MoU News for Media:
The Department of Meteorology, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Islamabad has recently signed MoUs with Institute of Space Technology Islamabad and Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Commission (SUPARCO), Pakistan. It was decided in the MoUs that mutual cooperation between CIIT, IST and SUPARCO will be undertaken on the subjects like Seismology, Earthquake Prediction, Climate Change, Mineral Exploration, Disaster Mitigation and Management, Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System and Electrical Engineering. The 1st MoU with IST was signed on April 18th, 2012 during Pak-China Business Forum in the presence of Dr. Mona Lisa (HoD Department of Meteorology), Dr. Mobushar Riaz Khan, Mr. M. Farooq Iqbal from CIIT and Rector Engineer Imran, Dr. Badar Ghori and Ishat Saboor from IST. The 2nd MoU was sighed with SUPARCO on May 10th, 2012. Dr. S. M. Junaid Zaidi, Rector CIIT and Major General (Rtd) Ahmed Bilal, Chairman SUPARCO, signed the MoU at Rector Office CIIT, Islamabad. Dr. Shahid A.Khan (Incharge CIIT Islamabad Campus), Dr. MonaLisa (HoD Department of Meteorology), Mr. Zohaib Bokhari (Director SPARCENT, SUPARCO), and the faculty members of department of Meteorology viz. Dr. Mobushar Riaz Khan, Dr. Kalim Ullah and Mr. M. Farooq Iqbal were also present in the ceremony.

COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) has become a credible and distinguished seat of higher learning both in quality teaching and research in a very short period of life after its launch about a decade before. CIIT runs high profile research and academic programs in range of basic sciences, engineering, and applied domains of knowledge. During 2011, the CIIT earned the singular honor of being ranked at number 6 among institutions of higher education in the country on account of research output by its qualified faculty. Similarly among the Information Technology disciplines, the CIIT has been ranked at number one in the country in 2011. Department of Meteorology at CIIT is a pioneer such institute that any university has started in the country, imparting education in the domain of geospatial sciences such as atmospheric science, weather, climate change, and cutting-edge technologies of Satellite Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS), including natural disasters like Earthquake, flood etc and Electrical Engineering. Scientists use the techniques of Remote Sensing and GIS to monitor, measure, and map phenomena found in the Earth's Lithosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere and Atmosphere.

Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) is the national space agency vested to conduct R&D in space science, space technology, and their peaceful applications in the country. It works towards developing indigenous capabilities in space technology and promoting space applications for socio-economic uplift of the country. CIIT already holds prestigious exchange agreements (MoUs) with some of the best institutions around the world, the notable being the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign (USA), Chinese Academy of Sciences (China), University of Lancaster (UK) and many others.

Dr. Mona Lisa, a renowned Seismologist/Geophysicist of the country and Head of the Department of Meteorology has developed this MoU under the able guidance of Rector CIIT, Dr. S.M. Junaid Zaidi, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, and steady support of Dr. Haroon Rasheed, Director External Campses, Dr. Shahid Ahmed Khan, Incharge Islamabad Campus, Dr. Abdul Aziz Khan, Advisor ILO, Dr. Mobushir Riaz Khan, Dr. Kalim Ullah, and faculty members of Department of Meteorology.

The key areas of interest identified under the MOU include the exchange of professionals and researchers for research, education, and development, promotion of scientific research and technical cooperation encouraging further development, and fostering closer cooperation between Department of Meteorology, CIIT, Islamabad and SUPARCO. The MOU signifies a concrete step in nurturing the far reaching collaboration between the two organizations and provides the framework for the delivery of future key areas to build capacity to cope with the challenges posed to sustainable development of Pakistan.