Set aside milestones that the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) achieved after Engr. Najeeb Haroon’s takeover, Jan 11 academia-industry interaction in Islamabad extracted three results.
One, academia and industry which otherwise remain in touch with each other on many counts but formal interaction under some mechanism appears to be one of the requisites for any fruitful results to be secured in Pakistan.
Two that both sides are truly eager to create a genuine engagement so that the academia remains receptive to resolving the issues of the industry and in return, the latter recognizes the former as the part and parcel of the development of the country.
Three, both appeared convinced that PEC and other engineering institutions must play their due role viz-a-viz introducing requisite changes in all spheres of the engineering profession and education in Pakistan.
This moot, hosted by the Academia-Industry Liasion Committee (AILC) of the council led by Engr. Zahid Khand provided luminaries from academia and industry a conducive environment to understand each other’s issues, lacunas, strengths, and weaknesses for formulating a set of recommendations.
Though this committee has long been marred by multiple issues which hindered it to move ahead swiftly, this moot earned it the distinction of being the one that can lead genuine collaboration between academia and Industry and help the PEC and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to bing about the changes in light of the joint recommendations of academia and industry.
A considerable number of participants from the industry, as well as the academia, demonstrated the level of hard work on the part of the committee and the teams from the council.
The participants whose number was not less than a hundred were distributed into two groups for discussions which were to be then clubbed into final recommendations.
Brig Syed Adnan, Registrar NUTECH—a participant from academia—said: we should understand that no industry anywhere can support such internships in which the engineer cannot perform. Universities are the most responsible institutions to create efficient engineers. The industry does not need academia as it is earning profits; academia needs the industry’s support. Academia is the marketeer and the industry is the client. We have to make industry academia’s customer which requires persons who are efficient and can deliver. The academia should link the engineer from the first semester with the industry. I can claim 80 to 90 percent of professors have never visited any industry in their life. They don’t know the names of machines, they cannot link the processes between theory and practice. How can they teach the students? We need to develop a system besides training the teachers.
Dr. M. Younus Javed VC MUST says we need to seriously review credit hours. Extra credit hours should be diverted to industry. We should embed industry with the overall training and skills. Pakistan Engineering Council should introduce a major shift from such aspect. We are not giving space to our students for looking at the industry. Our students badly lack presentation skills and they cannot present their work. Have a look at Malaysia and Korea, they work on the skills of their students.
Yet another said we have left the student free in Pakistan. How our student performs well when he opts for education abroad. He works there in the evening but still gets good grades. If we send them to the industry, they learn many things there besides education in the university. Also, we should learn the language we communicate in with the industry. The industry does not know academia’s language, it does understand economic language; not the theoretical process that we teach in the universities.
Dr Valiuddin, Vice Chancellor of Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi said: Now we cannot be confined to the models of the universities. One can take courses from anywhere and there are many sources of knowledge available now. Thus, the role of the university will drastically be changed where we have to facilitate the student besides teaching the student and giving them skills. Every individual wants to go on a different path thus we need a plan for it differently. We need separate plans for the individuals and therefore the faculty and facilities need to reform and reshaped.
DR. Tufail, Pro VC, NED University Karachi said we should reduce credit hours so that the over-occupation of the students is addressed as they are over-occupied. Also, we have to make the courses localized though some of the ingredients will be mandatory.
I am agreed with Dr. Valiuddin that we need to change as many interdisciplinary things are coming now so that the demand of the industry is addressed.
Dr. Tauha, VC MUET, Jamshoro said: Our faculty is not linked with the industry. Unfortunately, our faculty is busy producing papers and is not interested in linking it with the industry. Since they want to become professors, they focus on publications that will require them to achieve their objective. We need to become technology and industry-driven.
Also, universities should appoint people from industry people for industry liaison as the teachers can never deliver on this front. Then only, the process will go on and the industry will start trusting academia. Sumiltanesouly, we will be able to produce students for the industry.
Asim Shehryar, CEO of Ignite said we need to prepare students not only for jobs but also for other skills too. HEC made 35 business incubation centers in Pakistan. Can anyone tell us of any one product which turned successful in Pakistan or abroad? Ironically, these centers are being run by professors. How can they do it? Only industry people can run business incubation centers. We do it too but through the industry.
A participant was of the view that PEC can conduct a comprehensive survey to know what kind of skillset we need in Pakistan. The curriculum design should be based on the outcomes of the survey. The universities need to change themselves in view of modern demands and the industry.
Dr Samreen Hussein said that universities can send their faculty to industry and we did it in DUET, Karachi, and decided to send our faculty to the industry for a full semester. But the question is for how long can industry take it. We should look from both ends. Not only academia but the industry has also to come forward.
Dr. Zohaib Iqbal, President Pakistan Software Testing Board said all engineers irrespective of their discipline, need to learn IT skills as all the tools on based on it. The universities should focus on it. This will increase the employability of engineers.
The industry does not know what a professor can do in resolving their issues. Academia has to tell the industry what they can do for them.
Fawad Fiaz, MD Salaria & Sheikh Intl. Islamabad was of the view that in Pakistan, engineers are involved in operation and maintenance as we do have large-scale industries in Pakistan. Where we stand in the engineering industry. Companies like Siemens and ABB packed up and went. We don’t have standards here. We are importing millions of dollars worth of engineering parts and machinery.
The deliberations of both groups generated a set of recommendations which was presented in the moot in the concluding session.
Recommendations:
PEC & EAB should allow flexibility in taught credit hours (70% discipline related and 30% for industrial exposure and market skills)
Curriculum implementation should of 3/3.5 years followed by 6 months – One-year placement
Modify Accreditation Framework and Curriculum structure taking inspiration from international models as per national requirements
Universities should prioritize soft skill development and opportunities for graduates to showcase their talents through various student activities, competitions, and Capstone projects
Interdisciplinary streams and research should be encouraged
Industry Advisory Boards should be implemented in letter and spirit with their guidelines for Accreditation
PEC should conduct a survey in engineering industries for demand-supply analysis and future needs
PEC must play its role in establishing a framework for IP rights, standardization, and conformity assessment mechanism to meet export requirements.
Facilitation of industries by PEC in accordance with relevant provisions of the Act and Bylaws
Academic projects must have an impact on industrial and societal domains in terms of effective and affordable solutions/ Products
Academia industry linkages shall be enhanced by inviting the industry to share the problems and the academia proposing the effective solutions
The on-job training shall be conducted by PEC in collaboration with academia and industry
Proper evaluation and assessment mechanisms shall be developed to ensure the effectiveness of the OJT Program
OJT training modules also need to be updated on regular basis to meet the industry requirement
Four year Degree Program shall be coupled with after graduation one year OJT Program for smooth integration of requisite human resource
R & D component of industry needs to be strengthened with the help of academia by launching joint academia-industry ventures
Open-ended labs and other concepts of the Outcome-based education model under the Washington accord shall be linked with industrial aspects as per market demand
A mechanism shall be developed by PEC for facilitating short-term placement of Faculty in relevant industries
The national level requirement of engineers in various fields in both public and private sectors needs to be outlined enabling PEC to regulate engineering education effectively
Apart from participation in regular statutory bodies interaction with industry people shall be ensured in HEIs on a regular basis
