Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology (DUET), Gazipur, hosted an industry-academia collaborative event on Sunday to strengthen partnerships between universities and industries, focusing on startups, innovation and technology-driven research.
The event titled “Strengthening Start-up, Innovation and Industry-Academia Collaboration” was organised by DUET’s Institutional Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) at the vice-chancellor’s office on 27 September 2026. University officials, faculty members, industry representatives and stakeholders discussed challenges and strategies for building sustainable cooperation between academia and industry.
DUET Vice-Chancellor Professor Engineer Mohammad Iqbal chaired the roundtable discussion, where University Grants Commission (UGC) Member Professor Abdullah-Al-Mamun attended as the chief guest.
Abdullah-Al-Mamun highlighted government initiatives and UGC policy support to promote research, innovation and startup culture in higher education institutions.
He said stronger links between universities and industries were necessary to make academic research practical and market-oriented. He added that UGC was providing policy support to create such connections.
The UGC member said the government had allocated Tk500 crore in the current budget to promote startup culture and Tk800 crore for the creative economy sector. He said the government aimed to increase the creative economy’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) to 10 per cent within the next decade.
He also said innovation fairs were organised nationally this year as part of efforts to strengthen industry-academia collaboration.
DUET Vice-Chancellor Professor Engineer Mohammad Iqbal said research outcomes could not be transformed into practical solutions without cooperation with industries. He said the university was working to expand joint research, internship opportunities and technology transfer initiatives with industrial partners.
He said effective industry-academia collaboration could help reduce imports and save foreign currency by supporting growth in the manufacturing sector.
The vice-chancellor said DUET planned to organise similar discussions every three months and submit reports to UGC every six months. He also highlighted the university’s ICT incubator, which was established to help convert innovative ideas into commercial products.
He said DUET could build an integrated innovation ecosystem more quickly with policy support from UGC.
The event also featured a panel discussion where DUET Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Engineer Ruma discussed the university’s role and future plans in strengthening industry-academia cooperation.
Director of Research and Extension Professor Md Anwarul Abedin delivered the welcome speech, while Professor Hasan Mohammad Mostafa Afroze, head of the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, presented a paper on DUET’s research, development and innovation facilities.
Professor Md Obaidur Rahman, director of IQAC, moderated the programme and summarised the key discussions. Professor Shafiqul Islam, additional director of IQAC, served as the rapporteur.
Representatives from BDiREN, BRAC Bank PLC, Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited, Meghna Group of Industries, Walton Hi-Tech Industries, PRAN-RFL Group, Nestlé Bangladesh, Akij Ceramics, Urmi Group, Max Group, Zencore Solutions, Development Design Consultants Limited, Masco Group, Decathlon, Rankon Auto Industries Limited, Innovation IT Limited, G-Wizets Company Limited and Ecotex Limited attended the event.
The programme concluded with an open discussion titled “The Future of Youth in Bangladesh in the Perspective of Entrepreneurship and Soft Skill Development” at Shahid Shakil Parvez Auditorium, where guests discussed entrepreneurship and skills development with final-year students. Zishan Ahmad, CEO of Zencore Solutions and a former DUET student, shared his professional experiences with students.
