Commercialisation of latest scientific inventions and technologies developed by the various Research and Development (R&D) organisations of Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) could usher a revolution of progress and prosperity in Pakistan, said Syed Raza Abbas Shah, Managing Director, STEDEC Technology Commercialisation Corporation of Pakistan.
He was addressing a briefing session in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) in which detailed presentation of various technologies developed by National Institute of Electronics (NIE), Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET) and Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) was also given. He said currently many R&D organisations were working under the administrative control of MoST. "They have developed many technologies which have potential to be commercialised. But due to the lack of knowledge and co-ordination between industry and academia we could not achieve this objective."
He said he had been visiting various chambers that had direct interaction with the industrialists and could bridge between the industry and R&D institutes of MoST. "Our relationship will guide us to conduct market driven research which could be immediately commercialized," he said, adding that in Pakistan many electronic products were substandard and were wasting costly electricity which could be saved by a simple energy audit. "Similarly, through solar energy we could save at least 800 MW of electricity," he added.
Director General National Institute of Electronics and Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies Brigadier Basharat Mahmood (Retired) underlined the importance of close liaison between industry, academia and R&D institutes and said that "through their collective efforts we could gear up the pace of development in Pakistan."
He said currently some products manufactured in Pakistan were not up to the mark which could be upgraded with the help of those institutions. However, he admitted that Sialkot was producing standardised products which were acceptable and exported all over the world. He said R&D departments had qualified experts and latest laboratories which could also suggest viable solutions to the problems faced by our domestic industry. He said most of the electronic products were circuit based and NIE had developed six-layered circuit board which could be used in developing latest and hi-tech electronic goods.
Bashir Ahmad Director R&D Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources said their institute had developed many products for the use of common man including water purifying tablets.
He said PCRWR had also its testing lab in Faisalabad on Jaranwala Road which could provide testing facilities of all types of water. He said PCRWR had also fabricated a water retention meter which could determine the water need of cultivatable fields. He further said "we are wasting rainwater by mixing it in sewerage and drainage water which could be directly pumped into the land in order to improve the quality of underground saline water."
In his address of welcome, SVP FCCI Rana Sikandar Azam said approximately 100 research institutes were working in Pakistan, adding various universities were also undertaking research projects but the lack of industry-academia linkages the commercialisation of their research could not be materialised. He mentioned experiments of Thailand, China, Malaysia and Singapore who had fully benefited from the industry-academia linkages and stressed the need for strengthening linkages between industry-academia in Pakistan to gear up the pace of progress and prosperity.
He said FCCI was being headed by engineers for the last many years that had focused on industry-academia linkages in addition to inking many MoU's with the local universities. He said "a MoU could also be signed with STEDEC to strengthen our linkages with this public sector institution."
Engineer Ahmad Hasan VP FCCI offered vote of thanks and said that 70,000 students were enrolled in different universities of Faisalabad. "We must convert their knowledge in to practical to strengthen the industrial revolution." Later, SVP Rana Sikandar Azam presented FCCI shield to Syed Abbas Shah and VP Ahmad Hasan to Brigadier Basharat Mahmood (retd).