Punjab from 1985 to 2018. I have three children, 2 sons and a daughter. One of my son, a civil engineer, got Masters degree in Water Resource Management from UNESCO-IHE (an institute of water education) Delft, the Netherlands.
