HARIPUR: The Pak-Austria Fachhochschule Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (PAF-IAST) Mang, Haripur, organised “Career Fest 2025” here the other day providing an opportunity to industrialists, entrepreneurs and job seekers to interact.

Adviser to the chief minister on industries Abdul Kareem Khan inaugurated the event, which, according to organisers, was meant to enable industry leaders to engage with talented students, explore future collaborative opportunities and assess potential recruits.

On the occasion, the final year students of BS programmes in Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Science, Biotechnology, Information Design, Software Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence displayed 106 projects and provided a platform for students to present innovative, research-driven solutions to real-world challenges.

Noted projects were about energy management, power electronics, building management, electric vehicles, home automation/energy, rechargeable battery/industry, cyber security, PLC-based data logger, utility applications, ecommerce/skills marketplace, molecular theranostics, biotechnology products, natural compounds and AI in Healthcare, food industry, fertilisers, minerals, cosmetic industry, cement industry and glass industry.

Also, they covered AI in agriculture, education, heart care, software development, smart manufacturing and tourism.

Adviser to the chief minister Abdul Kareem Khan said the province had a great potential to tap in the sectors of natural resources, human resources and the growing industrial base.

He said if those resources were utilised rationally, brain drain from the country could come to an end.

“Our [PTI’s] government was the first to legislate about internships in the industrial sector,” he said, adding that the “system of corporate social responsibility” was on the anvil.

Earlier, PAF-IAST rector Dr Mujahid said that the institute had achieved milestones of increasing the number of Bachelor’s programmes to 38, MS programmes to 18 and PhD programmes to seven during the last four years, with students’ strength crossing the tally of 4000.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2025