The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Arizona State University (ASU) has launched a US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E) at National University of Science and Technology (NUST).
This move is an effort to fulfill the pressing need of ongoing energy crisis in the country. This is one of Pakistan’s major challenges and the launch of USPCAS-E will discover industry-focused research oriented solutions. It will also provide the faculty of university with exposure to new technology. Moreover, it will give them an opportunity to collaborate with other experts in their fields.
A faculty member of UPSCAS-E at NUST, Akif Zia Khan went to Arizona State University in January earlier this year. During his visit, he attended a number of meetings on curriculum, lab equipment, and applied research projects. He was accompanied with senior faculty at the Power Systems Research Center (PSERC).
Another faculty member Dr. Naseem Iqbal also flew to ASU for the same project. While commenting on the importance of UPSCAS-E, he stated:
“These research projects will address some of the most pressing energy concerns facing Pakistan today. Faculty and students at NUST are geared to undertake projects for efficient energy storage and electrochemical reduction of CO2, converting it into useful chemicals for an improved environment”
The facility at NUST also contains smart grids laboratory. It will help the researchers to model, simulate and validate the different domains of electric power grid. Power quality analysis and energy auditing can also be performed with the equipment available with this laboratory. Industries will be allowed and encouraged to make a fair utilization of this facility for the validation of their prototypes.
The USPCAS-E initiative is a part of USAID’s larger $127 million investment in collaboration with HEC. It will harness applied research to explore innovative and practical solution for Pakistan’s energy, water, agriculture, and food security challenges.
USAID approved $20 million for UET Peshawar
USAID also approved a grant of $20 million for UET Peshawar 3 weeks ago. The funding was permitted for research under the same project. Moreover, 20 students from Mehran UET also proceeded to the US for research on water sustainability. The students went under the US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W).
Source: The Nation