A Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) delegation led by Chairman Engr. Najeeb Haroon visited the offices of the Federation Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPPCI) in Lahore.
The President of the federation Irfan Qureshi welcomed the PEC delegation that included members of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Committee (ICE), led by Dr. Samreen Hussain and Lahore-based GB members.
The Founding Chairperson of ASPIRE Pakistan also attended the moot through Zoom.
The primary purpose of the moot was to break the ice between the two organizations and also aimed at highlighting the importance of collaboration between FPCCI, PEC and v ASPIRE.
ASPIRE Pakistan is engaged in developing innovative startups and promoting entrepreneurship in Pakistan.
Dr. Samreen Hussain, Vice Chancellor of Aror University proposed the following points that were agreed upon in principle in the meeting.
To provide exclusive space for the PEC pavilion in the upcoming event to be jointly organized by FPCCI, and the National Idea Bank by ASPIRE Pakistan on 31st July 2022 to showcase the top 30 to 50 ideas of engineering business ideas and highly innovative startups.
Selection of top five projects by Joint Committee/jury for subsequent support for investment through relevant forums and PEC.
Continued collaboration between PEC, FPCCI and ASPIRE to promote entrepreneurship as a tool to eradicate the issue of Engineers’ unemployment hence encouraging engineers’ role in knowledge-based economic development.
To provide “Entrepreneurship Support Offices” in all regional offices of FPCCI after a formal agreement between PEC and FPCCI.
During the event, ASPIRE Pakistan signed the MoU with the PEC on four points proposed by Dr. Samreen Hussain; FPCCI to follow suit after their legal vetting.
ICE has also proposed FPCCI to identify sick or close to bankrupt industrial units so that they can be assigned to skilled unemployed engineers to make them up and running with due shareholding.
People present in the meeting included President FPCCI Irfan Iqbal Shaikh, Chairman PEC Engr Najeeb Haroon, Chairperson ASPIRE Pakistan Mr. Hassan Syed, Convener PEC ICE Engr. Dr. Samreen Hussain, FPCCI Vice President Ms. Riffat Malik, and many members of ICE and FPCCI office bearers attended the meeting

Barrick Gold Corporation says the company would convert Pakistan’s Reko Diq into a world-class mine and the company would start production of gold and copper by 2027.
The chief executive officer (CEO) of the Canada-based mining firm said this week that agreements underlying the framework agreement were being finalized by teams from Barrick and Pakistan.
The Reko Diq project in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, which hosts one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits, was suspended in 2011 after Pakistan denied Barrick Gold and Chile’s Antofagasta a license to develop it.
An agreement reached between the Government of Pakistan, the provincial government of Balochistan and Barrick earlier this year provides for the reconstitution and restart of the project, which has been on hold since 2011. It will be operated and owned 50 percent by Barrick, 25 percent by the Balochistan government and 25 percent by the Pakistani state-owned enterprises.
“The definitive agreements underlying the framework agreement are currently being finalized by teams from Barrick and Pakistan,” Barrick CEO Mark Bristow said at a press conference in Islamabad.
“Construction of the first phase will follow that with the first production of copper and gold expected in 2027-28.”
Bristow said Barrick would bring capital and technology to convert Reko Diq into a world-class mine and transform Balochistan.
“The project will bring in $10 billion investment in Pakistan, out of this, $4 billion in the first phase till 2027, then $3 billion during the second phase and another $3 billion in the third phase,” he said.
Subject to the updated feasibility study expected in two years, Bristow said, Reko Diq is envisaged as a conventional open pit and milling operation, producing a high-quality copper-gold concentrate.
“It will be constructed in two phases, starting with a plant that will be able to process approximately 40 million tonnes of ore per annum which could be doubled in five years,” he said.
With its unique combination of large-scale, low strip and a good grade, Reko Diq will be a multi-generational mine with a life of at least 40 years, according to the Barrick CEO.
During the negotiations, he said, the Pakistani government and Barrick agreed that Balochistan and its people should receive their fair share of the benefits as part of the Pakistan ownership program.
“The project will have 100 percent Pakistani workers who will be first trained by Barrick for the mining job,” Bristow said. “During the peak construction, the project is expected to employee 7,500 people and once in production it will create 4,000 long-term jobs.”
Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ismail said the development of Reko Diq represented the largest direct foreign investment in Balochistan and one of the largest in Pakistan.
“Like Barrick, we believe that the future of mining lies in mutually beneficial partnerships between host countries and world-class mining companies,” Ismail was quoted as saying in a Barrick statement.
“The Reko Diq agreement exemplifies this philosophy and also signals to the international community that Pakistan is open for business.”
The finance minister said his government was looking forward to Barrick Gold’s investment in the copper and gold mine. “I believe this investment is going to be transformational for Balochistan and Pakistan,” he said on Twitter.
Bristow said multiple social welfare programs for the people of Balochistan would be initiated in education, healthcare and food security as well as for the provision of potable water in a region where groundwater has a high saline content.
“This includes an upfront social development spend of up to $3 million in year one and up to $7 million in year two during the feasibility study update,” the Barrick CEO said.
“One percent of capital during construction phase [and] 0.4 percent of revenue thereafter on an annual basis would also go to the social welfare of the local public.”
He said the unique feature of the agreement was that the Balochistan government would start receiving royalty of the project before the start of operations.
“The Balochistan government will get up to $5 million in the first year, $7.5 million in the second year and $10 million annually from the third year till commercial production is achieved,” Bristow said.
“The Reko Diq agreement also signals to the international community that Pakistan is open for business,” he added.n

