British Deputy High Commissioner Karachi Visits LUMS to Explore Education Partnership Opportunities

Sarah Mooney, Deputy High Commissioner Karachi and Trade Director for Pakistan, on a visit to LUMS on January 26, expressed the desire to identify synergies to further explore education partnership opportunities with LUMS. She was joined by other representatives from the British High Commission including Clara Strandhoj, Head of Lahore Office and Rehan Shahid, Senior Trade Policy Advisor. At the meeting, LUMS was represented by Dr. Arshad Ahmad, Vice Chancellor; Dr. Tariq Jadoon, Provost; Mohammed Ali Khan, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives, and Nuzhat Kamran, Director of Advancement. Ms. Mooney spoke about the need to collaborate with universities like LUMS that bring together diverse people and perspectives. “Wherever people from different disciplines come together and encourage free-flowing conversation, that’s where you find the right ideas.” She elaborated on the need to establish linkages with universities and institutes in the UK, which the British High Commission can facilitate in establishing. Such innovative collaborations are essential to explore innovative answers, she said. “Industry wants solutions for problems that they are looking at right now. They are not looking to the horizon 15 years from now which is going to require different data sets and a different understanding of behavioral science.” Universities like LUMS can provide guidance in this regard, she added. Speaking about innovative solutions, Dr. Ahmad shared details about the different centres at LUMS that are working to address the grand challenges in areas such as energy, water, and the environment. Amplifying faculty exchanges is another vertical that can be explored through this partnership with the British High Commission. “We want to encourage our faculty to strengthen linkages with faculty at international universities. We can offer them the support to strengthen their relationships and amplify their impact,” he added. Mr. Khan shared a few strategic priorities for LUMS for the next decade. "Internationalisation is one of our biggest priorities and we are working to put LUMS on the international canvas in a robust way. We are also expanding into the virtual space,” he added. The visit ended with a tour of the National Incubation Centre at LUMS and the team was apprised of how the centre is contributing towards the entrepreneurial landscape of Pakistan. Ms. Mooney, was acquainted with the different entrepreneurial programmes being conducted at the Centre, including Entrepreneurship 101, Seed Spark and the Foundry training. She also visited the Makers Lab at NICL and was given an orientation of the different machines available on-site to provide startup founders with a wide range of prototyping options.