Strengthening of relationship between industry, academia, imperative : Tehmina
By Saad Ahmed

RAWALPINDI—Federal Minister for Science & Technology Tehmina Daultana has emphasized the need for strengthening the relationship between industry and academia, for rapid growth of science and technology in the country saying that engineering universities were the focal points of such activities.
She expressed these views as Chief Guest at the Annual Event of Open House & Job Fair held at the College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering, National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) here on Thursday, the objective of the Event was to provide an opportunity to both, potential employers and the graduating students of the College, to come closer and share their mutual interests.
Another purpose of the holding job fair was aimed at developing new relationships and to strengthen the already existing links with Industry. Federal Minister was of the view that that engineering universities were the focal points of such activities saying that spreading awareness about science and technology is one of the top priorities of the government.
She appreciated the efforts made by NUST College of EME to arrange jobs for the students before graduation, which was in-line with the policy of present government that has been determined to provide jobs to every Pakistani. Federal Minister for Science & Technology also visited students’ research projects with keen interest and highly appreciated the work done by young engineers.
Federal Minister Tehmina Daultana congratulated the students for their commendable performance. Total number of 45 companies’ participated in the Event and around 150 delegates were registered for participation. 20 companies conducted interviews in the afternoon. About 70 Final Year Projects were displayed in the exhibition. About 13 industries from various disciplines of engineering setup their stalls during projects’ exhibition to interact with the students and the faculty.
Universities in Pakistan need to establish Science Parks and Technology incubators to promote research culture amongst students and faculty. This was stated by Ms. Tehmina Daultana, Minister for Science and Technology while speaking at the concluding session of symposium on Biometrics organized by Bahria University. She said Biometrics and related technologies provide authenticated identification of people due to their distinct and unmatchable body features. She appreciated Bahria University for holding this symposium which brought together local and foreign experts on Biometrics to brainstorm the subject. She expected that this will open opportunities for local and foreign universities for joint collaboration and research programmes in Biometrics. The Minister praised Bahria University for its phenomenal growth, well known academic standards and its contribution to human resource development of the country.
Earlier Rector Bahria University Vice Admiral Farooq Rashid thanked foreign delegates and local researchers who presented keynote lectures and research papers in the symposium.
Professor Dr. Mohammad Riaz co-chair of the symposium presented summary of the consolidated recommendations. The symposium primarily focused on Biometrics Technologies and applications, Biometrics Performance Evaluation, Biometrics System design and evaluation and information security technology.