Department of Mining Engineering

About Department

Pakistan is blessed with huge mineral resources including clays, copper, iron ore, chromite, lime stone, dolomite, granite, gypsum, salt, phosphate, marble, coal, precious and semi- precious stones etc. These minerals provide essential raw materials which underpin the energy, gems, manufacturing and construction industry. These mineral resources could play pivotal role in the economic uplift of the country if developed and mined through state of the art techniques. The Department of Mining Engineering, Pak-Austria Fachhochschule: Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (PAF-IAST), Haripur-KPK is established with vision of providing state of the art education and research opportunities in this area. The Department of Mining Engineering, PAF-IAST is starting its academic journey by offering MS in Mining Engineering with the help and academic support of China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing, China followed by BS and PhD program in near future.

Degree Programs Offered

Lab Facilities

The establishment of Centre of Excellence in Mineral Resource Engineering at PAF-IAST through generous funding from China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) will strengthen this program by allowing access to state of the art lab facilities.

Faculty of Mining Engineering

Strengths & Features

International-Quality Training

The teaching faculty are being hired through a highly competitive process, involving active expert assessment by partner universities abroad. For the implementation of the Fachhochschule model of education, faculty members of the institute, with PhDs from premier foreign universities, will attend at the partner universities in Austria and China intensive training related to specific pedagogical and managerial skills.

The Technology Park

The PAF-IAST programs are closely integrated with a parallel program for the development of technology-driven enterprises. For the holistic achievement of the concept, it is necessary to dovetail the institute’s educational infrastructure with a corresponding and compatible growth in the high-technology industry in tandem. To meet this critical need, PAF-IAST has a sound plan in place to build on its state-of-the-art campus an Innovation Technology Park. To boost innovation, every faculty member, trained in Austria and China, will be offered an average grant of USD 50,000 for developing new projects in the Innovation Park. A sum of 10 million USD has already been set aside for this purpose. The new projects, which will be implemented largely in collaboration with scientists of Austrian and Chinese partner universities, could potentially lead to joint patenting and industrial production.

Equivalence with Standards in the Developed World

To ensure quality, subject to the approval of accreditation bodies of Pakistan and the partner universities in Austria and China, double degrees will be awarded to students. The collaborator universities will be responsible to ensure that the teaching and research programs at PAF-IAST, in all essentials, are equivalent to theirs. Equivalence will be achieved by following identical syllabi, laboratory experiments, and assessment mechanisms. For maintenance of requisite standards, the accreditation agency in the partner country shall be involved to assess at regular intervals the quality of instruction at PAF-IAST. The equivalence of degrees will be the key determinant that the graduates of PAF-IAST have acquired education of international standards comparable to that of the graduates from the collaborator universities in Austria or China. In other words, there shall be no quality gap between the Pakistani graduate engineers and the engineers who graduated from the partner universities. Eventually, equivalence will be demonstrated, recognized, and accepted by all stakeholders in the program in those degrees of the collaborator institutions will be awardable to all such graduates as can qualify the academic standards set forth by the relevant accreditation councils.

Faculty Development

Under the HRD program, during phases 1, 2, and 3, around 200 faculty members will be trained in Austria/China for periods of up to 6 months. Those holding M S/MPhil or equivalent degrees will be sent to technical universities in Austria and China on 4-year Ph.D. programs in relevant disciplines.

Smart Classrooms
Sports
Hostels
Libraries
Facilities

PAF-IAST is the only smart campus in Pakistan with blanket Wi-Fi coverage and smart classroom solutions for its classrooms and lecture theatres. These smart facilities offer the most advanced Interactive Digital Board, AI-enabled Speaker’s tracking camera, Lecture Recorder, along with other ancillary equipment.

Besides jogging tracks, two large grounds are reserved for cricket and football. Apart from the indoor game facilities at each Academic block, badminton, volleyball courts also have been made available.

Fully furnished shared accommodation is available for resident students. Boarding facilities are exclusively meant for students hailing from remote cities. Boarding facilities include comfortable rooms, fully functional dining halls, anteroom, Wi-Fi facility, indoor games, vending machines and laundry.

The campus has a high standard library, well provided with course textbooks along, reference books, and a good number of necessary research journals for each area of specialization. The library complex also comprises a few cubicles with smart boards installed for research group discussions and presentations.

PAF-IAST Campus offers ample ancillary services to ensure a conducive academic and working environment for all. These facilities include automated vending machines to readily provide students at fair price snacks, beverages, essential commodities 24/7, especially during short breaks without having them rush to the cafeteria now and then. Considering the needs of students, faculty, and staff, multiple vending machines are being installed at various places across the campus. Gradually, these machines will be made compatible for integration with Smart Campus One Card Solution which PAF-IAST plans to deploy in the days ahead to promote cashless campus culture.