By definition, a "University" is a place for free exchange of ideas, where research and teaching advance side by side for the general betterment of an appreciative society.
Dr Gerhard Casper of Standford University describes University as an institution where the intensity of research is part and parcel of traditional functions of teaching and learning-a teacher and a student being independent entities with overlapping roles, both striving for the common pursuit of knowledge, which can subsequently be utilised for the betterment of society.
What needs to be highlighted here is that, contrary to our perception, institutions of higher learning are neither institutions for teaching only nor are teaching and research parallel activities; actually both are part and parcel of the overall learning process.
While schools and colleges may only impart knowledge, Universities must create Knowledge to be worthy of being called institutions of higher learning. Therefore, institutions of higher learning.
Therefore, institutions of higher education where R&D is not on a par with teaching, usually the most common excuse being that the faculty is too committed in teaching and do not have time for research, are compromising on standards of education and are performing only half of what they must do to fulfil their primary commitment. Also the knowledge created must be put into practice otherwise its utility and usefulness is questionable.
For a developing country like Pakistan, the importance of converting knowledge to practice and injecting this knowledge based input into our economic and social growth is a requirement which cannot be overemphasised. The prime responsibility in this regard falls upon a handful of scholars known as the faculty, from whom the country has great expectations and on whom a lot is being invested.
Also, while socio-economic progress of a country is dependent upon research and development, a university too requires high quality and substantial quantity of research activity to progress and maintain its name and reputation. Although the number and academic acumen of its alumni is extremely important, no university can boast of "Nobel Laureates", "Pulitzer Prize winners" or any other illustrious scholars who have become famous just because their institution produced students in great number or with high academic standards. It is only useful high quality research that brings laurels to an institution of higher learning.
We at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) are well aware that in today's global environment, creativity and innovation are essential for solving societal problems and for economic progress.
Also, while we in Pakistan may think that cheap labour and natural resources, commodities which we presently have in abundance, will be our main source of economic growth, it is really the intellectual capital that can put knowledge into practice and produce tangible output, which will be the key to national growth in the near future.
Particularly so because the ever-increasing population and the rising demand on our basic infrastructure and economy requires adaptation of available and creation of new knowledge and its transformation into new products and services which are fundamental to our economic growth.
Realising the above requirements, the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) was created fifteen years ago, as a multidisciplinary institution with a vision, wherein diverse disciplines of Engineering, medical Sciences, Information Technology and Management Sciences could be synergized so as to create break throughs in the shortest possible time.
Our dreams are now becoming a reality. As it stands today, NUST has developed international collaborations with as many as 35 Universities of 15 different countries. These collaborations have gone much beyond mere exchange of students and faculty and are now based on active research. We are undertaking research projects with some leading Universities of the world including Stanford and Caltech of USA.
In this context, in the field of Information Technology, a world record was created jointly by Caltech and NUST in high speed data transfer whereby a transfer rate of 80 Giga Bits per second was achieved. We are also involved in product based research with institutions like CERN Geneva, EPFL Switzerland and COMTECH Japan.
Joint projects supported under Pak-US Collaboration are also being done on Renewable Energy, Telemedicine and Telehealth, finding a cure for Hepatitis - C virus in Pakistan and recycling of roadway material for reuse, resulting in financial savings. NUST has already installed lighting and water pumping facilities using renewable energy for villages in FATA and Balochistan, thus adapting new technologies to national requirements.
NUST realises that tangible output from development does not come cheap. It requires high investment in human resource and equipment. It is for this reason only that NUST has made concerted efforts to develop its faculty over the years. Our faculty development programme which started in 2002 is now bearing fruit. Out of 254 scholars sent abroad for PhD, 38 returned last year and over one hundred are expected to return this year.
We now have well-stocked libraries which are no more mere storehouses of books. They have become active information resource centers being used by the students and faculty almost twenty-four hours everyday. Thanks to the Higher Education Commission, we now have access to twenty-three thousand online technical journals over a hi-speed education and research network, making our researchers aware of latest developments anywhere in the world.
NUST, within the last few years, has also been able to acquire equipment worth over 25 million US dollars in the field of Medical Science, Telecom, IT, High Speed Computing, Communication Security, Microwave, Electronics, Civil Engineering, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Material Science, Chemical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, Modelling & Simulation, GIS, etc.
These resources are being fully utilised and we now have over a hundred sponsored projects going on in the University worth over half a billion rupees. NUST has also been able to produce R&D output which includes a Ground Surveillance Radar, a prosthetic limb, which is an automated arm to help the amputees, a bionic ear to overcome hearing impairment, remote system for monitoring medical vital signs, a solar preheating system for leather industry in Pakistan which reduces the energy bill by about 30% and many more.
To us it is evident that product-based research is mandatory requirement of any developing nation in general, but for Pakistan it is most essential to survive in the present day competitive world. NUST has, therefore, in a short span of time, been able to create an environment whereby research and development aimed at national growth can flourish.
We are determined to convert knowledge into practice and to inject knowledge based inputs into the country's economic and social growth. The University is one of the fastest growing institutions in the country, which, due to its research ability, insight and potential has been able to find a place not only in the world community of researchers and scholars but has already started making contributions to national development.