PEC to bridge academia-industry gap to boost research

The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) will serve as a vital link between universities, industries and professional engineering bodies to transform academic institutions into hubs of research and innovation by updating curricula to effectively and sustainably contribute to national development.

PEC Chairman Engr Wasim Nazeer extended this assurance while addressing as the chief guest at the inaugural session of the two-day 39th Multi-Topic International Symposium of the Institution of Electrical & Electronics Engineers Pakistan (IEEEP) held at a hotel on Wednesday.

Engr Nazeer said the PEC would organise brainstorming sessions to consult with professional bodies like the IEEEP to adopt a workable strategy to establish academia-industry linkages to find solutions to major engineering problems in the country.

He urged the engineers associated with various fields to adopt professional ethics and values to show excellence in their respective professions. He said that there has been too much polarisation in the engineers’ fraternity in Pakistan, which has been affecting its output for the cause of national development.

He urged the members of the engineers’ fraternity to indulge in healthy competition with each other with due regard to professional norms and ethics. He said engineers should assume a leadership role in major infrastructure development initiatives in the country by demonstrating their professional excellence. He also said electrical engineers can do a lot for the sustainable growth of Pakistan’s energy sector, which has been facing several challenges.

Engr Nazeer said the PEC has started the work to regulate technologists and technicians in Pakistan to enable them to work side by side with engineers on projects of national importance.

IEEEP Karachi Centre Chairman Engr Navid Akram Ansari lamented that there has been a serious disconnect between academia and industry in Pakistan, which does not allow the engineering universities to become part of the process of research and technological advancements.

Engr Ansari said the PEC should take up such issues with the Higher Education Commission so that the engineering universities evolve their curricula in accordance with the current needs of the industries.

He urged the engineering universities not to show rigidity to the idea of evolving their study programmes in accordance with the latest technological advancements in the industries.

He said the services of the IEEEP are always available to the engineering universities to provide the best counselling and guidance to their students for their fast absorption by the industries after graduation.

He opined that universities have an important role to play to ensure that their graduates showcase engineering excellence for the development of the country. He urged engineers to act as engines for technological advancements and growth in the country.

In his keynote address, Dr Khalid Waleed, research fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, suggested early retirement of power plants based on imported coal to enable Pakistan to earn massive carbon credits.

Dr Waleed said that up to 54 per cent of electricity users in Pakistan are protected as lifeline consumers who receive blanket subsidies of billions of rupees every year.

He suggested that the government provide solar power systems to these lifeline consumers to save on its massive blanket subsidy expense. He said that the declining consumption of the grid-supplied electricity by the industrial sector has created a serious sustainability issue for Pakistan’s energy sector.

Earlier, in his welcome remarks, Engr Imran Zafar, honorary secretary of the IEEEP Karachi Centre, said that several senior fellows of the engineering profession from all over Pakistan would present research papers at the symposium to suggest solutions to Pakistan-centric issues in different development sectors.