Pak-China lab inaugurated at UET Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar and the Shandong Academy of Sciences, the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday inaugurated the “Pak-China Robotics and Automation Research Laboratory” at the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, at the varsity.

UET Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Iftikhar Hussain and Zhang Heqing, Cultural Counselor of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China unveiled the plaque in the presence of Chinese diplomats and senior officials.

Zhang Heqing, in his address as a chief guest, said agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy. He added that the laboratory would efficiently use the highly skilled researchers and scientists of robotics and automation from Shandong Academy of Sciences and UET Peshawar.

The Chinese diplomat said it will generate agriculture resources that will help in transforming Pakistan into one of the technologically advanced nations in agriculture. He said, at present, 28000 Pakistani students are studying in Chinese universities and more than 8,000 scholarships have been awarded to the talented youth.

Prof Dr Zhang Dong, Director Institute of Automation, Shandong Academy of Sciences said, besides automation in agriculture, the experts of both institutions will work in under-water robotics as well. Dr Tahir Khan, Professor Mechatronics Engineering, said in future the scope of work will gradually expand to artificial intelligence, renewable energy and biomedical engineering.

Prof Dr Iftikhar Hussain said, UET Peshawar and Shandong Academy of Sciences, China had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2017 to encourage closer academic/research links in the areas of interest for both institutions. Through this MoU, both institutions agreed to exchange and educate academic personnel through sabbaticals, seminars to develop research programs and projects.

Later, the Chinese diplomats visited the laboratory and inspected the state-of-the-art equipment and teaching faculty and students.