Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST), Mirpur AJK, proudly announces a groundbreaking achievement by Engr. Dr. Sohaib Manzoor, CEO of RapidNet Connect (SMC-Pvt) Ltd and Director, Business Incubation Center (BIC), MUST.

Dr. Sohaib has successfully developed Pakistan’s first Made-in-Pakistan router, marking a historic milestone in the nation’s pursuit of technological self-reliance and innovation-driven economic growth.

Supported under the Prime Minister’s Innovation Support & Startup Grant Program of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, this initiative exemplifies Pakistan’s growing capacity to translate academic research into real-world technological solutions.

“RapidNet Connect is redefining Pakistan’s ICT landscape with the development of the country’s first indigenous router — a milestone that strengthens national technological independence and innovation capacity. This achievement represents Pakistan’s forward stride toward self-reliance, innovation, and inclusive progress,” the Ministry stated.

In his message, Dr. Sohaib shared his journey from vision to commercialization:

“This began as a dream — to design Pakistan’s first indigenous router with Software Defined Networking capabilities for seamless connectivity. With the Prime Minister’s Innovation Grant, we built a complete testbed, conducted advanced NS-3 simulations, and achieved remarkable performance improvements — reducing retransmissions by 50%, handoff delays by 15%, and improving throughput by 16%.”

RapidNet Connect’s research innovations have also earned national and international recognition, representing Pakistan at the P@SHA ICT Awards and now moving into the commercialization phase with IoT-based networking solutions designed and built entirely in Pakistan. This milestone underscores MUST’s commitment to nurturing innovation, entrepreneurship, and applied research that contribute directly to the country’s economic and technological security.