"FPGA Design for Scientific Instrumentation" for Asia by ICTP and MUET Jamshoro, 7-18 December 2015 kicks off -- President ECOSF as the Chief Guest Inaugurated the Asian Regional School

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President ECO Science Foundation was invited as a Chief Guest to inaugurate the Asian Regional School on FPGA Design for Scientific Instrumentation in Pakistan at the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET), Jamshoro being held from 7-18 December 2015. The FPGA school for Asian countries has been jointly organized by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste- Italy and the MUET. This is the very first time that Pakistan is hosting the ICTP event on FPGA Design. The ICTP has been organizing various technical trainings at Trieste, Italy and in developing regions around the globe. One of the popular technical trainings offered by the ICTP is training on FPGA for scientific instrumentations.

FGPAs are key players in the smart systems. Purpose of this jointly organized school was to conduct a hands-on training activity that will provide an opportunity for engineers, physicists and computer scientists in the countries of the region, to access new technologies and gain the necessary skills for designing and developing complete high-performance systems for scientific applications at low cost. Pakistan will benefit more since large number of participants are always from the host country.

President ECOSF appreciated the joint efforts of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology and ICTP for organizing this conference. He gave a brief introduction of ECO Science Foundation to the audience and participants and shared the aims and objectives of the organization. During his address he discussed the importance of UN Sustainable Development Goals and their implications for the sustainable societal development. His speech was mainly focused on SDG-4 Education: ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, and SDG-5 Gender Equality: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. He pointed that over 50% of Pakistan's population is girls & women, and if we do not utilize and encourage them to contribute in the societal development, it means, half of our talent will go waste! Thus we need to encourage females to participate and contribute in the society, he stressed. Talking about UN SDG No. 4, he stressed over the importance and implementation of Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) in the schools so that critical thinking and innovation can be identified, encouraged and inculcated at grass root level. He further said, "if we do not train our children through innovative and inquiry based learning, the nation will be not be able to compete in the committee of nations. And considering the fact that Pakistan today had over 54 million children in the ages of 5-16 years and around 50% of those are out of formal schooling as per latest data; it could be a great strength of Pakistan but it can also turn into time bomb, if those millions of young people are not groomed well."

Focusing on the dilemma of terrorism viz.-a-viz., Pakistan, President ECOSF said that it's the need of time to educate children of even terrorists, because just killing them may not stop the continuing growth of young people indulging such criminal activities. He said that just killing them may not solve the problem and the economics of security and anti-terrorism measurement should be considered critically. Dr. Soomro further said, we need to investigate into the reasons why people attempt suicidal attacks, what are the reasons behind such an act, as killing oneself, afterall, is not an easy task! We need to educate them through reasons in the light of Quran. If we keep on killing the terrorist there is no end and solution to it. Table talk, negotiations and education of such diverted people is required.

Dr. Soomro also mentioned that for sustainable development and growth in Pakistan Science diplomacy is one of the important factors which need to be focused on in collaboration with international organizations and HEC Pakistan. ECOSF is playing its part in bringing ECO member states together at the platform of the Foundation via different collaborative activities and workshops for development in Science and Technology sector. Government must also play its role at diplomatic level for a sustainable and better developed society and the state.