HYDERABAD, May 11: The Pakistan Council of Science and Technology has constituted a “Peer Review Committee” to assist in improving the quality of research in the field of mining engineering.

The committee has been constituted in pursuance of the directives of President Gen Pervez Musharraf,

The committee comprising, C.M. Arshad, convenor and general manager (Rtd), PMDC, Islamabad, Noor Mohammad Khan (member), managing director, Lakhra Coal Development Corporation (LCDC), along with Dr. A.G. Pathan, director general, Sindh Coal Authority, visited the department of mining engineering at the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, here on Saturday.

The committee said the objectives of their visit were to identify the strength and weakness of specific departments in terms of faculty, research infrastructure including equipment, library and laboratory facility and to examine the collaborative research activities of the department with both national and international institutes, universities and industries.

It would also help evaluate the performance of the department in imparting M.Phil/Ph.D level training and the ability to win national and international grants, the committee said.

The committee members, along with the chairman of the mining engineering department, Dr G.R. Halepoto, visited mining department laboratories and facilities available there.

Dr Halepoto briefed the committee about the facilities required to strengthen the department for research and development.

ACTING VC: The vice chancellor, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, Dr Abdul Rehman Memon, left for Riyadh here on Saturday to attend the third meeting of the consultative council for the implementation of the cultural strategy for the Islamic world. Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan Rajput, dean, faculty of engineering, has been assigned the responsibilities of the vice chancellor in Mr Memon’s absence.