Establishment of Walee-NUST Center of Excellence for Advanced Social and Digital Media Technologies

NUST always strives to strengthen Industry-Academia linkages to foster applied research. In pursuance of NUST’s vision, SEECS joined hands with Walee Technologies to establish the Center of Excellence for Advanced Social and Digital Media Technologies. The inauguration ceremony of CoE was held on 30 June, 2022 at SEECS. The Pro-Rector (RIC), CEO Walee Technologies, CEO Z2C, and prominent business leaders attended the ceremony. The centre aims to develop competent and market-ready HR, strengthen Industry-academia linkages, and conduct innovative research in the domains of social and digital media technologies. During her opening remarks, Dr. Rafia Mumtaz, Head of Software Engineering and project director highlighted the core objectives of CoE and their significance in the backdrop of the rapidly changing digital landscape. She said, “CoE will introduce students to emerging digital & social media technologies and empower them to evolve innovative solutions to real-world problems with guidance from industrial experts.”

Mr. Muhammad Ahsan Tahir, CEO Walee Technologies highlighted the importance of social media technologies and shared his vision of a mutually beneficial long-term collaboration with his alma mater.  He also expressed his gratitude to NUST leadership for providing all-out support for transforming the initial idea into reality within a short span of only 4 weeks.  Mr. Raihan Merchant, CEO of Z2C, in his keynote address, shared his thoughts on the current and envisaged landscape of social and digital media technologies. He emphasized the need for developing competent HR equipped with the right skill set and innovative mindset. He pledged complete support for the CoE and expressed his best wishes for its success.  Principal SEECS thanked the CEOs of Z2C and Walee Technologies for their visionary approach of engaging academia to fostering industrial innovation. He expressed confidence that CoE would provide a platform to integrate talented students, industrial experts, and media content development technologies for creating innovative services and solutions. The Pro-Rector (RIC), while appreciating the initiative, hoped that CoE will act as a bridge to link academic innovations with the needs of industry for the socio-economic benefits of the country. He assured business leaders of the wholesome institutional support of NUST for all such initiatives. NUST and Walee Technologies also signed the MOA for collaboration during the ceremony.