President ECOSF meets Mayor of Isfahan Iran on April 28th, 2017
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Mayor of Isfahan City in Iran, Dr. Mehdi Jamalinejad invited the President ECOSF Prof. Dr. Manzoor H. Soomro to meet in his office in Isfahan on April 28th, 2017. The meeting was held to discuss the means of cooperation and promotion of science, technology and innovation (STI) and science at schools in Isfahan. Dr. Jamalinejad and his advisor Dr. Mohammadreza Nilfaroushan warmly welcomed and appreciated the opportunity to meet with Prof. Soomro and his team. Ms. Mozhghan Yazdianpour, Director Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT) and Engr. Khalil Raza, Scientific Officer ECOSF also attended the meeting.
Dr. Mahdi Jamalinejad explained that Isfahan city was once the capital of Iran (Persia) and thus it has a rich and long history of over four hundred years of culture, tradition and innovation in culture, education, science and technology. Since the beginning, Isfahan has played an important role in promotion of science and technological education in the region, he said. Dr. Jamalinejad told that there over 200 types of handicrafts and many of them have received global recognition. Isfahan is also considered to be the creative city of the world.
Dr. Jamalinejad also spoke of Shaykh Bahai who was a brilliant engineer, philosopher, architect and advisor to the emperor of the Safavid Dynasty, Shah Abbas-I. He pioneered many innovative engineering designs that include heating up the swimming pool by using just only a single and inexhaustible Candle, the Shaking Minarets and impressive use of Acoustics in the building infrastructure, which are by far the most impressive designs even compared to modern engineering and architectural standards. He also informed that City of Isfahan has recently inaugurated a “House of Mathematics” and they look forward to working with ECOSF to establish a “House of Science” in the city.
Dr. Jamalinejad further informed that Isfahan has also been named as Capital City of the Muslim World by Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO). Whereas, the Lahore in Pakistan is the sister city of Isfahan. Isfahan hosts various international and national organizations which contribute to the economic and technological development of this city. Thus there is a great potential for collaboration and cooperation with international organizations including ECO Science Foundation, he added.
Prof. Dr. Manzoor H. Soomro, thanked Dr. Jamalinejad for his invitation to the meeting. Prof. Soomro told that he visited Isfahan together with colleagues form University of Tehran to attend a workshop on Water and that too was only for a day. However, he had felt that there was a desire of hosts (Isfahan City Government, Governorate of Isfahan and the University) to come back again. This was one of the reasons that ECOSF decided to hold an Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) Workshop in Isfahan in collaboration with Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran in January 2017. Prof. Soomro expressed that Isfahan has long been cultural hub of the region and we can make it center of Education, Science and Technology with support of Mayor of City, University of Isfahan, IRIS and ISTT.
Prof. Soomro also informed the Mayor that the Executive Director of ECOSF, Dr. Syed Komail Tayebi hails from Isfahan that gives us an edge and the opportunity to be more integrated with this city in cultural and work-related activities. He also informed the Mayor that last January, he had a meeting with Isfahan Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Mining along with educationists and scientists to support education and science in the city. Dr. Jamalinehad was also introduced to various flagship programs of ECOSF including IBSE for STEM education and Engineering Qualification Standardization & Accreditation. Dr. Jamalinejad offered ECOSF to establish a resource center in Isfahan and the City Government would extend their all out support to promote S&T and to be a leader in the region. In the end, Prof. Soomro extended invitation to the Mayor of Isfahan, Dr. Jamalinejad to visit Islamabad. Meeting ended with vote of thanks and both sides looked forward to building a mutual cooperation to promote science, technology and education linked with historic culture in the city and beyond in the ECO region.