Sustainability Plan of USPCAS-W MUET Discussed

Vice Chancellor MUET Dr. Mohammad Aslam Uqaili chaired the leadership meeting on the sustainability of U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W), Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) Jamshoro on Wednesday. Dr. Uqaili said that after funding of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to the USPCAS-W MUET, which will end in December 2019, the Center would be run with the financial support and policy guidelines of Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, Government of Sindh, Center’s sustainability initiatives and alumni funds. He further said that faculty would be given options to choose to be a regular employee of MUET or Tenure Track System (TTS) according to the university and HEC policies. In the meeting, Dr. Tariq Banuri, Associate Director USPCAS-W University of Utah made some suggestions and recommendation for fundraising to the sustainability of the Center also suggested for preparation of five-year sustainability plan. Dr. Bakhshal Lashari, Project Director USPCAS-W MUET, presented one-year Center’s sustainability plan whereas Dr. Steve Burian, Director USPCAS-W University of Utah (UoU), USAintroduced the role of UoU in sustaining the Center.

Dr. Tahua Hussain Ali, MUET Pro-Vice Chancellor, chaired the second session of the Center’s Sustainability Initiatives 2018. Dr. RasoolBux Mahar, Deputy Director (Academics and Research) gave a presentation on the cost recovery of Center’s laboratories and MUET clean water entrepreneurial opportunities. Dr. KaziSuleman, Manager Research USPCAS-W, briefed about the business and corporate engagement for fundraising to the sustainability of the Center. Mr. Waqas Ahmed gave a presentation on executive training courses and workshops. TheUSPCAS-W was established at Mehran UET with the financial support of USAID Pakistan under the Cooperative Agreement signed on December 12, 2014 for five years. The Center is dedicatedly training and building up the capacity of a new generation of engineers and water professionals to solve the water security challenges of the twenty-first century.