LAHORE: Waqar Zia, a Pakistani engineer, has been honoured with a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award for his pioneering work in accelerating video streaming.
Mr Zia has been working in this field for more than a decade and his research revolutionised the way we watch and stream videos today. His work has made it possible for us to enjoy our favourite shows and movies without interruption, no matter what the internet speed or device.
In the late 2000s, streaming videos on mobiles and computers was a challenge, with slow internet speeds causing videos to freeze or buffer excessively. However, in 2009, major technology companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple started working together to create a new standard for video streaming. Mr Zia was part of the team that developed this standard, which is known as ‘Dash’.
Dash divides videos into smaller parts and saves them to the server in different qualities. During streaming, the quality is changed according to the user’s internet speed, ensuring uninterrupted playback.
Today, Dash is considered the global standard for on-demand video and live streaming over the internet, and it has made video streaming easier and faster for users around the world.
Mr Zia said he was surprised when he found out about the award as his work had not received much recognition until now. He added that representation of Pakistan in foreign technology research was quite less compared to other countries, but he was glad that he didn’t pay heed to the advice of leaving this field, which he had received from many Pakistanis during his research years.
According to some estimates, more than half of internet traffic today is for videos and users spend hours a day on streaming websites like YouTube, TikTok and Netflix.
Thanks to Mr Zia’s work and the Dash standard, streaming videos has become a seamless experience for millions of users worldwide.
Mr Zia currently works as a Standard Lead at Apple, a technology company in Germany, and he is proud to represent Pakistan in the world of technology. His achievement is an inspiration to all aspiring engineers and innovators in Pakistan and around the world.
—Agencies
