USAID Mission Director Lays Foundation Stone for Water Research Center at MUET

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director to Pakistan John P. Groarke said that stable and prosperous Pakistan is crucial for peace and development of the region and the world at large, USAID is committed to have long-lasting relationship to leverage economic development in Pakistan through applied research in energy, water, and agriculture & food security. This he said while laying foundation stone for newly launched U.S. – Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W) building at Institute of Water Resources Engineering & Management, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology (MUET) Jamshoro. He said USAID and Government of Pakistan through the Higher Education Commission (HEC) have partnered together to create state of the art centers for advanced studies and by launching these centers USAID has paved the way for economic development by strengthening universities and encouraging applied research. “This project is another example of the long-term commitment of the United States to helping Pakistan address its development priorities and this facility will help address Pakistan’s urgent needs for improved access to water supplies” said the Mission Director. Mr. Groarke also appreciated the efforts of MUET administration for enforcing Gender Equity Plan (GEP) in other institutes of the university.

On this occasion of the groundbreaking ceremony Vice Chancellor MUET Prof. Dr. Mohammad Aslam Uqaili said that USPCAS-W of MUET will emerged as one of the regional world class education and applied water research centers dedicating to resolve water crisis of Pakistan through applied research, developing specialist human resources and technologies; academia-industry collaboration and policy formulation. He thanked USAID for its generous support for establishing this water research center also thanked the partner University of United States – University of Utah for its technical support to this center. The groundbreaking performed by the USAID Mission Director, the Vice Chancellor MUET and Dr. Randy Hatfield, USAID’s Senior Policy Advisor and Program Manager, Sindh Basic Education.

The USPCAS-W building with seven (07) modern equipped laboratories and six (06) class rooms costing 370 million rupees will be completed within 14 months, it covers 161000 sq.ft and the building has separate facilities for handicapped and women, however, USAID will equip the new facility at the university’s Institute of Water Resources Engineering and Management with state-of-the-art laboratories and research facilities. USAID Mission Director Mr. Groarke along with Vice Chancellor Dr. Uqaili met newly enrolled first batch of PhD/MS students at ORIC building and had interactive session followed by Question and Answers while Dr. Randy Hatfield was also witnessed these sessions.

Dr. Mohammad Aslam Chaudhary – Chief of Party University of Utah and Prof. Dr. Bakhshal Khan Lashari – Project Director USPCAS-W briefed the Mission Director and the Senior Policy Advisor regarding objectives and future research of USPCAS-W in the water sector of the country.