MOU post Between FUI and Exawal Technologies

We, at (ORIC), are delighted to inform that by the Grace of Almighty Allah (S.W.T), FUI and Exawal Technologies (Private limited) have entered into an MOU on Thursday, Jun 22, 2023 to strengthen the relationship between academia and web technological industry. Dr. Fazal Rahim Khan Dean faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Mr. Majid Jahangir Manager Operations inked the agreement on behalf of FUI and Exawal Technologies (Private limited) respectively. Dr. Shariq Hussain A/Dean faculty of Engineering and IT, Mr. Usman Ahmed lecturer and IET Internship Coordinator, Dr. Ateeq ur Rehman HoD Engineering Technology, Mr. Asif Javed Manager Research Management and Mr. Syed Taimoor Hassan Manager Business Incubation Centre were also present on the occasion.
FUI and Exawal Technologies will cooperate and collaborate to establish and foster a strong connection between academia and industry. Their aim is to create programs and initiatives that facilitate the collaboration between students at FUI and professionals at Exawal, enabling students to gain valuable practical experience, hands-on training, and market insights. This partnership will not only enhance their theoretical knowledge but shall also equip them with the necessary skills for real-world application by engaging in projects and activities with Exawal.

FUI Faculty in HEC Capacity Building Program (Phase-5)

The Higher Education Commission (HEC), in collaboration with the British Council (BC), under its program titled “Pak-UK Education Gateway”, organized the fifth phase of “Researchers Capacity Building Program” on September 19-22, 2022 for the selected researchers. Dr. Tania Arshad Siddiqui, Assistant Professor and Dr. Qaiser Masud Sheikh, Assistant Professor, from FUCD, whereas, Engr. Dr. Abdur Rehman, Assistant Professor and Mr. Muhammad Aqeel, Lecturer, from FUSST, attended the training in fifth phase of the program.
The trainers, Professor Andree Woodcock and Professor Sheena Gardener from Coventry University, UK, equipped the participants with skills and tools to write an effective research grant proposal and to establish linkages with different scholars to enhance emerging trends in multidisciplinary fields in Pakistan. During the four-day training sessions, the trainers endeavored to make the participants capable enough to undertake an acceptable research grant proposal from a multidisciplinary perspective.

FUI Faculty in HEC Capacity Building Program (Phase-3)

The Higher Education Commission (HEC), in collaboration with the British Council (BC), under its program titled “Pak-UK Education Gateway”, organized a five-day “Researchers Capacity Building Program” on September 12-16, 2022 for the selected researchers whose NRPU Projects are in progress. Prof. Sheena Gardner and Prof. Andree Woodlock from Coventry University UK conducted the training which was reinforced by a 2-hour lecture lead by Prof. Richard Dashwood.
Prof Dr. Iffat Rohail and Dr. Nadia Shafeeq from FUSST, whereas Dr. Sana Nadeem from FUMC attended the training in the third phase of the program.
The training was mainly aimed at providing information about useful frameworks for PIs and developing PI confidence and abilities through activities and strategies. The fruitful components of the course were the basics of project management, research quality metrics, research impact, stakeholder engagement, risk management, problem-solving, action plans for personal development and more effective projects.

Participation of FUI Faculty in HEC Capacity Building Program (Phase-2)

The Higher Education Commission (HEC), in collaboration with the British Council (BC), under its program titled “Pak-UK Education Gateway”, organized a five-day “Researchers Capacity Building Program” on September 12-16, 2022 for the selected researchers whose NRPU Projects are in progress. Prof. Sheena Gardner and Prof. Andree Woodlock from Coventry University UK conducted the training which was reinforced by a 2-hour lecture lead by Prof. Richard Dashwood.
Prof Dr. Iffat Rohail and Dr. Nadia Shafeeq from FUSST, whereas Dr. Sana Nadeem from FUMC attended the training in the third phase of the program.
The training was mainly aimed at providing information about useful frameworks for PIs and developing PI confidence and abilities through activities and strategies. The fruitful components of the course were the basics of project management, research quality metrics, research impact, stakeholder engagement, risk management, problem-solving, action plans for personal development and more effective projects.

workshop on “Developing a Vibrant Research Culture”

Prof. Dr. Qaisar Malik, HoD BA FMS, Dr. Sajjad Hussain, FUI’s Focal Person for NBEAC and Mr. Asif Javed, Manager Research Management ORIC (Foundation University Islamabad - FUI) participated in a 2-day onsite training workshop on “Developing a Vibrant Research Culture” held on 24th-25th of May 2022 at University of Swat, Swat, organized by Training and Development Wing (TDW) of National Business Education Accreditation Council - HEC, Higher Education Commission, Pakistan. Around 40x faculty members and officials from several universities of all provinces of the country, attended the subject training program. The resource persons were Prof. Dr. Jawad Syed from LUMS and Dr. Waheed Umrani from IBA Karachi. The objectives of the training included; understanding the role of research in the current era, integrating research with teaching and meeting NBEAC standards for accreditation in particular and drafting research policy, promotion of research culture at universities and professional networking in general.

“ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”

ORIC FUI under its “ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”, has organized a series of workshops from 8 th March to 31 st March, 2022 by renowned professional experts.
Seventh workshop of the series, titled “Qualitative Data Analysis Technique: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis” was held on 31 st March, 2022 at Foundation University School of Health Sciences (FUSH). Around 25x faculty members attended the subject workshop. The resource person for this workshop was Dr. Saima Ehsan, Assistant Professor Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, FUSST.
The aim of the workshop was the practical introduction to the experiential, qualitative approach i.e. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as a method for analyzing qualitative data. The introduction of IPA followed by a detailed presentation of the theoretical underpinnings of IPA. Dr Saima guided participants through the stages of conducting an IPA study i.e. design, data collection, analysis and write up. A couple of group activities for analysis using IPA were also carried out.
Dr. Shagufta Akhtar, Director ORIC presented the university souvenir to Dr. Saima Ehsan as a token of thanks and appreciation.

“ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”

ORIC FUI under its “ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”, has organized a series of workshops from 8 th March to 31 st March, 2022 by renowned professional experts.
Sixth workshop of the series, titled “University Industry Linkages (UIL)” was held on 29 th March, 2022 at Foundation University School of Health Sciences (FUSH) and Foundation University School of Science & Technology (FUSST). Around 40x faculty members attended the subject workshop. The resource person for this workshop was Mr. Muhammad Faisal, Head of ICT, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Mr. Faisal shared his knowledge and experiences of University Industry Linkages. He emphasized on growing importance of university industry linkages by focusing on Quadruple Helix model i.e. engagement of University, Industry, Government & Civil Society for innovation.
He ignited the participants’ interest regarding the importance of UIL and it’s role for technology transfer of the universities. Mr Faisal also highlighted the significance of University Industry Linkages for innovation, solving industrial issues and economic growth challenges.
Dr. Yasir Waheed, Assoc. Prof. & In-Charge Multi-Disciplinary Lab, FUSH presented the university souvenir to Mr. Faisal as a token of thanks and appreciation.

“ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”

ORIC FUI under its “ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”, has organized a series of workshops from 8 th March to 31 st March, 2022 by renowned professional experts.
Fifth workshop of the series, titled “Data Analysis Technique: SPSS” was held on 17 th & 30 th March, 2022 at Foundation University School of Health Sciences (FUSH) and Foundation University School of Science & Technology (FUSST) respectively. Around 57x faculty members and researchers attended the subject workshop. The resource person for this workshop was Dr. Nazima Ellahi, HoD & Assoc. Prof. Economics & Finance at Faculty of Management Sciences, FUSST.
The goal of the workshop was to increase knowledge and requisite skills of participants on the use of quantitative data analysis software “SPSS”. Dr. Nazima introduced the faculty members with key concepts, terminologies and techniques of SPSS for data analysis and interpretation. The workshop session was a practical demonstration on the software which enabled the participants to work independently with SPSS on their own data and provided a solid foundation for analyzing the data quantitatively. Dr. Neelum Almas, Assoc. Prof. at Department of English presented the university souvenir to Dr. Nazima as a token of appreciation.

ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program

ORIC FUI under its “ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”, has organized a series of workshops from 8 th March to 31 st March, 2022 by renowned professional experts.
Fourth workshop of the series, titled “Simplifying and Accelerating the Research” was held on 17 th & 30 th March, 2022 at Foundation University School of Science & Technology (FUSST) and Foundation University School of Health Sciences (FUSH) respectively. Around 47x faculty members and researchers attended the subject workshop. The resource person for this workshop was Dr. Numair Ahmed Sulehri, a certified Mendeley Advisor and Associate Professor at Faculty of Management Sciences, FUSST.
Dr. Numair Ahmed Sulehri enlightened participants on the efficient use of the Mendeley software which is not only reference management software but also an academic social network to organize the research, collaborate with other researchers and to discover the latest trends in research. The practical demonstration on how to use Mendeley for accelerating and simplifying the research was also carried out. Prof. Dr. Furqan Ahmed Siddiqi, Principal FUCP presented the university souvenir to Dr. Numair as a token of appreciation.

“ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”

ORIC FUI under its “ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”, is organizing a series of workshops from 8 th March to 31 st March, 2022 by renowned professional experts.
Third workshop of the series, titled “Patents & Technology Transfer” was held on 15 th & 16 th March, 2022 at Foundation University School of Science & Technology (FUSST) and Foundation University School of Health Sciences (FUSH) respectively. 37x Faculty members and researchers attended the subject workshop. The resource person for this workshop was Ms. Saba Khan, CEO Ed-Consult Intl. Ms. Saba highlighted the significance of patents amongst other intellectual properties and pointed up the technology transferring of academia’s derived innovation to the commercial sector for further development and exploitation for societal benefit. She also mentioned the need and importance of industry-academia collaboration for successful technology transfer of the universities.

“ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”

ORIC FUI under its “ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”, is organizing a series of workshops from 8 th March to 31 st March, 2022 by renowned professional experts.
Second workshop of the series, titled “Intellectual Property of Research Outcome” was held on 15 th & 16 th March, 2022 at Foundation University School of Science & Technology (FUSST) and Foundation University School of Health Sciences (FUSH) respectively. Around 50x faculty members and researchers attended the subject workshop. The resource person for this workshop was Adv. Shakeeb Lashari, a renowned Entrepreneur, IP Expert and CEO of multiple legal tech startups.
The aim of the workshop to create awareness among the faculty members and researchers about intellectual property and how to link innovative research outcomes to intellectual property. Mr. Lashari explained different types of intellectual properties i.e. Patent, Copyright, and Trademark etc. and guided the participants about protection, filing and registration of IP.

“ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”

ORIC FUI under its “ORIC Research & Commercialization Capacity Building Program”, is organizing a series of workshops from 8 th March to 31 st March, 2022 by renowned professionals.
First workshop of the series, titled “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Academia” was held on 8 th & 10 th March, 2022 at Foundation University School of Science & Technology (FUSST) and Foundation University School of Health Sciences (FUSH) respectively. 40+ Faculty members and researchers attended the subject workshop. The resource person for this workshop was Ms Barira Hanif, Head Office of Sustainability, NUST.
The workshop consisted of detailed presentation, interactive discussions and group activities. Ms. Barira Hanif emphasized on the importance of SDGs in reference to academia and role of academia to serve society by inculcating the SDGs in their research.

Success of FUI Students in Summer Fellowship Program & Rookie Game Jam 2021 by Mindstorm Studios, San Francisco

ORIC had brought Mindstorm Studios, San Francisco to FUI's students and encouraged them for Summer Fellowship Program, which is an 8-week long nationwide program, tailored specifically for students to cover different facets of game development such as Game Design, Game Programming and Game Arts. This year, 1600x students from all over Pakistan applied for this program, out of which 3x were from Foundation University Islamabad. To put learning to practical use, the initiative also included mandatory participation in Pakistan’s largest Student Game Jam, called the Rookie Game Jam powered by Mindstorm Studios, in which participants formed teams and were tasked to produce a mobile game from scratch. This year, 270x participated (grouped in 76x teams) in the Rookie Game Jam and successfully completed the program. The overall prize pool of the program was PKR 1x Million. 
We feel immense pleasure to share that Lieba Nadeem (Bachelor of Computer Arts) and Raania Nur (Bachelor of Software Engineering) have successfully completed the Summer Fellowship Program & Rookie Game Jam 2021 and Nabi Bin Pasha, a recent graduate of Foundation University Islamabad, has also been hired by Mindstorm Studios, San Francisco as a Senior 3D Artist.

Director ORIC, Health Services Academy (HSA), Dr. Mubashir Hanif visits Foundation University Islamabad (FUI)

Office of Research Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) hosted the visit of Director ORIC, Health Services Academy (HSA), Dr. Mubashir Hanif on 28th Sep 2021 at the Islamabad Campus of Foundation University Islamabad (FUI). The visit was moderated by Manager Innovation & Commercialization Mr. Abdul Moeed Qureshi, couple of fruitful meetings were also held with Dept of Community Medicine and College of Nursing. Dir ORIC-HSA expressed that “It is inspiring to see the institutional commitment and discipline at FUI Islamabad Campus. A research project in the field of public health was also identified during the meeting with Principal Nursing Capt. ® Yasmeen Saggu which is aimed to be done in collaboration between both the institutions. Common areas of work were sought out for future collaboration which will be executed through the document of understanding.

