Yusuf Ali Zia(Founder)

Engineer Yusuf Ali Zia was born on 1st January 1912 in Bannu. He did his Matriculation from Abbottabad High School and F.Sc. from Forman Christian College (now Forman Christian College University) in Lahore.

Mr. Zia played football for Forman Christian College and subse- quently for Government Islamia College in Lahore as the Captain

of the college football team. He graduated from Maclagan Engineering College in Lahore (now University of Engineering and Technology) in 1935. He also was the captain of the college football team for five consecutive years at Maclagan Engineering College.
Mr. Zia joined the Electricity Department of North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakh- tunkhwa) as Assistant Electrical Engineer in 1936. He was promoted to Excecutive Engineer in 1946 and was incharge of Malakand Hydel Power Station as the first non-British Resident Engi- neer. In 1951, Mr. Zia was selected for training in Canada in the field of Hydel Power.
He was promoted to Superintending Engineer in 1953 and subsequently selected to take over as incharge of Warsak Hydel Power Station with the approval of the Canadian High Commission (Canadian government had financed this project under the Colombo Plan).
Mr. Zia was promoted to Chief Engineer in 1962 and posted as Chief Engineer North (North-West Frontier Province). In 1965, he was posted as Chief Engineer/Regional Manager South at head office in Multan. In the same year, he was selected for a course at the Administrative Staff College in Lahore and upon successful completion was promoted to Chief Engineer Operations/Opera- tional Manager West Pakistan. Mr. Zia retired in 1969 and subsequently joined the Colony Textiles Group in Multan where he served as Chief Electrical Engineer until 1981. After his retire- ment in 1981, he divided his time between Pakistan and Canada. During his time in Toronto, Mr. Zia set up an Islamic teaching centre and devoted a considerable amount of his time to developing that.
Mr. Zia passed away peacefully on 24 August 2013 in Karachi. He was 101 years old and remained active until he breathed his last.