PESHAWAR: President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday said rapid advancements and innovations had taken place in the field of science and technology worldwide, so a paradigm shift was needed in engineering disciplines, scientific concepts and analytical thinking for sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the country.

He was addressing a function of the students and faculty members of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) here after the inauguration of the Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security Laboratory on campus.

The president said science and engineering technologies were making an advancement in the world at a fast pace and the importance of online education had significantly increased in the wake of emerging challenges.

“If we [Pakistan] want to compete with world and regional countries, we need to encourage virtual and online education,” he said.

Says students are country’s future

Dr Alvi said the developing countries were also making rapid progress due to science and technology and Pakistan had all resources to become a developed country by bringing the necessary innovations and advancements in scientific and technological disciplines.

“We need a major paradigm shift in our analytical thinking, basic scientific concepts and engineering disciplines in order to achieve new heights of progress and development besides coping with the modern day challenges. To achieve these key objectives, the role of the universities of science and technologies is vital to prepare youth along modern scientific lines and inculcate the required educational and vocational skills in students so that they could effectively shoulder future responsibilities and significantly contribute to the process of nation building,” he said.

The president said Pakistan required quality engineers, architects and IT professionals, and great responsibilities rested on the UETs’ academia to produce quality manpower, including IT professionals, to cater to the market demand and futures responsibilities in an effective way.

He said students were the country’s future, so they should concentrate on education to contribute to efforts for national development.

Dr Alvi appreciated the UET Peshawar’s initiatives for the promotion of quality education in the province and said quality research in engineering disciplines was imperative to provide better facilities to the people and help policymakers formulate future strategies for development.

He said the university should increase enrolment of IT students and prepare IT specialists in light of the increased role of computer and IT in government and private sectors.

Earlier, Vice-Chancellor Dr Iftikhar Hussain highlighted the university’s achievements and facilities provided to students.

He said donor organisations and government’s Ehsas scholarship programme were providing around Rs100 million funds every year for scholarships.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2021