Collaborate with us

Institute of Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship & Leadership

IDEAL at Habib University is an ecosystem which fosters industry-academia collaboration by  transforming how we collaborate, innovate, and solve real-world issues through the power of design thinking, entrepreneurship, and leadership. At IDEAL, we believe that knowledge should flow both ways between academia and industry, where design is a shared strategic language, and where students & professionals emerge not only with skills but with criticality, confidence, and the ability to shape the systems they inhabit.

What’s happening at IDEAL?

George Cusack
IDEAL dedication ceremony
George Cusack
David Harris
Unilever Leadership Training
Dr. Susan Phillips

Why choose IDEAL at Habib University?

The cultural and pedagogical foundations that drive IDEAL

We consider the
social & environmental
impact of ideas

We embody
YOHSIN values

We draw on liberal arts & interdisciplinary knowledge

We pursue both technological & non-technological interventions

We build with a focus on
real-world problems

We prioritize ethics
in research, design,
and leadership

We offer contextually rooted learning

What we offer at IDEAL?

IDEAL’s ecosystem offers a rich mix of immersive workshops, hands-on trainings, courses, collaborative projects, hackathons, and thought leadership forums including talks, panels, and conferences. These offerings enable skill development, experimentation, and meaningful engagement with real-world challenges.

For industry professionals, IDEAL offers customized, one-of-a-kind training programs that build capabilities across design, leadership, and innovation. Anchored in the complex challenges participants bring from their professional contexts, these trainings adopt a systemic lens to explore context-sensitive solutions and meaningful interventions.  We curate trainings tailored to professionals across all career stages, from management trainees and mid-career professionals to senior leaders and the C-suite.

DESIGN

  • Introduction to design thinking
  • Design thinking deployed for organizational challenges
  • Designing for the Pakistan context
  • Design for policy & law
  • UX & digital product design
  • Systems thinking & systemic design
  • Customer journey mapping and service blueprinting
  • Service design
  • Co-design and participatory design
  • Design for sustainability
Participants collaborating

LEADERSHIP

  • Leadership for innovation and digital transformation
  • Ethical, empathetic & inclusive leadership
  • Building resilience in teams to address poly-crises
  • Building leadership insight: mindsets & approaches
  • Change management & organizational culture
  • Leading across borders: ethics, strategy and global context
Participants in discussion

ENTREPRENEURIAL
MINDSET

  • Business model canvas & value proposition canvas
  • Entrepreneurial mindset for corporate leaders
  • Intrapreneurship & strategic corporate venturing
Participants in a session
Sarah

When we teach in traditional boxes, that’s how we start to think, that’s how we start to be acculturated. Having a physical environment that reflects the flexibility, innovativeness, and experimentation that you want to see happen in the classroom is key to unlocking that behavior in faculty and students.

SARAH STEIN GREENBERG
Executive Director, Stanford University’s d.school
Member, Board of Governors, Habib University

SPACES IN IDEAL

TEAM

Saad Umer Baig

Saad Umer Baig

Senior Manager — Entrepreneurship
Office hours: 10–1pm Tuesdays & Thursdays

Saad leads the entrepreneurship initiatives at IDEAL, including the Entrepreneurship Talent Program (ETP), designed to empower Habib University students to explore, experiment, and build ventures. With over 12 years of experience across technology R&D, projects, and academia, Saad has worked on space technology, communication systems, unmanned drones, security, automation, and education industries. He holds a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Santa Clara University, California, and an Executive MBA from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi. Beyond building entrepreneurial ecosystems, Saad mentors student startups, develops programs that bridge universities and industry, and designs experiences that promote impact-driven learning, innovation, and entrepreneurial thinking.

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Manahil Huda

Manahil Huda

Assistant Director — IDEAL,
Lecturer — Communication & Design (CND)
Office hours: 2:30–3:30pm Fridays

Manahil is the Assistant Director of IDEAL and a Lecturer in the Communication & Design program. She is a service designer and design researcher with 7+ years of work experience across Italy, Canada, Morocco, Pakistan, and Turkey. She has worked on projects from diverse fields such as community spaces, fintech, mobility, healthcare, agritech and edtech. She has also taught various design courses at Habib university, Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture and Al Akhawayn University in Morocco. Her overarching research interests lie at the intersection of systems thinking & systemic design, design for social innovation and design for democracy.

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Syeda Ifrah Faheem

Syeda Ifrah Faheem

ACE Edge Fellow — IDEAL
Office hours: 2:30–3:30pm Tuesdays

Ifrah recently completed her Master’s in Media Practice for Development and Social Change from the University of Sussex. Her bachelor’s degree was in Social Development and Policy with a minor in Communication and Design. She is a development practitioner and media professional with a focus on inclusion and accessibility. With experience in the development sector, particularly in disability inclusion and inclusive education, she has delivered over 70 awareness and training sessions across schools, universities, hospitals, and corporate organizations. Her interests lie in using media and tools of advocacy that are universally accessible and actively engage stakeholders, particularly within the education sphere.

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EXPLORE POSSIBILITIES WITH IDEAL. REACH OUT TODAY!

ideal@habib.edu.pk +92 21 1110 42242 (HABIB)

#IDEALatHabib