Office of Research, Innovation, and Commercialization (ORIC) at UCP successfully hosted a Faculty-Industry Engagement Meeting, with the objective of promoting collaboration between academia and industry. The meeting was attended by Prof. Dr. Hammad Naveed, Pro-Rector; Prof. Dr. Muhammad Akhyar Farrukh, Director ORIC; Dr. Faiza Anum, Research Associate, ORIC; industry representatives from Vital Petroleum (Pvt.) Limited and Dafi Labs Pvt. Ltd., as well as faculty members from FOITCS, FOE, and FOMS. Mr. Moaz Ali, Head of HRD at Vital Petroleum, discussed the challenges they face in fabrication and stressed the growing need for experts in civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering at their manufacturing facilities. Mr. Muhammad Waqas, Founder & CEO of Dafi Labs, focused on the integration of blockchain and artificial intelligence to foster innovation. The session united academia with industry challenges, promoting impactful collaborations, innovative research, and faculty placements.
Key topics included types of intellectual property rights, national and international patent filing procedures, commercialization strategies, and guidelines from IPO Pakistan and USPTO. Participants explored what qualifies as patentable, how to draft and structure patent applications, and how to respond to objections during the prosecution process.
The session also featured live demonstrations of online tools such as the USPTO Patent Center and the IPO Pakistan e-journal, enabling participants to track patent progress and access published applications.
By focusing on transforming academic research into tangible, commercial outcomes, the workshop encouraged faculty to pursue innovation, institutional consultancy, and long-term research impact—reinforcing ORIC-UCP’s mission to promote applied research and knowledge transfer.
