COMPETITIVE “ALUMNI SMALL GRANT” WON BY DR. HABIB AHMAD FOR US-FUNDED NANOTECHNOLOGY WORKSHOPS AT (CAEPE)

PKRs. 1 Million has been granted to Dr. Habib Ahmad, Assistant Professor (FET) and Affiliate of Centre for Advanced Electronics & Photovoltaic Engineering (CAEPE) of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), for the project, “US-Funded Workshops for Exposure of High School Students to Nanotechnology for Sustainable Energy in Pakistan”. This project will be carried out at CAEPE, IIUI. The funding agencies are the United States U.S. Mission and the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN).

Proposals from over the Pakistan were accepted in January 2023 and hundreds of proposals were submitted to this funding call. The proposals were reviewed by the U.S. Mission Committee to ensure a fair, competent and objective assessment of their merit. The entire process of review and decision took up to two months from the application submission deadline.

The Alumni Small Grant (ASG) Program is jointly administered by the U.S. Mission and the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN). The ASG encourages alumni to leverage their exchange program learning to put ideas into action to create meaningful change. The ASG program offers funding opportunities on a competitive basis, for initiatives that create impact at professional, organizational and community levels. These funding opportunities are open to the alumni of the U.S. Government-funded exchange programs.

Dr. Habib’s project, which is among a very few pitches awarded this year, aims to organize scientific enrichment workshops for public and private SSC and HSSC science students across Islamabad and Rawalpindi aimed at scientific exposure to Pakistan’s energy and nanotechnology requirements. These workshops will be aligned towards the facilities and scientific expertise available at the Centre. Around one hundred direct and thousands of indirect students at their career defining phases would benefit from these workshops, specifically designed to be held at the Centre for Advanced Electronics & Photovoltaic Engineering (CAEPE) at IIUI, while going through hands-on learning and scientific activities via state-of-the-art nanotechnology tools. They would also be given take-home aid materials. Dr. Habib has thanked Prof. Dr. Ahmed Shuja Syed, Founding Executive Director (CAEPE) for all the support and guidance provided during the proposal development phase. On this occasion, Prof. Shuja termed this project as a translational effort to create societal impact through research and facilities as envisaged in IIU’s strategic plan (2022-26).