OUR STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI - Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology Chancellor Engineer ZA Nizami has said that the purpose of the research is to create new knowledge that can be used to improve business.
Research is typically not a business or a profit centre but a long term investment, which helps a company generate more revenue and profits, he said. He was speaking at the concluding ceremony of the three-day 14th International IEEE Multiple Conference (INMIC-2011), held on Sunday, organised by SSUET.
Nizami said that the technology advances needs research simply to develop new technologies that can bring out newer products in the market. “Academics are involved in pure research which tend to become too conceptual and too far removed from the real problems that the industry might be facing. It has to be according to the industry’s requirement.” 3-day IEEE Conference INMIC 2011 had a closing ceremony with a panel discussion to bridge the gap between Industry and academia. An informative debate between the two panels - Industry Panel and Academia Panel - held for the budding engineers. Academia panel was of view that the industry doesn’t give a favourable response to the innovative projects made by the students.
They avoid investing in the projects and are also reluctant to hire the skill and services of engineering students for addressing industrial problems.
Industry panel retaliated that students and faculty do not exactly know what is required by the industry. They design and produce their own projects with academic mind-set. Industry spends millions of rupees in different social projects and they may also go to funding in the projects made by the students, but the products should have some industrial value or commercial importance. It is not possible for industry to market students’ products and make them entrepreneur by establishing a company for them. It was observed in the discussion that 3G technology is obsolete in the world market and 23 percent orders of 4G have been cancelled. Now is the era of LTE and students having experience and training of 3G will have no future in coming days.
Registrar Shah Mahmood Syed while concluding the IEEE International Conference said the INMIC 2011 had 78 presentations on different topics. Parallel sessions on 11 tracks went on with thought provoking talks and live discussions by the world renowned scientists.
Earlier Dr Raziq Yaqub gave presentation on ‘Application of communication technologies and controls to existing power grid for energy efficiencies in Pakistan’. He told the electricity delivery system in many areas of the country is getting old and worn out. Population growth has caused the entire transmission system to be over used and fragile. Energy infrastructure is often damaged by floods and earthquake.
Adding new capacity will not increase the reliability of all the old electrical equipment reaching the end of its useful life.
A new approach is essential to significantly increase the efficiency of the entire electrical delivery system. “Energy crisis can be addressed to some extent by using available conventional resources like coal power generation since we have huge deposits of coal in Thar. Similarly without dams electricity can also be produced with low cost by Turbines on downward flow of the river water. Photovoltaic cells on electric poles may light the bulbs from solar energy.
He informed that 30 percent power is lost in theft and also a lot of electricity is gone by transmission lines. Energy can also be saved by proper maintenance of the machinery, cutting the transmission and using PMUs.
Later, Nizami gave certificates and mementoes to the participants and organisers of IEEE Conference INMIC 2011.