Six Vice Chancellors from universities across Punjab will take part in a panel discussion on University-Industry Collaboration, Research Commercialization and Entrepreneurship at PINTECH Expo 2026 on Sunday, November 15, 2026. The session runs from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club in Lahore. It is organized by Fatima Jinnah Women University in collaboration with the Punjab Higher Education Commission, and it is built around a challenge facing the country’s universities: they produce more research than ever before, but the real question is how to turn that research into products, enterprises and jobs that create economic value.
The discussion will be moderated by Prof. Dr. Bushra Mirza, Vice Chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, who holds the Pride of Performance and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz awards. The panelists are Prof. Dr. Shahid Munir, Vice Chancellor of the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, and Prof. Dr. Zubair Iqbal, Vice Chancellor of Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. They are joined by Prof. Dr. Yasir Nawab, Vice Chancellor of the University of Kamalia, Prof. Dr. Asif Ali, Vice Chancellor of MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Prof. Dr. Kanwal Ameen, Vice Chancellor of GC Women University Faisalabad, and Prof. Dr. Shazia Anjum, Vice Chancellor of Government Sadiq College Women University, Bahawalpur.
The panel is expected to cover what is working, what still holds universities back and what the leaders will commit to next. The topics range across the whole path from laboratory to market, including spin-off policies, knowledge parks, research funded jointly with industry, adoption of new technology by farmers, women’s entrepreneurship and regional innovation. The mix of universities, from engineering and agriculture to women’s institutions in several Punjab cities, gives the panel a wide set of experiences to draw on. Each leader can speak about how their own institution is trying to move research into the market and where the obstacles lie.
The session is part of PINTECH Expo 2026, which brings academia and industry together to build Pakistan’s innovation economy. For founders, researchers and industry representatives attending the expo, the panel offers a chance to hear directly from the heads of universities about their plans and commitments on commercializing research and supporting entrepreneurship, and to see how the institutions that produce research intend to connect it with those who can turn it into businesses.
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