Introduction

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has set up an industrial liaison secretariat to develop an effective cooperation between academia and industry to capitalize on the ever increasing international demand for products and processes. The secretariat will serve as a catalyst for university-industry partnership to outline new technical challenges, find their solution and assist in the launch of new programs in the academic institutions. The secretariat has undertaken various programs to support the discovery of new knowledge and enhancement of a skilled workforce. Private sector industries are being involved to identify their needs as per changes taking place so that intellectual capital and emerging technologies are brought together in way that promote economic growth and an improved quality of life.

Objective

The HEC aim is to develop university – industry partnerships

• Students and Researchers to conduct research and gain experience with production processes in an industrial setting.
  
• Industrial engineers and professionals to bring industry’s perspective and integrative skills to academe
  
• Interdisciplinary university-industry teams to conduct long-term projects.
  
• University based support for partnering university and industry scientists and /or engineers on a research project of mutual interest, including joint graduate student advising.

The topics/projects needs not focus on fundamental issues only, but should address long-term, generic research within an intellectual envelope shared by the industrial partner. Fundamental research generally is performed in academe in parallel with more applied research in industry. Investigators will be expected to integrate research objective with educational and human resources goals and industry need. The HEC will also emphasize improving industry-university research linkages in the design of products and processes. The research should strengthen the fundamental scientific and engineering foundation on which new design and production practices and methods may be based. This emphasis aims to improve basic understanding and the development of integrated design tools in both academe and industry.