Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology (DUET), Gazipur will hold industry-academia discussions every three months and submit reports to the University Grants Commission (UGC) every six months, DUET Vice-Chancellor (VC) Mohammad Iqbal said at the ‘Industry-Academia Collaborative Event 2026’ held at the university on Sunday.
The event was organised by DUET’s Institutional Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) around a roundtable titled ‘Strengthening Start-up, Innovation and Industry-Academia Collaboration’ at the VC’s conference room, said a press release on Monday.
UGC member Abdullah-Al-Mamun attended as chief guest. He said an effective bridge between academia and industry is necessary to make university research practical and market-oriented, and that the UGC is providing policy support to that end. He said the government has taken an initiative to teach a third language at universities, which will launch at various universities by December this year.
The chief guest also said Tk500 crore has been allocated in this year’s budget for developing startup culture, and Tk800 crore for the creative economy sector. The government has set a target of raising the creative economy’s contribution to GDP to 10 per cent within the next 10 years.
DUET VC said joint research, internship and technology transfer arrangements with industry are being expanded. He said effective academia-industry collaboration would enable production growth, reduce imports and save foreign currency. He said an ICT Incubator has already been built at DUET to help convert innovative ideas into products, and that the university will establish a Global Language Centre.
DUET Pro VC Ruma, Director (Research & Extension) Md Anwarul Abedin, IQAC Director Md Obaydur Rahman and Materials & Metallurgical Engineering Department Head Hasan Mohammad Mostofa Afroz also spoke.
Industry representatives from BDREN, 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, Zenkor Solutions, Development Design Consultants Limited, Masko Group, Decathlon, Rankon Auto Industries Limited, Innovation IT Limited, G-Widgets Company Limited and Ecotex Limited attended.