The Faculty of Telecommunications at the Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria organized the CENTRAL Workshop including Training and Competition on Unity 3D for Interactive Content development as part of the CENTRAL Project- Capacity Building and ExchaNge towards attaining Technological Research and modernizing Academic Learning in June 2022. Besides all partner universities of EU Capacity Building in Higher Education Project CENTRAL, various faculty members, researchers, and students across the globe participated in the workshop and competition.
From 6th -9th June 2022, the Technical University of Sofia also Organized IEEE International Black Sea Conference on Communications and Networking at Sofia Technology Park in which many researchers across the globe participated and presented their research work.
On 13th June 2022, a meeting of partner Universities of the CENTRAL Project took place which provided a platform for different sectors to look for new initiatives and future course of action for defining project proposals for the European Commission-funded project. CENTRAL is aimed at enabling employability, internationalization, and interdisciplinary engagement of students and graduates, as well as research staff.
From 14th to 17th June 2022, Training and Competition on Unity 3D was organized. The workshop created an atmosphere for socialization among participants and on the popular happenings in the Digital World specially the importance of Unity 3D was the focus of attention. The delegates from the USA, Spain, Pakistan, Thailand, Denmark, Bulgaria, and India were also present.
From Pakistan, two Universities namely Mehran University of Engineering and Technology Jamshoro and Sir Syed University of Science and Technology Karachi were part of this training and competition. Engr Muhammad Zakir Shaikh from Mehran University Pakistan secured 1st Position in this International Unity 3D Competition. The second and third positions were secured by researchers from India.
Besides great networking sessions, Various visits were also arranged for the participants including visits to High Tech Laboratories, departments, and visit to Sofia Tech Park. The Overall Objective of this event was to open discussions on innovation and its commercialization through a strong partnership between industries and academia as well as on modern practices and methodologies in cross-/multi-/interdisciplinary areas such as Unity 3D, social science, technology, Business Canvas, and so on. At the end of the event, certificates were distributed among all the participants. Furthermore, Prof Vladimir Poulkov and Associate Professor Agata Manolova of TUS thanked all the participants for being part of this

Pakistan Engineers Forum (PEF) QUEST organized an introductory session and welcome gathering for new members and actively showed their great efforts for PEF organization.
In this session Dr. Intesab Hussain presented a very fruitfull lecture about Freelancing and Ms. Sanam Chandio motivated new members about their future.

Over the years, we have been covering various seminars and gatherings of the engineering community but we rarely come across women engineers on head tables.
Why are women engineers not seen in leadership positions?
In our country where the women population is around 50% this question is very relevant.
When we visit engineering universities there are many female students but after their degrees where have they disappeared?
Indeed, social norms don’t allow many of them to continue. On the other hand, many who have entered the job market are not seen in higher positions.
Why? This is a big question!
When we asked some professional ladies, they blame the male dominating society.
Male engineers knowingly or unknowingly do not give equal opportunities to their female counterparts. They create hurdles in the way of women, this is an opinion of a woman engineer.
When we asked a lady who had previous field experience but is a homemaker now, she replied that as women have responsibilities for their home and kids, therefore they can not continue with their careers.
Whatever the reason, women engineers are not seen as engineering leaders