A group of students and faculty from the University of Engineering and Technology Mardan has visited the National Science and Technology Park at the National University of Sciences and Technology, bringing more than 90 students from the Departments of Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, and Artificial Intelligence. The university is a public sector institution in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a leading hub for modern engineering and technological education in the province. The visit gave students from the northern region a close look at one of the country’s best known technology parks and the startup activity that takes place inside it.
Amer Sheikh, Director of the park, briefed the delegation on its role in driving entrepreneurship, supporting early stage ideas, and building technology driven startups. His briefing set out how the park works with students, researchers, and founders to move ideas from the lab toward the market, a path that many engineering students rarely see during their degree programs. For students of computing, software, and artificial intelligence, the subject is especially relevant, since the skills they are learning are among the most in demand for new technology companies, and many of them may one day consider starting a business of their own.
The group also toured the park’s ecosystem and infrastructure and gained insight into programs that take ideas from early research to functioning ventures. Seeing the facilities in person helps students understand what support is available to a young company, including workspace, mentorship, and links with industry and academia. A tour also shows how different parts of a technology park fit together, from research groups to established firms and early stage teams, and it gives visitors a sense of the daily work that goes into building a company. For students from outside Islamabad, the experience can make the idea of becoming a founder feel more reachable.
Visits of this kind connect universities across the country with the park and widen the pool of students who learn about entrepreneurship before they graduate. The delegation from the university in Mardan joins other groups that have toured the park as part of its outreach to students from different institutions. The announcement did not share details of any follow up plans or agreements, but it made clear that the park sees the visit as part of its effort to show young engineers what is being built on its campus. For the students from Mardan, the trip offered a chance to meet the people running the park, see how startups grow within it, and return home with fresh ideas about how their own technical skills could lead to a company of their own.
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