Academic Collaborators
NUST establish U.S-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E) to address some of the outstanding challenges faced by the energy section in Pakistan and to facilitate applied research and education partnership between USA and Pakistan. Strategic goals behind USPCAS-E are to evolve into a Centre of Excellence in Applied Research catering to the Energy Sector and economy of Pakistan with the aim to establish efficient governance structures – sustainability, value-added curriculum, and capacity building; promote applied research to serve public/private sector and NUST-US students/faculty exchange programs. USPCAS-E energy research agenda and research thrusts focus areas are research & policy development in renewable energy & emerging technologies, electrical power and thermal engineering leading to energy security utilizing indigenous resources; promotion of technologies & practices that increase energy efficiency in all sectors and technology innovation and entrepreneurship in energy and supporting technologies, materials, and services. The core mission of USPCAS-E is to efficiently address and implement the E3 criteria (Energy, Environment and Economy) for sustainable societal development. The PI from USPCAS-E NUST will primarily lead the project execution and management to ensure the timely project completion and outcome. Furthermore, as an expert in thermal management the PI will also contribute to the thermal management system part of the battery management system of this project. While the other Co-PIs from the USPCAS-E NUST will be responsible for the development and manufacturing of EV Power Train, EV Battery Energy Storage System (EVESS) and Battery Cell design and testing components. The Co-PI team from the center are experts in the field of energy conversion, power electronics and control, cell chemistry with international experience, relevant hardware, and software skills to undertake the proposed tasks.
Co-PIs from School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SMME), NUST which is at the forefront of research in sustainable energy. In this context, we have successfully developed functional prototypes for electric cars and bikes which are being tested on campus to shuttle between faculties and departments. The school also has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that has CNC machines and a material resource center for conventional manufacturing and fabrication. SMME will lead the EV Management System (EVMS) and EV integration part of this project. They have extensive experience in the fields of design and manufacturing, particularly machining, welding, and the use of design software (ProE/Creo and Solidworks). They have over 5-year industrial experience especially in design and integration of aerospace vehicle systems and has also carried out research relevant to this project, especially in the field of design and manufacturing, as well as the testing and use of PV based electric vehicle technologies including solar charging stations.
While NUST will remain the primary technical collaborator for the technology development (lithium-ion cell, battery pack, battery and EV management system, electric motor and drive and system integration), the Suleman Dawood School of Business (as represented by the Centre for Business and Society at LUMS) brings to this project its deep practice-led expertise regarding component supply chains, manufacturing excellence and project management. The Centre has a wide portfolio of sustainability initiatives with large and medium sized industrial partners, advocacy groups, the government and civil society, media, manufacturers, and innovators in a range of sustainability areas including manufacturing, plastics and circular economy, air quality, education, gender and inclusivity and water management.
Co-PIs from the Centre for Business and Society (CBS) will provide the lead on the long-term sustainability and impact of the intended research outcomes and be a lead on the Knowledge Hub (focused on knowledge dissemination and development of value-adding partnerships across various sectoral partners including manufacturers, importers, regulators, and vehicle users). The Co-PI remains especially well versed with the emerging market dynamics, EV uptake globally, and the energy-transport link in the context of sustainable urban development, access, and use of renewable power alternatives. This is a vastly different skill set to the technical one coming from the PI and Co-PIs at NUST and together offers a far-reaching research skillset. LUMS/CBS will lead the (primarily) qualitative-quantitative inquiry regarding stakeholder behaviors, the development of an indigenous supply chain, and the development and maintenance of the ‘Knowledge Hub’ that will be a critical output (and one of highest social and economic impact) of the research. With a success record of user-centric, practice-led knowledge dissemination, the Knowledge Hub that CBS will curate is specially intended to ensure that the impact created by the project remains significant and sustainable beyond the lifetime of the project.
