HEC

Dr. Muhammad Qamar Khan (PI), National Textile University Faisalabad, Karachi Campus.

Prof. Dr. M. Raza Shah (CoPI) HEJ Karachi University Karachi.

Dr. M. Fahad Arain (Co-PI) National Textile University Faisalabad, Karachi Campus.

Rana Muhammad Anees (GM-R&D) Sapphire Textile Mills Lt.,

Mr. Kashaf ul Hassan , Department of Textile & Clothing, National Textile University Faisalabad, Karachi Campus.

Various strategies and actions are being taken in order to overcome the scourge of infectious local viruses. In the proposed project, we are focusing on the fabrication and characterization of a colorimetric sensor for early detection and deactivation of the coronavirus.

The fabricated sensor will be able to destroy the virus through the action of viral agent, which will form an integral part of the nanofibers developed. In the field of biosensor research, colorimetric properties have been studied in the form of solutions, liposomes, and films, etc.

Department of Chemistry, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi.

Our proposed prototype offers the advantage of low energy consumption, favourable environmental footprint, and continuous operation mode with lower cost. This versatile prototype model with multiple modes of acid, base, salt, water and Sulphur will clean the industrial waste. The prepared membrane offers the promising separation method and green technology because of eco-friendly existence as well as lower energy consumption.

This innovation is important for the commercial market due to its energy efficiency, higher yield of recovery, lower costs. 

Development and Upscaling of Combined Distillation techniques for saline water treatment and freshwater production on industrial scale (CAD-Water)

Principial Investigator (P.I): Dr. Tanveer Ahmed Gadhi

Co-Principial Investigator (Co-P.I): Dr. Rasool Bux Mahar

U.S. Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water USPCAS-W, MUET Jamshoro.

Universities:
Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) Jamshoro, University of Sindh (UOS), Jasmhoro

Research Collaborators:
Dr. Najma Memon , Dr. Imran Nazir , Abdul Manan Memon , Sikandar Lodhi , Sanam Bhatti

Industrial Collaborators:
Mr. Munir Badar, Water and Energy Sustainable Solutions; Mr. Waseem Vohra, ex-chairman of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry; Mr. Irfan Ali Ansari, Al-Rahim Textile Industries Ltd. Sindh.

• To enhance water scarcity resilience with the upscaling, development, validation, and transfer of Combined Adsorption Distillation (CAD) technique to treat saline water and produce freshwater at the industrial scale.

• To utilize waste heat generated in industries (i.e power engines, boilers) coupled with Adsorptive Distillation for obtaining clean water.

• Upscaling and standardization of adsorbent-composite and pilot-reactor
• Testing of adsorbent-composite at applied distillation/ evaporation
• Detailed water quality analysis for controlling and standardizing the CAD upscaling
• Upscaling and optimization of the water vaporization, adsorption, and condensation rates at varying conditions
• Design and development of industrial-scale combined adsorption distillation (CAD) unit for validation and commercial feasibility.

Dr. Zafar Bangash,

Dept of Mechanical Engineering, NUST College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering 

Commercial CPAP and BiPAP devices do not incorporate FIO2 management. Development of Efficient and Robust Control Mechanism for CPAP and BiPAP Devices for Respiration Therapy for Covid-19 Patients

Dr. Majid Hussain PI, and Prof. Dr. Moazzam Nizami Co-PI from the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Haripur KP.

Dr. Riffat Naseem Malik, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, and Dr. Faizan Ullah, UST Bannu as Academic Collaborators.

Mr. Mujahid Ahmad Industry partner from Merryland Group of Business Pvt Ltd Swabi, KP and Dr. Tausif Raza from Tami International Impex Pvt Ltd, Islamabad.

To develop low emitting pellet biofuel plant (large-scale production) on a commercial basis using the indigenously developed technology (pelletizer machine) in Pakistan,

To overcome severe energy crises, reduce the alarming rate of deforestation for round firewood logs, fight against perilous impacts of global warming and climate change, and will also have positive impacts on socio-economic (employment/jobs) issues being faced by Pakistan.     

