September 30, 2014
ISLAMABAD: Representatives of international organizations have highlighted the importance of indigenous capacities for repair and maintenance of the equipment used in scientific research undertaken in RandD laboratories,asserting thatit would help in upkeep of scientific instrumentsfor research and national development.
Senior officials from COMSATS, ISESCO and Iranian institutions were speaking at the inauguration of a national training workshop on Repair and Maintenance of Scientific, Engineering Equipment in Universities, Research Institutions, and Small Scale Industries held in Karaj, Iran, says a statement issued from the COMSATS Headquarters hereon Tuesday.
The five-day workshop is oriented towards developing capacities of the Iranian scientists and institutions for repair and maintenance of their scientific equipment needed for uninterrupted scientific RandD activities.
The workshop is the seventh of the series on the same theme, the other six were held in the past in Syria, Senegal, Egypt, Tunisia, and Sudan.
Other partner institutions of the event include COMSATS Centre of Excellence in Iran, the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST); Standard Research Institute (SRI), Iran; and Instructors Training Centre (ITC) of Technical and Vocational Training Organization (TVTO), Iran.
The workshop was inaugurated by the Acting President for International Cooperation, IROST,Dr. Mahmoud Molanejad.Dr. Abbas Sadri, Director of ISESCO Regional Office in Tehran;Nisar Ahmad, Senior Assistant Director (Systems), COMSATS, andDr. Maryam Jalili, SRI, represented their organizations at the inaugural ceremony.Also present on the occasion were the senior officials and representatives from the organizing institutions, the registered trainees, and representatives from various scientific institutions of Iran.
The inaugural speeches and messages in general underscored the significance of repair and maintenance of scientific equipment for smooth RandD activities.
Welcoming the representatives from COMSATS and ISESCO, experts and participants, Dr. Molanejad appreciated the holding of the workshop on such an important theme in Iran.
Dr. Sadri represented the Director General ISESCO, in the event.
Dr. Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijrihoped that the workshop would result in strengthening the capacities of the participants for the upkeep of their scientific instruments and building linkages among them. Dr. Sadri also communicated D.G. ISESCOs reaffirmation of supporting such activities in future. It was also noted that ISESCO has placed the preventive and run-time maintenance of laboratory equipment in its Annual Action Plan as one of its priorities.
Speaking on behalf of Dr. Imtinan Elahi Qureshi, the Executive Director COMSATS, Nisar Ahmed recalled the history of the series of which the ongoing workshop is a part and thanked ISESCO for sustained cooperation between the two organizations.
The troubleshooting and repairing of the systems included: spectrophotometers; flame photometer systems; pH meters; colorimeter, laboratory balances, gas chromatographic systems; HPLC systems; thermal equipment (oven and furnace); thermal analyzer; electron microscopes; atomic absorption microscope and XRF system.
During the workshop, over 60researchers, academicians, technicians, and engineers from different organizations of Iran will be imparted trainingby resource persons from Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), Pakistan, Dr. Muhammad Yaqub and Arif Karim.