The Government College University Lahore (GCU) Chemistry Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Technology Exchange and Coordination Limited (TEC) on Monday to set up a Students’ Placement Centre at the Sundar Industrial State to ensure placement of its students in reputed industries for their projects and career development. GCU Vice-Chancellor Dr Ikramul Haq and TEC CEO Siddiq-ur-Rehman Rana signed the accord at the GCU Syndicate Committee Room. The GCU in collaboration with TEC will also establish an Industry Resource Centre for facilitation in establishing new industries in Punjab.
The centre will work as an incubator for new projects as well as providing turnkey solutions for the production lines. GCU Chemistry Department scientists will provide all relevant technical expertise especially in the domains of chemical testing and analysis services, analytical protocols development, process validation method and documentation structures development. Haq said that the industry needs to shift their reliance from dependence on western technology to indigenous research outcomes.
He said the industries need to encourage research generated by the Pakistani academia so that the base of expertise could be strengthened and broadened locally. He said that a serious trust deficit existed between the investors and local research. He said that the investors needed to acknowledge that the quality of local research had soared in the last decade. Haq said the future of the country rested in the hands of productive scientists and added that the GCU had been stressing on interdisciplinary research.
He said it was time to dissolve the boundaries of academic departments within academic institutions and increase inter-disciplinary cooperation to cultivate a research environment. He expressed confidence in the original research of the local scientists and troubleshooting capabilities of the faculty of GCU where new processes and working solutions were being developed for the local industry.
