HEC NRPURs. 18.4M
Green hydrogen electrolyser materials
Energy & Environment Engineering
Developing low-iridium anode catalysts for PEM electrolysers suited to Pakistan's grid conditions.
Office of Research, Innovation & Commercialization
ORIC administers competitive grants, industry contracts and intellectual property for the university — turning laboratory work into deployable engineering solutions.
42
Active projects
Rs. 412M
Funding secured
310
Publications 2025
17
Patents filed
Projects
Funded research showcase
A selection of ongoing projects across the university's nine engineering departments.
Sindh GovernmentRs. 24.0M
Seismic retrofitting of Karachi school buildings
Civil Engineering
Assessment and low-cost retrofit design for unreinforced masonry structures across District Korangi.
Ignite National Technology FundRs. 9.6M
AI-assisted defect detection in textile weaving
Computer Science
Real-time vision models deployed on edge hardware in partnership with three Karachi mills.
Industry consortiumRs. 12.2M
Waste heat recovery for steel re-rolling mills
Mechanical Engineering
Organic Rankine Cycle pilot targeting a 14% reduction in specific energy consumption.
HEC TDFRs. 15.8M
Desalination via solar membrane distillation
Chemical Engineering
Coastal pilot plant delivering potable water to fishing communities in Ibrahim Hyderi.
PSFRs. 7.9M
Corrosion-resistant alloys for offshore structures
Metallurgical Engineering
Duplex stainless steel characterisation under Arabian Sea splash-zone exposure.
Publications
Recent indexed output
| Paper | Journal | Year | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Techno-economic assessment of rooftop PV clusters in dense urban Karachi | Renewable Energy (Elsevier) | 2026 | IF 8.7 |
| Hybrid CNN-transformer architecture for weld defect classification | IEEE Access | 2026 | IF 3.4 |
| Performance of blended cements incorporating Thar lignite fly ash | Construction & Building Materials | 2025 | IF 7.4 |
| Membrane fouling mitigation in solar-driven distillation | Desalination | 2025 | IF 9.9 |
| Lean-six sigma deployment in SME manufacturing clusters of Sindh | Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management | 2025 | IF 6.1 |
Funding
Grant opportunities
HEC National Research Program for Universities
Opens January & July
Up to Rs. 20M
HEC Technology Development Fund
Annual call — March
Up to Rs. 40M
Pakistan Science Foundation Research Grants
Rolling submissions
Up to Rs. 10M
Ignite National Technology Fund
Quarterly
Up to Rs. 15M
DUET Seed Research Grant
Internal — September
Up to Rs. 1.5M
Industry-sponsored contract research
Year-round via ORIC
Negotiated
SDG Microsite
Research aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals
DUET reports annually against the United Nations SDGs through the HEC and Times Higher Education Impact framework.
SDG 6
Clean Water & Sanitation
Solar desalination pilots and industrial effluent treatment for Karachi's coastal belt.
SDG 7
Affordable & Clean Energy
Green hydrogen, rooftop solar and waste-heat recovery research programmes.
SDG 9
Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
Technology transfer with 63 industry partners and an on-campus prototyping facility.
SDG 11
Sustainable Cities
Seismic retrofitting, urban mobility modelling and low-carbon construction materials.