IsDB Transformers Roadshow for Pakistan was held on 4th May 2019 at the COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan.
As had been announced, the IsDB Transformers Roadshow for Pakistan was held on 4th May 2019 at the COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan.
It was a full day event organized jointly by the IsDB and COMSTECH for highlighting and encouraging innovative ideas of young Pakistanis. The event was participated in by the IsDB team led by its President H.E. Dr. Bandar M. H. Hajjar and also included the Chief Scientific Advisor to the President IsDB Dr. Hayat S. Sindi. The Roadshow climaxed a month of preparatory stages where applicants from Pakistan submitted their innovative ideas for addressing various problems faced by Pakistani society in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the UN.
From the 232 received applications 20 projects were shortlisted by COMSTECH and the respective teams were invited to the Roadshow where they made their presentations to an international Jury comprising:
| 1. | Dr. Hayat Sulaiman H. Sindi Senior Advisor to the President of IsDB for STI (Saudi Arabia) | 2. | Dr. Fil Randazzo Founder and Chief Executive Officer Leverage Science (USA) |
| 3. | Mr. Lars Kroijer Founder and Director at Allied Crowds (UK) | 4. | Mr. Yusuf Hussain Chief Executive Officer, IGNITE (Pakistan) |
The main events of the day included mentoring sessions for the contestants, conducted by the members of the international Jury. The themes of these mentoring session were;
- Attracting impact investment
- Pitching to the business
- Scaling up/ Commercialization
- Marketing and Communication
After an intense competition, the Jury announced the following 4 winners:
| Title of Project | Names of Team Members |
| Muse Lessons | Mr. Hassan bin Rizwan Sarah Peng |
| SmartSIM – An Autonomous and Cost-Effective Simulator for Learning Minimal Invasive Surgery | Dr. Osman Hasan Mr. Asad Hameed |
| Apricot processing strategy to promote socio-economic development of local community of Baltistan | Ms. Rehana Balti Mehwish Taneez |
| Short circuit fault localization system for overhead power distribution lines 11 kV and others | Dr. Khawaja Arsalan Habib |
The closing session of the event was graced by Dr. Zafar Mirza, Minister of State, Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination, the President IsDB, and the Coordinator General COMSTECH Dr. Tariq Banuri. The winners were awarded cash prizes of US$3000 each and support from IsDB to participate in the Annual Roadshow event to be held in Senegal later this year. The speakers at the closing session lauded the exciting initiative of the IsDB in promoting creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship amongst the Pakistani youth. The IsDB President and the Chief Guest highly appreciated the efforts of COMSTECH in organizing this event, and in general, in developing various S&T initiatives for the OIC member states.
The function was followed by a well-attended press conference addressed by the President IsDB, the Minister of State for Health and the CG COMSTECH. The IsDB President highlighted the efforts of IsDB in promoting development projects in Pakistan. The CG of COMSTECH and President of IsDB expressed the resolve to continue to work together on various S&T initiatives for the betterment of the OIC countries.