• Pellets prototypes of more than 20 agro-forest species residues or sawdust developed and characterized for its combustion properties. The biomass raw materials of agro-forest species collected from all the divisions of the KP.
• First facility for pellet biofuel production is established with support of the Industry Partner Merryland Group of Business Swabi in KP and more than 1 metric ton of pellets biofuel is distributed free of cost among the different stakeholders for testing.
• Employment generation in biofuel and bioenergy industry and increase private sector interest to invest in the pellet industry. 
• The findings of this research project will provide a baseline or benchmark for the establishment of large-scale pellet biofuel industry-academia Collaboration. Some of the findings of this project is published in HEC recognized, W category journal "Sustainability" having impact factor 3.251 at https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/4/2082 4 project M. Phil research students are working research papers for this project at the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Haripur, KP.

Dr. Wala Saadeh, Electrical Engineering Department, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).

Dr. Naqeeb Khalid, Intexim Enterprises.

Many surgical procedures would not be possible without the patient entering a state of general anesthesia (GA).

1) Revision of Implementation of EEG based novel depth of anesthesia classification algorithm [Algorithm Development]

2) Low-Power and small-form-factor implementation of EEG DoA system [Hardware Implementation]

3) Revision of mobile anesthesia apparatus (OXYMED 3000-PLUS)

4) Integration of EEG DoA system with revised mobile anesthesia apparatus.

• A comprehensive survey of state-of-the-art algorithms for DoA (Depth of General Anesthesia)  in the field of biomedical systems for EEG monitoring performed.
• A balanced combination of spectral, temporal, and temporal features from EEG was extracted which has the highest correlation with the states of anesthesia.  The proposed DoA algorithm outperforms the previously proposed algorithms in this field, while further work is still in PROGRESS.
• The research work already led to two research conferences (IEEE ISCAS and IEEE NEWCAS 2022), both internationally known flagship conferences. Moreover, the results and findings of the research progress lead to research publication, submitted in the internationally known journal "IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering".

In Pakistan, more than 90% wastewater is discharged in the environment without any treatment. One of the main reasons of the this discharge is that the traditional methods for wastewater treatment are not feasible due to their high capital, operational, and maintenance costs.

Nature-based floating treatment wetland is a highly suitable alternative. It is a solar energy-driven, low cost, sustainable, and eco-friendly approach.

However, this technology is not popularized and disseminated among the people of Pakistan for wastewater treatment and reuse.

The floating treatment wetland technology  disseminated to the end-users by visiting industries and organizations, and through symposiums, seminars, and conferences, and highlighting the importance of clean water, wastewater treatment and its reuse.

The technology was also successfully applied at Akhuwat University Kasur, Toyota Chenab Motors Faisalabad, Momentum Logistics Khanewal, Manak village Lahore, and Mari Petroleum Ghotki for the treatment /ruse of the wastewater.

The treated water met the national wastewater discharge standards of Pakistan and can be safely discharged in the environment and/or use for horticulture, irrigation and for the same application. Until now, more than 100,000 sq ft floating wetlands has been applied at 20 sites in Pakistan and has improved the quality of ~700 m3 wastewater. 

Dr. Hammad M. Cheema, Professor, Electrical Engineering, NUST, Islamabad.

Yasir Javed, CEO Renzym (Pvt.) Ltd., Islamabad. 

To achieve self-reliance by developing a key enabler of X-band airborne radar, namely the Quad Transmit/Receive Module (QTRM).

The proposed commercial grade development is based on the groundwork carried out at RIMMS-NUST since 2019 and is to be merged in the indigenous development effort being carried out by a consortium of public and private sector organizations led by AvDI – PAF.

A successful outcome of this project can potentially save millions of dollars to the national exchequer, provide self- control of critical technology, and avoid the risk of technology denial from foreign countries.

