Multinational companies participate in career fair at GIK

SWABI: About 70 multinational and national organisations from across the country participated in the ‘Open House and Career Fair’ 2022 of Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology here on Wednesday. Pakistan Science Foundation Chairman Prof Dr Shahid Mahmood Baig was chief guest at the inaugural ceremony.

Prof Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid, Rector of GIK Institute, pro-rectors, directors, deans, heads of departments and final year students, who were expected to complete their BS education till next month in various disciplines of engineering and management sciences, also attended the gathering.

The final year BS and MS students, and PhD scholars displayed over 200 industrial and research projects on different topics.

Representatives of the companies said that if the industry and academia linkages were boosted it would help strengthen the country’s economy and steer it out of the economic crisis. Both representatives of the companies and academia said that strong industry-academia relations were vital for commercialization of innovative business ideas of the students in order to improve the economic growth of the country.

They said the three pillars of industrial growth were result-oriented research and innovation by academia and commercialization of business ideas by industry.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Shahid said the time had changed and now the industrialists had to rely on technology and science to solve their various confronting problems on one hand and make extraordinary achievements on the other.

“Only the universities could find innovative solutions to the problems faced by the industrial sector,” he remarked, adding that if academia infused the soul of entrepreneurship in the students of all disciplines then they would become job creators instead of jobseekers and this was the essence of the entire education exercise.

“We are striving to strengthen the culture of industry-academia linkages as it is important for materializing the business ideas of researchers and students,” Prof Shahid, adding that Pakistan Science Foundation would establish five science museums in the country while working to create a conducive environment for getting quality education by the youngsters.

He spoke in detail about students exchange programmes with China and Turkey and lauded the research projects of the students and participation of the companies in the open house.

Prof Khalid said that open house was a vital event where representatives of the companies interviewed students for employing them in their respective organizations. “Education, research and innovation are engines of prosperity,” he said.