Industry, academia leaders discuss areas of collaboration at IUB

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) organised an event titled “Industry-Academia Meet” on 18 May.

The event brought together industry professionals, academicians, and stakeholders from various sectors for a fruitful discussion on building strong collaborations between academia and industry, reads a press release.

While speaking at the event, Vice-Chancellor Tanweer Hasan, PhD, reiterated IUB’s commitment towards producing tech-savvy, environmentally-responsible, and globally-conscientious future leaders with a strong Liberal Arts foundation.

He shared several notable initiatives launched by IUB such as the “IUB ARROWS” and “Coding for All” programmes.

Dr Mahady Hasan, interim dean of IUB’s School of Engineering Technology and Science, stressed on the significance of the 4^th Industrial Revolution and the pivotal role played by innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

He also underscored highlighted some of the state-of-the-art laboratory facilities available at IUB such as the Fabrication, CCDS, CCSE, and RIOT Labs.

Among the industry experts who attended the event, Wahid Sharif, president of Bangladesh Association of Contact Center and Outsourcing (BACCO), talked about the importance of acquiring soft skills such as communication, presentation, and foreign language proficiency.

Sami Ahmed, managing director of Startup Bangladesh Ltd, highlighted the tremendous opportunities that are currently available for future startups in the country, particularly in the fields of AI and Cybersecurity.

Syed Almas Kabir, president of Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce & Industry, praised IUB for its unique initiatives, including the Live in Field Experience (LFE) programme and foreign language courses.  

Khondkar Atique E Rabbani, managing director of The Computers Ltd, focused on the significance of innovative technologies such as AI and Blockchain, adds the release.

Syed Tanvir Husain, chief human resources officer of Grameenphone Ltd, addressed the “knowing-doing” gap, stressing the importance of the practical application of knowledge.

The event also featured several renowned industry leaders including Fahim Mashroor, CEO and co-founder of BDJobs; Zia Ashraf, co-founder and COO of Chaldal; Mohammad Shamim Chowdhury, director of HR and Vital Assets at Therap (BD) Ltd; Sohel Reza, CEO of ADN Diginet; Topu Newaj, executive vice president of Engineer at Kona Software Ltd; Yoshihiko Kato, team leader of the International Expert Team at SREDA, JICA; Mari Iwata, consultant at SREDA, MRI; Wahid Choudhury, founder and CEO of KAZ Software.