7th Quarterly Progress Report (Oct – Dec 2016)

The center has been working on various components, including governance, curriculum reform, high-quality applied research, graduate and postgraduate training, and sustainability through industry/private sector links. The governance component has seen several visits from USAID officials, including a visit by USAID Mission Director Mr. Craig C. Buck in April. Mr. Buck praised the center's achievements and acknowledged MUET's reputation as a leading public sector university. The center was also visited by an Administrative and Technical team of USAID, which reviewed the institutional systems and policies & procedures adopted by the program. The curriculum reform component has seen the launch of a new degree program in Water, Sanitation and Health (WaSH) Sciences at the MS level. The program has been finalized by the Curriculum Reform Committee, and admissions have been offered in the three streams: HID, IWRM, and EnvEng, as well as in WaSH. The admission test was conducted on 5th June 2016, and the registration process is underway. Classes for the new program will commence from 29th August 2016. The high-quality applied research component has seen the selection of 18 students from the 1st batch of MS and Ph.D program for the Exchange and Scholarship program. These students are expected to leave for the University of Utah in the near future. The center has also seen the launch of several research grant projects, including the Flagship Projects, Research Groups, and Research Grant Projects. The graduate and postgraduate training component has seen the launch of several programs, including the Academic Program, Graduate Seminar Series, Field Study Visits, Training Workshop on "Geo-informatics", Book Competition, and Student Internship. The center has also seen the visit of a Pakistani delegation to the Yangtze River Floodplains in China. The sustainability through industry/private sector links component has seen the launch of several initiatives, including the National Consultative Workshop on Developing Water Research Agenda in Pakistan, Retreat on USPCAS-W Visioning, Technology Venture Commercialization (TVC), Gender Equity Framework, Partnerships, and Training Workshop for officials of Sindh Irrigation Department. The center has also seen the participation in the Dawn Education Fair 2016 at Hyderabad and Sukkur, as well as the launch of the USPCAS-W Building. The center has also seen the mandatory minimum results and targets for the 8th quarter (Jul – Sept 2016), as well as the quarterly financial analysis for the 6th quarter (Apr – Jun 2016). The center has made significant progress in the second year of the project, and the achievements are a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team. The center is expected to continue making progress in the coming quarters, and the achievements will be documented in the next quarterly progress report.