Finding Innovative and Creative Solutions for Society (FICS)

ORIC, FUI has joined hands with Corporate Advisory Council (CAC), NUST to promote social entrepreneurship among the students of FUI through a competition called "Finding Innovative and Creative Solutions for Society (FICS)". NUST has pooled up FUI as a partner University to allow its students to compete.
"Finding Innovative and Creative Solutions for Society (FICS)" is a competition to promote Social Entrepreneurship and creation of products and services by the students to benefit communities and Society. Currently students can register following the link, https://fics.nust.edu.pk/register/student/. The idea submission stage is in progress and the deadline to submit ideas is Wednesday, 15th Dec 2021, midnight.
Students from within one department or different departments call pool up to make a group and register an interdisciplinary team.

Information Technology Orientation Seminar in FUI for Graduating Students by Nexskills

Information Technology & Information Technology Enabled Services (IT & ITES) Industry needs slightly skilled graduates as starters in different IT roles, whereas education sector is struggling to meet the desired pre-job skillset. Therefore, to develop such skills of student in different verticals of these Industries, ORIC in partnership with NeXskill (OZI Group), an IT training company, brought together 5x renowned young CEOs to orientate the FUI students about their career progression. The Director Operations OZI Group, Mr. Omar Khokhar; CEO Anz Technologies, Mr. Ahmed Manzoor; CEO Grape Games, Mr. Hamza Malik; CEO Funtash Technologies, Mr Ahmed Aziz; and CEO Red Cubez, Mr Salman Gillani shared their journeys during and after the graduation and provided an overview of what skills are required by employers in the IT & ITES sector. The students were enlightened about emerging technologies, web & app development, sales & marketing, and network & systems as career choices. They raised abundant queries during the Q/A session which shows their curiosity to learn and excel. The participants’ feedback was also very positive and encouraging.

Faculty Development Training Session on Effective Proposal Writing towards Winning the Research Grant

FUI aims to organize training sessions for bringing improvements and professionalism in academics and research. Therefore, on 30 th November 2021, ORIC invited Dr. Syed Muhammad Junaid Zaidi, the Founder Rector COMSATS for training session on the topic “Effective Proposal Writing towards Winning the Research Grant”. Dr. Zaidi acquainted the faculty members with the tips for effective proposal writing and also explained the points to be avoided while writing a proposal to the funding agency. The session continued for an hour, followed by Q/A session. The Q/A session remained very interactive, as the faculty members eagerly and actively inquired about their queries and concerns.
Acting Pro-Rector/ Director FURC presented the souvenir to the guest and thanked Dr. S. M. Junaid Zaidi for sparing his valuable time to train the FUI Faculty members on such an important topic. The Faculty members showed their satisfaction and also suggested ORIC for organizing more faculty development events.

Interactive Session between FUI Students and GITEX winning Co-Founders of MyTM

On 12 th Nov 2021, The CEO and COO of GITEX 2021 award winning startup, MyTM, in partnership with ORIC-FUI, delivered an interactive motivational session at Foundation University Islamabad’s Rawalpindi Campus for the aspiring student entrepreneurs and the faculty. Dr. Zain Farooq, CEO of MyTM, walked the audience through the journey of 625+ times rejection and how they were able to succeed. The students were curious during question answer session to know how MyTM stood firm during this difficult time. CEO and COO MyTM suggested the students to strengthen their imagination process and think about brining solutions to people through their innovation projects. They also assured the students and faculty of their support in their relevant projects in coming times. ORIC-FUI will enable the linkages between MyTM and the FUI faculty and students through working relationship.

FUI Participated in Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey 2021

The GUESSS (Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey) Report 2021 has been published by GUESSS global. With participation of 58 countries, and a total of 266,943 responses, the 9th edition of GUESSS has become more international. From Pakistan, 896 students across 18 different public and private sector universities participated in the survey including Foundation University Islamabad (FUI). FUI is mentioned in the report as participating university from Pakistan. Please share this report with colleagues and other organizations which are deemed suitable. ORIC appreciates the participating students of FUI campuses. Full report can be accessed at https://www.guesssurvey.org/

Foundation University Islamabad entered into an agreement with Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology for training of Biomedical Engineering students

On 21st October 2021, Foundation University Islamabad (FUI) has entered into an agreement with Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC) for Supervised Industrial Training (SIT) of the students of BSc. Biomedical Engineering Technology. This is a 4-years long technology program in which students spend 3-years on campus and 1-year in the industry as a full-time human resource, their 7th and 8th semesters are dedicated for practical experience. This industry exposure shall prepare market compatible biomedical engineers aligned with Pakistan’s Vision 2025 as well as the National Technology Council’s guidelines. This important milestone has been achieved through continuous efforts by FUI’s Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC) and more industry partners will be onboarded in coming times.

