KARACHI: On the Resolution Day of Pakistan (23rd March) President Dr. Arif Alvi has conferred the country’s prestigious Sitara-e-Imtiaz award on Dr. Steven Burian, Director of US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W).
Dr. Steven Burian directs the technical team at the University of Utah (US), in support of the US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water located at the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) in Jamshoro. This honor signifies the Pakistani government’s deep appreciation for Dr. Burian’s continued leadership on research and solutions to critical water issues in Pakistan through the USPCAS-W.
The Center studies complex issues such as polluted water, governance, floods, and supply problems and trains a new generation of engineers and water professionals to solve water security challenges. The Center also facilitates close collaboration between the University of Utah and MUET with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Dr. Burian, along with University of Utah economics professor Dr. Tariq Banuri, who last year was appointed the chairman of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, and Dr. Aslam Chaudhry, has led the USPCAS-W since its establishment in 2015.
In 4 years, the collaboration has built research facilities at MUET, established four master’s degree programs & 3 doctoral programs, enrolled more than 200 students, and funded more than 20 collaborative research projects between the universities. The center also hosts a semester-long exchange program which has brought 108 visiting scholars from Pakistan to the U.S.
