KARACHI:Vice Chancellor University of Karachi Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi here on Thursday inaugurated the Chemical Synthesis Laboratory of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) at the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Karachi (KU).
KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi while addressing the inaugural ceremony mentioned that a strong connection among the government, industries and academia was very essential for the country’s growth and development.
He referred it as the triangle of success for the society and said the third world countries, particularly Pakistan needs the progress in this triangle in the right direction to achieve all the targets of the nation’s development.
He appreciated the role of PPL for renovating the lab and said that such collaboration would help the higher education sectors a lot. Dr Khalid Iraqi informed the audience that the University has established academia-industry linkage at almost every department so that they could help in bridging the gap between varsities and industries.
“Our students need exposure to the local and international markets while studying on the campus so that when they stepped into the professional field in the future, they should not face difficulties, and be able to perform their duties without any problem.”
The VC acknowledged that faculty and students of the Department of Chemical Engineering have made a strong connection with the industries and that is why various public and private sector companies and organizations are coming forward and making necessary arrangements for the students, faculty, and department by renovating and initiating labs, arranging field tours, offering internships and jobs to our students even before they graduated from the department.
Project Director Solid Waste Emergency and Efficiency Project Engineer Zubair Ahmed Channa shared that the majority of the masses were still unaware of solid waste and solid waste management and said that universities and media could play an important role in highlighting the importance of solid waste and its safe and useful usage.
He mentioned that recycling culture was very limited in Pakistan and many companies and production units had no idea how to make other useful products from their used items and products.
One of the speakers, Professor Dr Mahfooz Soomro from Western Sydney University Australia said that west has included many new subjects and topics in their syllabus but in countries like Pakistan, it took years to change the course books, due to which we see late development in these countries.
He asked the Department’s faculty and students to look up the topics for their research that could provide a better result for society.
The Dean of the Faculty of Science Professor Dr Samina Bano, In-charge KU Department of Chemical Engineering Engineer Dr Shagufta Ishteyaque and others also spoke on this occasion.
Later, a poster competition, walk in interviews and technical talks were held in the Department.