– By Manzoor Shaikh
Chancellor of Indus University, Khalid Amin says I push my people to bring speakers from industry so that experience and knowledge should be transferred to our students. Leading people from industry, not restricted any particular field they teach in universities in the developed countries. We need such people in our universities; we need experienced PhDs in academia. Knowledgeable people! “Any inexperienced person, no matter a PhD is not complete; he is just a half. Can PhDs know everything practically? If not, they are just theorists and what we require in our universities is practical experience.” The people in industry must be bound to teach in universities also, he said.
In our country, there is no huge industry. Can we compete Chinese who work even they are sleeping. We don’t have resources here. We need to try change the attitude. New industrialist is educated and we should expect them to change.“Pakistan’s engineering industry is limited just to a level of adoption of techniques, it has a lower focus on invention and research”, says Hyder Abbas Musavi, the Dean Engineering, Science & Technology, Indus University.
As far as engineering is concerned, it pillars are purely on design and manufacturing. There is a lesser scope of B.E as there is a faint visibility of processor industries, computer manufacturing industries and microchip industries. B. Tech graduates tend to be more useful and are hired to assemble and handle the work floor where as there is a lack of invention. The lack of scope causes brain drain as our skillful engineers move abroad for further studies and employment and PhDs join academia if they resurge back.
ER: It is significant for universities like Mehran and NED who are producing product for a shrink and inflexible market.
HAM: Yes this is a big question for the producers as they are not investing time and energy to enlarge the engineering industry and definitely require to create a pool of local electronic equipment manufacturers. The fact that universities are participating and investing equal contribution but for a small market of electronic manufacturing industry. The unemployment rate of engineers is low with low pay scale and the market absorption needs to be sustained. An average Engineer’s pay scale needs to be increased to around PKR 40,000-45,000. Industry requires basically a technician who can regulate machines and plants rather than developing one.
ER: How would it affect us if foreign companies continue to sell their technology products in Pakistan?
HAM: If the trend of importing electronic and technological goods continue, the unemployment ratio of engineers would remain the same. The main concern is whether China would accommodate us to use their technology or help us build and manufacture our own industry. The increase of imports due to CPEC would definitely give a boost to the employment rate but for the better use of this opportunity, China should inaugurate the Tech Industry in Pakistan. Telecom industry is the most profitable but unfortunately there is no professional telecommunication discipline in the universities of Pakistan. One needs to ponder over the fact that why should a student go for the B.E. degree if there are only B Techs Required. The most profitable and sustainable segment in the world is the telecommunication industry but Pakistan’s universities might have limited this field because even if there are researches being carried out in Pakistan, they are implemented in other parts of the world. The whole telecom field is transferring towards nanotechnology but Pakistan is very distant from this development. There is a program in NUST called Materials Engineering but with limited seats and less scope. It is very important to start nanotechnology within universities to expand and create exposure for the students. Every obsolete technology is still in practice in Pakistan and we need to know new ways to update towards new trends.
ER: What are the future plans of Indus University to expand? Is Indus University producing enough candidates to fulfill the market demand?
HAM: Indus University moves according to strategic planning and we have already planned a 10 year growth strategy of expansion. Secondly, the university is located in the city center and requires a robust infrastructure. The development and construction of Indus University’s campus has already begun in DHA city on a land of a few acres and many collaborations have been made with a few companies to amplify and attract students. The first priority is to create an appropriate atmosphere and simulation of a proper university as the infrastructure is congested. Furthermore, Indus university is participating in Art and Design as there is a wide spread faculty of Indus University. We are working on the revival of telecom and nanotechnology discipline (5G) and enhancing the performance of our Management Science faculty too because as soon as the dependency on oil decreases, 5G dependency would increase. We are also exploring alternative sources of renewable energy to decrease the energy crisis in Pakistan. Disaster Engineering/Management is another area which is being explored as Pakistan is a disaster prone country whether man made or natural.
ER: Do you think your thoughts regarding Engineering Universities and Industry are satisfactory?
HAM: Pakistan Engineering council is a governing body and there are changes being noticed in the current and previous body with a positive difference being felt. My opinion regarding this thought is to develop standards and policies once and for all to regulate and uniform the procedures. A full authority of developing and implementing policies and procedures is given but I think uniformity should be practiced. Why not collaborate with international accreditors and create a better opportunity and it’s not necessary for them to collaborate with Pakistan Engineering Council only as there are many other governing bodies for alliance. To decrease the monopoly, multiple agencies should be involved and accredited.
ER: Does HEC and Pakistan Engineering Council let Indus University steer to the same pathway of sense and direction or contradict when it comes to the structure and procedures?
HAM: The understanding and procedures of both governing bodies are moderately different as PEC has a requirement of 60% marks when it comes to the enrollment of undergraduate students whereas HEC has not set any specific policies regarding it. For some programmes HEC requires 45% and 50% and this comes as a question mark to both when it comes to producing quality so both the bodies contradict when it comes to basic planning.
ER: When it comes to industry expansion, who do you think should be held accountable, government policies or businessmen?
HAM: Instability of government has been a prolonged issue in Pakistan as we all know, this causes the local as well as foreign investors to reject the idea of investing in Karachi. A conducive and stable environment is required to attract certain investors so if we talk about accountability, both sides are liable.
