Overview
He started his professional career in the industry, but upon moving to academia by joining the Centre for Research on Embedded Systems (CERES), Sweden, he found the research environment very stimulating. He completed his PhD in Computer Science from Örebro University, Sweden, in 2011. He has published 40 journal and conference papers and has supervised four PhD students at Halmstad University. He has a diverse background in securing over 650 million PKR equivalent in research funding from both national and international agencies such as Vinnova, SSF, the Knowledge Foundation, ELLIIT in Sweden, EU-FP7 at the European level, and the National ICT R&D Fund in Pakistan. He has worked in close collaboration with industrial partners including ST-Microelectronics, Ericsson, Adapteva, Ambric, and Saab Electronic Defence Systems.
In 2017, he was appointed as the Technology Area Leader (Systems of Cyber-Physical Systems) and Assistant Department Head for the School of Information Technology at Halmstad University, where his role was to develop strategies for strong research and collaboration that could lead to a robust project portfolio and funding. In this regard, he helped shape the strategy focusing on the intersections between innovation sciences, health sciences, and information technology.
At the Higher Education Commission (HEC), he managed a research portfolio with an annual turnover of 3.5 billion PKR. He played a key role in the digital transformation of the R&D Wing of HEC and introduced policy reforms to revamp the research grants framework and the research management system. The overall research grant framework was restructured to align with national and local priorities while achieving broader societal impact. He also revised the accreditation policy for HEC-recognized journals to establish a transparent, comprehensive, and objective mechanism for promoting research from Pakistan in line with international best practices.
At Ignite, he successfully revamped the organization’s Research and Innovation Grants Framework and secured its approval from the Board. The framework supports all stages of innovation—from R&D on the scientific foundations of breakthrough technologies to the validation and demonstration of innovations aimed at addressing real-world challenges.
He has also played a pivotal role in securing funding for various higher education sector programs in Pakistan from international funding bodies such as the World Bank, USAID, and the British Council.
