History
IRALEB (formerly known as LIRA program) is a Private Non-Governmental Organization registered in 16 November 2021 at the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities with license number 1281.
LIRA (Lebanese Industrial Research Achievements) program aims, since its inception in 1997, at providing university researchers with career opportunities that match their potential, in order to reduce the brain drain and support advancements in the Lebanese industrial sector leading to the promotion of competitiveness and productivity. LIRA has officially partnered to date with 13 most well-known Lebanese universities and several leading local industries.
Lately, there was heightened awareness by the founders, Ministry of Industry, Association of Lebanese Industrialists, National Council for Scientific Research and Banque du Liban that the institutionalization of LIRA became evident after a culmination of 25 years of hard work and success in building effective cooperation between Industrial and academic sectors in Lebanon.
The program brings together academic and industrial expertise, providing an opportunity for industry and academia, both public and private, to meet and exchange their research findings. The first Conference and Exhibition in 1997 showcased applied research output that had been accomplished in a collaborative effort between industry and academia. Ever since, the developed projects and products have been exhibited annually after being subject to rigorous scientific evaluation and rewarded for excellence in applied research.
In 2016, LIRA with the support of Banque du Liban initiated a fund for further supporting the costs of industrially oriented projects undertaken by academics. This encouraged technological innovation for the purpose of upgrading production processes, creating jobs compatible with the ambitions and capabilities of our graduates, and incubating new ideas that may be turned into start-up businesses, many of which are directly sponsored by industrialists. LIRA’s annual forum showcases the contribution to the creation of new production lines in several factories and even to the launch of new technical firms, as well as to improved university engineering and science course offerings.
These encouraging results of the past years increased, on one hand, the confidence amongst Lebanese industrialists in the potential of the young local graduates in the fields of Engineering and Science, and on the other hand, the confidence amongst the young generation in the local industry.
Industrialists have become aware of the importance of enhancing the capabilities of research labs in universities. Along the same lines, engineering schools became equally aware of industrial requirements and began revising their curricula for the aim of attaining more industry-oriented research. Together, this new paradigm has been the driving force behind creating a general atmosphere of synergy and cooperation between industry and academia on the national level.