May 30, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1428

ISLAMABAD, May 29: National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) is endeavouring to introduce a culture of technology-based market through extensive research programmes in collaboration with foreign leading institutes and by targeting the local talent.

Highlighting the upcoming NUST projects, Nust Director- General Air Commodore (retd) Engineer Mansoor Malik told APP here Tuesday that one of the mega projects is Technology Incubation Centre being set up in Sector H-12 at a cost of Rs4 billion.

He said the initiative was taken to bring academia and industry together to incubate technology based start-up companies, collaborative research with industrial partners and engineering services for industry and SMEs.

“Under one umbrella project 12 institutes of NUST will be brought under one roof while it will have floor space for more than 70 high tech start-up-companies,” he added.

The university DG said that funding for $55 million project for manufacturing different parts of unmanned aerial vehicle (UMV) in collaboration with US leading university was being arranged.

Currently, NUST has more than 5,000 students and about 600 faculty members in 22 institutes, Air Commodore Malik added. He said NUST has students’ and faculty members’ exchange programmes with 55 foreign reputed universities under split programmes.

Underlining the need for translating research work into technology, he said the researchers imported from abroad work with certain modus operandi which often does not suit local requirements.

Moreover, research for the sake of research is another factor which needs radical change, he added.

Since its establishment in 1992, Nust has achieved significantly in different fields. “The main objective of Nust is to work on a triangle, to arrange funding companies, carry out research for end-users and then market those products,” the DG added.

He said provision of funds play vital role during introduction of a product into market and then seeking commercialised leeway.

Air commodore Malik stressed pumping of extra funds for this purpose and welcomed the creation of $50 million venture capital fund by the government.