FUI Internal Funding Program 2021

HEC Capacity Building Workshops 2021

MoU Alfoze FUI

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Foundation University Islamabad (FUI) and Alfoze Technologies Pvt Ltd on June 02, 2021. The MoU paves the way for cooperation between both the organizations for joints initiatives under industry academia linkages. Prof. Dr. Abdul Ghafoor, Pro-Rector FUI, and Mr. Muazzam Arslan Bhatti, CEO Alfoze Technologies, inked the agreement to practically implement the various activities jointly developed by the FUI and Alfoze. This agreement shall benefit FUI students in terms of their final year projects, ICT boot camps, internships, supervised industrial training and industry-based research projects.

CEO Alfoze Technologies Pvt Ltd Visited FUI Rawalpindi Campus

CEO Alfoze Technologies Pvt Ltd, Mr. Muazzam Arslan Bhatti visited the Foundation University Islamabad at its Rawalpindi Campus to meet HoD-Business Administration, Dr. Qaiser Ali Malik. The productive discussion was focused on final year projects by students and their need for industrial synchronization. Alfoze has offered supervision to the shortlisted FYPs in the domain of ICT. This effort shall count towards practical implementation of the MoU signed between both the organizations. 

One Day Interactive Session on Challenges and Way Forward for ORIC at Medical and Allied Health Universities

ORIC Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) organized an interactive session on Challenges and Way Forward for ORIC at Medical and Allied Health Universities on 2 nd February, 2021. Representatives of various medical universities from Rawalpindi Islamabad attended the session. Mr. Abdul Moeed Qureshi, Manager University Industry Linkages & Technology Transfer and Mr. Muhammad Asif Javed, Manager Research Operations & Development attended the session and represented ORIC FUI. The purpose of the session was to discuss the challenges faced, in establishing ORIC in Medical Universities; challenges of HR, Financial Assistance, grants for ORIC and development of Research Consortium for linkages and collaboration of Universities in Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

Journals of FUI recognized by HEC in "Y" category

It is shared with immense pleasure that 2x journals of FUI, Foundation University Journal of Psychology (FUJP) and Foundation University Journal of Business & Economics (FUJ, have been recognized by HEC in "Y" category. This is a remarkable achievement which indicates the University’s commitment to achieving excellence in research. The Editorial Board of both the Journal worked hard to attain this milestone, and their efforts are commendable

Alter G Anti-Gravity Treadmills

Foundation University Islamabad (FUI) is now equipped with the latest and one of the only two Alter G Anti-Gravity Treadmills in the twin cities. This Anti-Gravity Treadmill is a lower body positive pressure treadmill and it gives post surgical, arthritic and traumatic patients, an opportunity to exercise and rehabilitate without pain, thus maximizes patient recovery, functional ability, patient compliance and quality of life. Alter G Anti-Gravity Treadmill training is the new standard of care in Rehabilitation Sciences.

This high cost machine is purchased under NRPU project titled "Effects of Anti-Gravity Treadmill Training on Knee Osteoarthritis in Geriatric Population". Dr. Aamer Naeem (PI) and Dr. Muhammad Osama (Co-PI) from FUIRS are leading this project.

Conducting & Supervising Research

4-Day Training Workshop on Conducting and Supervising Research, under ORIC, has been started on August 27, 2019 at Foundation University Rawalpindi Campus. Both internal and external experts conducted various sessions for Faculty and PhD Scholars and the topics covered included Research Proposal Writing, Understanding of ISI Web of Science, New Trends in Research Methodology and Effective Supervision of PhD Research.

Foundation University Business Incubation Center

Foundation University Business Incubation Center (FUBIC ) startup founders sharing their views on how , we can leverage different technologies to empowering the local communities and strengthen young entrepreneurs to contribute in building sustainable economy of Pakistan are at FM 101 Pakistan. Click Here for more detail.