Trust deficit between academia, industry shrinking: Dr. Abdul Sami Qureshi

ER: Are our universities that are bigger pools of resources recognized as think tanks in our country?
Dr. Abdul Sami Qureshi: Mehran is a prestigious name and a brand that is providing services all over the country. You can find our graduates in every organization be it WAPDA, NHA and others. This campus was established in 2009 and had only 4 programs at the onset. Then we included two more and we have expansion plans for the future.
The objective of this institution was to provide higher education at the doorsteps. This region namely North Sindh offers quality education to the students and produces quality engineers.
We are continuously approached by various departments for the provision of our graduates. They interact with us during our final year projects.
Also, we have set up an industrial board for getting inputs from the industry for updating our curriculum that is based on such feedback. We are following the Outcome-Based System following Pakistan’s entry into the Washington Accord. I believe Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) is recognized not only in the country but also in many countries and regions of the world.
ER: No doubt producing such quality engineers is an indicator, but there are some other ways to assess the recognition in terms of resolving engineering issues in our society. Why is that so, that the more the number of engineers we produce the more are engineering issues?
DASQ: This is because of an imbalance between population growth and infrastructure. We have an old infrastructure which is under immense pressure and this will naturally increase problems.
Secondly, we lack proper feasibility studies for development projects. In the developed world half of the effort goes to feasibility studies based on surveys, data, and ground realities. Unfortunately, we do not have such traditions and practices here. Decision-makers, as well as
engineers, are responsible for it. Engineers need to visualize the project; it’s a must without which one cannot address the lacunas of the projects. Maybe we have not focused on such aspects in our studies. There is technical support available now everywhere for visualization.
ER: Despite liaison between academia and industry, why don’t we find any projects designed and conceived in universities and are available in the market?
DASQ: Our universities are gradually playing a positive role in this respect. We are being approached for issues pertaining to waste disposal, climate change, road accidents, defense, agriculture, water,etc. We have a qualified faculty and have given good solutions to the government and the industry. There was a bit of trust deficiency between academia and industry that is narrowing down now. Our location does not have the benefit of being closer to financial hubs, it is an issue. If our industry is concentrated in certain areas, distant universities will find it difficult to get benefits. However, speedy communication tools and technologies have helped us to minimize the gap between academia and industry.
I am very much optimistic and I believe if our graduates continue going to the industry as internees, this bond will be consolidated further.
ER: you are leading a prestigious institution and it is a challenge. What is the biggest challenge you face?
DASQ: When universities grow, the problems come to confront them. We are also a growing university, we need more manpower, foreign-returned faculty need promotions. It is a must that all manpower should grow with the university. We have used the same manpower in the growth. More manpower is required to compete the growth and it is an issue. Then comes the financial issues. Expenditures are increasing but not the funds and financial resources and there is no
enhancement in the budgets.
ER: What do you think is the solution to address this issue?
DASQ: In the developed world, transport, development of infrastructures, water, etc are assigned to local governments whereas in Pakistan we take care of all these requirements by ourselves. If the government should take care of these issues we will be at ease. Then pension amounts should be taken care of by the government and the universities will be facilitated to address their financial woes.
ER: What are your goals for this institution?
DASQ: My goal is to upgrade this campus and transform it into a university. We have already written for achieving this objective as we have all requisites here to be the university.n