Industry-Academia Research Consortium, (I-ARC) has been established at the SZABIST Islamabad campus as a pivotal platform dedicated to action-based research. The primary impetus behind the formation of this consortium is to undertake research endeavors to meet the contemporary demands of industries. Through a concerted effort involving rigorous discussions and insights from industrial experts, this initiative endeavors to bridge the gap between academia and industry. Esteemed industrial experts, who also serve as members of university’s corporate Advisory Board, play an integral role in facilitating the consortium’s activities, actively participating in different phases of research and innovation ideation.

Phase I: Identification of Theme
Phase I has been successfully concluded. Incorporating feedback from our industry partners and research experts, we have established the inaugural theme titled “Industry 4.0 and Sustainability.”  
Phase II: Engagement of Research Cohorts in Synopsis Development 
This phase will engage research cohorts (All the Faculty working in their core functional areas along with their PhD and MS students undertaking research thesis) in building research synopsis on the identified theme. As faculty members who are already supervising research theses and projects, your expertise and dedication are invaluable to the success of this endeavor.
Phase III: Stimulating panel discussion with industrial experts and research scholars
This phase will invite industrial experts and academics (in-house and external experts) to engage in stimulating panel discussions on the areas identified in the synopses provided by the research cohorts.  By incorporating feedback from our industry partners, we strive to ensure that our research outputs are not only academically rigorous but also directly applicable to addressing the challenges faced by the industry.
Phase IV: Publishing and presenting the deliverables After adding the feedback from the panel discussion the research cohorts will publish their papers into journals and participate in relevant conferences. Through this collaborative effort, we aim to produce working papers that provide actionable insights and solutions to the problems encountered by our industry partners. Additionally, by engaging in applied research, we can enhance our capacity to attract funding and consultancy opportunities, further cementing our reputation as a leading institution in this field.