ISLAMABAD: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Monday held a workshop on Industry-Academia linkages to help create a relationship between industries and academia, figure out how industry and academia could join hands to address upcoming challenges and contribute towards national growth by aligning academic programs to meet cross-sectoral needs.
The workshop was first of its kind in the history that was attended by a large number of top professionals from the power sector and members of the academia, besides NEPRA’s professionals, said a press release.
Chairman NEPRA Tauseef H. Farooqi in his opening remarks highlighted the importance of engaging industries in the academic research, providing a platform to academia and the industries to collaborate for developing better human resource as well as undertaking researches that help addressing the practical issues of the industry.
Farooqi stressed for creating an enabling environment that would create a pull among the licensees to engage with the academia for collaborative research work.
He also urged the participants from the industries to share their most crucial problems with the academic institutions for prolific research work.
A number of speakers from the academia and industry also spoke on the occasion followed by questions-answers session, wherein the participants while appreciating the efforts of NEPRA demanded that the government institutions like NEPRA should help bridging the gap between industry and academia, provide support in developing cooperation for improving the curriculum, undertake joint research and development, and give practical orientation to the students and the faculty members.