The problem is addressed by successful design of QTRM as required by the end-user. Some of the accomplishments achieved up till now:

• System design
• Simulation development and testing of 1:4 way Power divider
• Circuit / layout design of RF, digital and power sub-modules of QTRM
• EM, SI, PI, and thermal simulation of the QTRM PCB
• Digital control design and simulation
• Mechanical housing design of QTRM

PI: Prof. Dr. Imran Pasha, National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan

CoPI: Prof. Dr. Masood Sadiq Butt, National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan

Industrial Collaborator: Mr. Raza Abbas, Rehmat Wheat Products, Pvt. Ltd., Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. 

In Pakistan, wheat is used as staple food with 70% gross utilization. Mostly Pakistani diets are comprised of wheat chapatti. These dietary patterns lead to limited dietary diversity as well as food security issues.

The project was designed with the objectives of development of specialty multigrain flours utilizing indigenous cereals, for commonly consumed foods in Pakistan i.e., bread, chapattis, and cookies to compensate for the needs of essential nutrients as well as to reduce burden on wheat alone as a staple diet.

Multigrain specialty flours for bread, cookies and chapattis were developed. 61 combinations of multigrain flours (blends of wheat flour with non-wheat cereals such as barley, oat, corn, millet, sorghum, and quinoa) were blended. 55 types of bread, 41 types of cookies and 42 types of chapattis developed. The products were assessed for sensory evaluation. 07 treatments for bread, 07 for cookies and 11 for chapattis were selected. These were further evaluated for chemical composition (moisture, ash, fat, fiber, and protein), antioxidant profile (TPC, TFC, DPPH assay), minerals (Mg, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Fe), rheology (RVA and farinograph) and product development (bread, cookies and chapattis).

Conclusively, blends of wheat with barley / corn at the substitution rate of 20% were rated highest for acceptability. For cookies wheat with oat/corn at 10% replacement of wheat and for chapattis, wholewheat blended with oat barley / corn were found the best at 30% replacement.

Development and Upscaling of Combined Distillation techniques for saline water treatment and freshwater production on industrial scale (CAD-Water)

Principial Investigator (P.I):
Dr. Tanveer Ahmed Gadhi

Co-Principial Investigator (Co-P.I):
Dr. Rasool Bux Mahar
U.S. Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water USPCAS-W, MUET Jamshoro.

Universities:
Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) Jamshoro & University of Sindh (UOS), Jasmhoro

Research Collaborators:
Dr. Najma Memon (Research Collaborator)
Dr. Imran Nazir (Research Fellow)
Abdul Manan Memon (Research Assistant)

Industrial Collaborators:
Mr. Munir Badar, Executive Partner Water and Energy Sustainable Solutions (WES)
Mr. Waseem Vohra, ex-chairman of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) Mr. Irfan Ali Ansari, Director Engineering, Al-Rahim Textile Industries Ltd. (ARTI), Nooriabad, Sindh

• To enhance water scarcity resilience with the upscaling, development, validation, and transfer of combined adsorption distillation (CAD) technique to treat saline water and produce freshwater at the industrial scale.
  
  
• To utilize waste heat generated in industries (i.e power engines, boilers) coupled with Adsorptive Distillation for obtaining clean water.

• Upscaling and standardization of adsorbent-composite and pilot-reactor
• Testing of adsorbent-composite at applied distillation/ evaporation
• Detailed water quality analysis for controlling and standardizing the CAD upscaling
• Upscaling and optimization of the water vaporization, adsorption, and condensation rates at varying conditions
• Design and development of industrial-scale combined adsorption distillation (CAD) unit for validation and commercial feasibility.

PI:
Dr. Majida Kazmi,  Associate Professor,  Computer and Information Systems Engineering Department, NED University of Science & Technology.

Collaborators:
P&G Pakistan and FS Technology Solutions.

The outcomes achieved so far are:

• Automated testing of industrial products for quality checking
• Tested/ Chamber manufacturing as per industrial requirements.
• Maturity of underlying technology to meet industrial needs.
• Front end Application development,
• Testing the mature product in industry
• System Deployment and maintenance & Training Staff
•  Result Dissemination in terms of journal publication, commercialization.  

Results are also published in international conference. Project was selected from University to showcase in SHEC research and technology showcase 2022. Product demonstration to industries is also initiated.