Pakistan-US symposium on high capacity optical networks Held
By Saba Imran 'Pakistan Times' Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: An International Symposium on High Capacity Optical Networks by Enabling Technologies - HONET 2006 was organised in USA to enhance already existing US-Pakistan collaboration for the promotion of science to benefit humanity at large.

The symposium jointly organized by National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and University of North Carolina at Charlotte provides a forum to the eminent scholars from US, Canada, Dubai, Japan and Pakistan to share their knowledge and experience, thus paving the way for new foreign linkages and bridges for further research and exploration of knowledge.

And more importantly the fresh cooperative lies built during this symposium would further strengthen US-Pakistan relationship, besides promoting inter-scholars research collaboration.

In the current age of globalization, it is imperative for all nations to join hands to pursue projects of mutually beneficial collaborative research.

NUST has always ardently espoused this cause and has stayed in the forefront in achieving its objectives. The three-day US-Pakistan international symposium is a prime manifestation of this spirit.

Funded by National Science Foundation (NSF), USA, the symposium was the third of the HONET series since its inception in 2004. It was co-sponsored by Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) as well as Charlotte Research Institute (CRI) and JEEE Cosmos, USA.

The most significant outcomes of the previous two workshops/symposia were forming of associations and forging sustainable links between USA and Pakistan in the field of academics and scientific research, with agreements providing for students induction in various scientific disciplines as well as research visits by the faculty.

The first workshop of HONET series was successfully held in December, 2004. Optical networks have emerged as one of the core technologies. Efforts at the HONET platform are sure to advance this revolution further.●