SWABI - Speakers at a conference on Materials Technology (MATTECH) advocated for enhancing industry-academia interaction as it could herald an era of economic progress while overcoming serious problems like energy crisis and other issues confronting by our country.
The three-day MATTECH was organised by the American Society of Materials (ASM), GIK Institute Student Chapter. Academic staff/experts and students participated and expressed their views in the moot.
In addition, research projects and papers about materials science engineering were also presented in the conference. Shahbaz Khan, Director Production of MOL Company, was chief guest in the prize distribution ceremony here on Monday.
Shahbaz said, “The quality of papers and projects presented and the discussions held certainly match the best international standard.
It focused on engineering disciplines where Pakistan industry and academia, both had been lagging, whereas our collective success, largely depends on our command of these very disciplines.”
He said that MOL was a direct beneficiary of young talented youth of Pakistan. “Many of your colleagues had been employed by MOL. We appreciated their contributions because they delivered according to our expectations. In fact, some of them are now serving on leadership position in our organisation,” he said.
He said that MOL operates oil and gas fields in 12 countries, including Hungary, Russia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Iraq and Syria. “In Pakistan, operations of MOL are currently concentrated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province,” he said.
Prof. Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid, Pro-Rector (academic) said that human resource and capital are important for the human development and progress. In addition, imparting vital training and skills to country manpower should be the government priority to achieve economic progress and prosperous future, he said.
He said collaboration between academia and industry could improve the prospects of conducting research in numerous engineering fields.
Arfa Khan, president of ASM and other experts also spoke in the conference. Shahbaz gave away prizes and shields to outstanding participants.